Jihad Recruiter Jailed For Life After Sting - Sky News

6:23pm UK, Friday September 09, 2011

A former Taliban fighter who tried to recruit men to kill British troops in Afghanistan has been given four life sentences.

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Munir Farooqi was caught in a police sting when two undercover officers infiltrated his group in Manchester.

The 54-year-old Pakistani-born British citizen was convicted of preparing for acts of terrorism, soliciting to murder and dissemination of terrorist publications.

Following a four-month trial at Manchester Crown Court, he was told he must serve a minimum of nine years before he can be considered for parole.

His co-defendants, Matthew Newton and Israr Malik, were also found guilty of terror charges.

Newton was jailed for six years; Malik was given an indeterminate sentence

The court heard that Farooqi operated an Islamic book stall with the help of former British Army recruit Newton, 29, and 23-year-old petty criminal Malik.

Farooqi and his recruits used the Longsight market stall to attract vulnerable men and radicalise them, encouraging them to perform violent jihad abroad.

In October 2008 the stall was approached separately by two men, known only as Ray and Simon, who pretended to be at a low ebb in their lives and interested in Islam.

In fact the two were undercover police from the North West Counter Terrorism Unit, who wore secret recording devices during the months they got to know Farooqi and his accomplices.

Farooqi was told he must serve a minimum of nine years

Over time the pair gathered evidence which demonstrated how they were being groomed to fight against coalition and British troops in Afghanistan.

Rose-Marie Franton, from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said: "The defendants gave them terrorist books and DVDs to read and watch, some of them with appalling images of atrocities against Muslims.

"The prosecution said that far from trying to help Simon and Ray reach a genuine understanding of Islam, the motive of Munir Farooqi and his associates was to recruit fighters with a religious duty to train, fight, kill and die if necessary."

The court heard how father-of-three Farooqi had turned his family home in Longsight into a "production centre" for extremist propaganda.

The two undercover officers devoted more of a year of their lives to exposing this terrorist network, putting themselves in harm's way to build up enough evidence to convict these men.

Detective Chief Superintendent Tony Porter

One of the 50,000 books and leaflets recovered from the house was called 'Defence of Muslim Lands' and featured a glowing dedication to the author from Osama bin Laden.

Farooqi - who was captured in Afghanistan in 2001 after fighting with the Taliban - would also take recruits on visits to mosques in and around Manchester as part of the "grooming" process.

Once they were trusted, the gang would talk to potential recruits in code about planning a "holiday" - a reference to heading to Afghanistan to fight for the Taliban.

Detective Chief Superintendent Tony Porter, head of the North West Counter Terrorism Unit, (NWCTU) said: "The two undercover officers devoted more of a year of their lives to exposing this terrorist network, putting themselves in harm's way to build up enough evidence to convict these men."

Some of the extremiest CDs and DVDs found at Farooqi's home

Passing sentence Mr Justice Richard Henriques told Farooqi he was a "very dangerous man, an extremist, a fundamentalist with a determination to fight abroad".

Newton was jailed for six years while Malik was given an indeterminate sentence for public protection.

He was told he must serve a minimum of five years before parole is considered, but will only be released if he is deemed no longer a danger to the pubic.

A fourth man, Farooqi's son Harris, was cleared of engaging in conduct in preparation for terrorism.