Jailed Jihadi says no one has tried to turn him from the path of terror
A JAILED Al-qaeda terror mastermind waiting to hear his release date says little was done to help him deradicalise.
Rangzieb Ahmed, described as the lynchpin between British Al-qaeda sympathisers and overseas commanders, complained that an anti-extremism programme in prison was only good “on paper”.
Ahmed, 44, was jailed for life with a minimum of 10 years in 2008 for leading a Manchester-based terror cell with links to the 7/7 bombers who killed 52, but faced the parole board last month and is awaiting the decision on his release.
The Rochdale-born terrorist was arrested in Pakistan and became the first person to be convicted in the UK for directing a terrorist organisation. Anti-terror police believed he was one of the most dangerous Islamic terrorists captured on British soil after discovering his close links with Al-qaeda’s top godfathers in Pakistan.
Sources close to Ahmed insist he has made every effort to change his ways and is safe to be released. He has renounced his terrorist beliefs and is a different man, they say.
Speaking in December from a phone in prison the former taxi driver said people wanted to change their ways. But he claimed there hadn’t been enough deradicalisation programmes offered inside. In an audio tape recording of a conversation from HMP Wymott in Lancashire, he said: “People do want to change but there is not that much help going on. Everything looks good on paper, on the books, they say they are helping people.
“But there really is no help inside.”
The deradicalisation system has been under scrutiny after terror attacks involving convicted terrorists being released back on to the streets.
Last December, Usman Khan, 28, murdered two people during a prison rehabilitation conference at London’s Fishmongers’ Hall.
Khan had been released 12 months before after undergoing a series of programmes including a deradicalisation course in jail.
And last month it emerged Sudeshamman, 20, who stabbed two people in south London, had left prison only days before. He was shot dead by police after the knifings.
A Prison Service spokesman said: “Terrorist offenders who genuinely want to reform are offered a range of support, including one-to-one mentoring with imams and psychological interventions, to help them turn their lives around and reintegrate back into society.”
A source from the Ministry of Justice said of Ahmed: “This individual has been helped as much as possible and has benefited from several interventions.”