MY SON: THE
HE has spent the past 15 years trying to work out why his son became one of Britain’s most infamous suicide bombers.
And today the father of 7/7 fanatic Hasib Hussain warns that politicians must do more to stop the next wave of home grown terrorists.
Mahmood Hussain, 65, told the Sunday People: “Nobody is doing anything to stop radicalisation.”
His words will resonate even further because they come two weeks after three men were killed in a suspected terrorist attack in a Reading park.
Fifteen years ago this Tuesday his 18-year-old son and three others massacred 52 innocents and injured more than 700 more in the London Tube and bus bombings.
Hasib is believed to have been radicalised aged 15 by 7/7 ringleader Mohammed Sidique Khan after joining his gym in Leeds.
Fanatical
Khan, 30, poisoned the minds of boys as young as 11 and used his role as a learning mentor to act as a father figure to pupils at a primary school where he worked.
Mahmood recalled: “My son was good in school and he was good in college. He was not fanatical in a religious way.
“Something happened in these mosques. There are Islamic scholars, people who come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and India, they have done something terribly wrong.
“Those evil people who radicalised Hasib and the others, I feel very, very angry that nothing was done before this happened.
“There are mosques all over England and who knows what is going on underground?
“When they employ imams there should be strict procedures to check their background to make sure they will not radicalise people. Those responsible for spreading hate should be held responsible. We must learn from this tragedy. These were people’s lives.”
It has taken Mahmood 15 years to come to terms with what his son did and he has written a book to raise money for Victim Support.
“I carry the thought of the victims with me every day,” he said.
“I feel so sorry for them, their pain is unimaginable.
“It’s not just those who died, all those who were injured, maimed, disabled, I mourn for them as well.
“They are part of me now. They are always in my mind. People lost their husband, their boyfriend, their father, their wife or girlfriend.
“My son is responsible but there are people who are radicalising young kids and they should also be held responsible.”
Mahmood – who came to Britain from Pakistan in
the 1970s – first noticed a change in his son after he returned from his Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in the wake of the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington.
But Mahmood, who has three older children, had no idea he was being brainwashed back home in Leeds.
For four months in 2005 Hasib, from the Holbeck area of the city, and his Leeds pals Khan and Shehzad Tanweer, 22, assembled home-made bombs and plotted carnage.
Cricket
On July 7 they and a fourth man – Jermaine Lindsay, 19 – drove to London and carried out a series of orchestrated terror strikes during the morning rush-hour.
Six innocent people died at Edgware Road tube station, seven on a train near Liverpool Street, and 26 on a train between King’s Cross and Russell Square shortly before 9am.
Police believe Hasib intended to take the Northern Line Tube but got on a Number 30 bus instead because the line was not working properly.
His bomb exploded nearly an hour after the others in Tavistock Square, killing 13 innocent people.
Retired factory worker Mahmood filed a missing persons report with cops when his son stopped contact. Then the stunned dad got the news his boy was one of the four murderers.
He said: “The police came to my house. They didn’t know about two of the boys. I found out when I was talking to people. I found out their names.
“Before I mentioned the names of the other two local men involved, police had no idea what they were dealing with.”
Mahmood added: “This is a very painful time. The last 15 years have been hell. It’s taken 15 years to accept that my son was responsible.
“It’s so difficult to find out that your son was involved.
“I keep myself busy, I keep myself busy with my families and his photos. I go to his room and I pray for him.
“He was a very good boy as a child, an extremely good boy. That’s what I don’t understand. He was very gentle, very respectful to others. He would do nothing to hurt anyone.
“He loved cricket, he liked football. He played for a cricket team at school.
“At first I found it difficult to accept. You can call it a denial, but no parent wants to accept that their child is involved in something like this. I didn’t want to believe it. Slowly, slowly, slowly, slowly I’ve had to come to terms with it.”
Ever since discovering his son’s evil actions, Mahmood has kept his room exactly as it was when he left. On Tuesday – the anniversary of the attack – he intends to spend a few minutes in a Leeds cemetery at his unmarked grave. He said: “It still tears me apart.
“I’ve become more anxious, I’ve been more depressed. I’m always upset, always depressed. It’s affected me physically, not just emotionally.
“It’s beyond imagination having to cope with something like this.
“My family’s life has been turned upside down.”
Mahmood’s book My Son, the 7/7 Suicide Bomber is published by Empire Publications. All proceeds go towards Victim Support.