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WHY ARE 36% OF OUR UNIVERSITIES TRAINING MUSLIM TERRORISTS?

Abdulmutallab, the so-called Underwear Bomber.

Sunday December 19,2010

By James Murray

EFFORTS to spot violently radical students within our universities are doomed to failure because academics cannot get to grips with the potentially deadly problem, a Sunday Express investigation has revealed.

As detectives try to find out what happened in the years that a suicide bomber was at university before he tried to kill 100 Christmas shoppers in Sweden last Saturday, our security services are eagerly awaiting the pearls of wisdom from Professor Malcolm Grant, the Provost of University College London.

M15 chiefs have already warned 39 universities that they have a serious problem with Islamic ‘‘violent extremism” and were alarmed when 14 of those institutions chose not to seek a Government grant to help deal with the issue.

Now their hopes of getting tough, positive action lie with Professor Grant, who, with a small team of academics, has been commissioned by UK Universities to address the troubling situation.

Professor Grant’s report for UK Universities, the advisory body for the country’s 133 universities, will be published early in the New Year.

He was seen as the ideal person to write new guidelines on dealing with student radicalisation not just because of his academic brilliance but because one of his former students, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, tried to blow up a jet over Detroit last Christmas Day.

however, inquiries suggest that his report may not deliver the much-needed wake-up call to chancellors and vice chancellors. Sources fear it is likely to be a wordy academic discourse which tries to balance the need for freedom of speech and academic freedom while also tackling extremism, a stance which some argue is a recipe for fence-sitting.

Cynics say the report will not suggest a foolproof system of spotting the dark side of students like Abdulmuttalab or 28-year-old father of three Taimour Adbulwahab Al-Abdaly, from Luton, who blew himself up in Stockholm last weekend.

Graduates of terror will be no easier to spot and the system will remain largely as it is without the reform desperately needed.

Now questions are being raised about whether Professor Grant was the best man for the job, as UCL relies heavily on the income from its 2,000 Muslim students. On top of that he was involved in signing a deal which has allowed the university to set up a campus in wealthy Qatar.

Professor Anthony Glees, director of security studies at Buckinghamshire University, argues that there is a serious risk of conflict of interest, not just at UCL but at other universities which develop close ties with rich Muslim countries. He wants any donations universities accept from such countries to be independently vetted and believes the issue of radicalisation should come under the responsibility of the Parliament’s Security and Intelligence Committee, headed by former Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind.

Professor Glees said: “It is a very serious issue which could require new laws and definitely tougher procedures so this committee would be ideal for the job.”

After Abdulmuttalab – the so-called Underwear Bomber – was caught, an investigation into his three years at UCL was undertaken by an independent panel headed by Dame Fiona Caldicott, former principal at Oxford’s Somerville College.

She found no evidence that he had been radicalised at UCL, despite former Home Secretary Alan Johnson telling Parliament last January that he was known to the security services while he was there between 2005 and 2008.

UCL says there have been intense discussions with Scotland Yard, counter terrorism chiefs and M15 and they were told he was not on any radar for being a violent extremist.

At the very least the discrepancies in the accounts should have been addressed in Dame Fiona’s report – but there was no mention of them. Professor Glees said: “I know from Whitehall sources that Abdulmutallab was detected by M15 reaching out to people who were known to be men of violence yet they still deny he was radicalised there. I think it needs to be sorted.”

UCL does not have a good history of spotting potential terrorists.

Chemical engineering undergraduate Samar Alami was given a 20-year sentence for planting a bomb outside the Israeli Embassy in 1994.

Mohammed Abushamma enrolled to study for a natural sciences degree in September 2008 after being arrested in April that same year. Last year he was given a three-year jail sentence after admitting preparing for acts of terrorism. Worryingly, Dame Fiona still found gaps in UCL’s systems which potential terrorists could exploit. Her report calls on university chiefs to develop a more structured approach to monitoring student societies and said there should be more “effective communication” when dealing with students who cause concern.

She also asked Professor Grant to “consider whether there is a need for enhanced training of staff to enable them to deal sympathetically but responsibly with cases of concern about students, and increase awareness of the provisions of the Terrorism Acts”. Meanwhile, highly respected campaigning moderate Muslim Shahid Mursaleen is not holding his breath for Professor Grant’s report. He suspects it will not go far enough in creating an effective plan to unmask or challenge extremists. Shahid is publishing a book by Muslim scholar Muhammed Tahir ul-Qadri, which presents arguments for moderates to use against the radicals.

Called Fatwa On Terrorism it will be published in the New Year and he wants it in every university and accessible to all student Islamic societies, yet he has been given a lukewarm reception by the Government and many universities.

Shahid told the Sunday Express: ‘‘It takes only one step to transform those extremists into terrorists with a conviction that he will be welcomed into heaven for his brutal actions.

“One of the most effective ways to reject the extremist and dangerous views is by refuting the ideaology on religious grounds and making them aware that they will be welcomed by hellfire for their terrorist actions and not 72 virgins.”

Shahid will also be giving a talk to the Islamic Society of Bedfordshire University on January 17 to discuss the beauty of the religion without the hate and he will encourage students to renounce the extremists and challenge them intellectually.

Read more: http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/218274/Why-are-36-of-our-universities-training-Muslim-terrorists-Why-are-36-of-our-universities-training-Muslim-terrorists-#ixzz18XZLhsCS