‘Tartan Taliban’ actions condemned by minister

Scotland’s International Development Minister branded images of James McLintock grinning behind children he is allegedly using to draw in terror cell cash “deeply disturbing”.

Humza Yousaf hit out at after The Courier obtained pictures of the Dundonian in the Pakistani orphanage which is said to be a front for extremist groups.

He said: “This deeply disturbing picture shows the lengths to which extremists are willing to go in order to fund their activities.

“As has recently been revealed, James McLintock has been using innocent children as pawns to attract financing for terror activities for some time, which is absolutely disgusting.”

Conservative North East Scotland candidate Alex Johnstone joined the condemnation.

He said: “Using charity as a front of funding terror is as despicable as it gets. This kind of behaviour can’t be tolerated – we need to come down on people like this like a ton of bricks.

“I’m glad The Courier is unmasking him in this way.”

The United States and Saudi Arabian governments announced a new series of sanctions on four people and two organisations tied to al Qaida, the Taliban and the Lashkar-e-Taiba extremist groups last week, including McLintock.

McLintock denies the allegations and insists his organisation is a legitimate charity operator.