This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2366

Four men charged in UK terrorist recruitment network that trained in English countryside

September 12, 2006

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5337110.stm Four in court on terror charges
The Bridge to China Town restaurant Twelve were arrested at the restaurant
Four men have appeared in court to face terrorism charges following a series of police raids in London that targeted an alleged terrorist recruitment network.

Yassin Mutegombwa, 22, is charged with receiving training in the use of weapons, in Hampshire and Berkshire.

Mr Mutegombwa's brother, Hassan, 20, Musa Akmet, 47, and Mustafa Abdullah, 24, were charged with other offences under the Terrorism Act.

The four were remanded in custody by City of Westminster magistrates.

All four men, who are from south London, were held during raids on 1 September.

Yassin Mutegombwa, of Upper Norwood, is charged with three counts of receiving terrorism training, twice at a woodland area near Matley Wood Caravan and Camping site in Lyndhurst, Hampshire, and once near Pondwood Farm, White Waltham, Berkshire.

He is accused of receiving training in Hampshire between 28 April and 1 May, and between 2 June and 4 June this year.

The third charge alleges he received training in Berkshire on 18 June.

BBC home affairs correspondent Margaret Gilmore said he is the first person to be charged with this offence, under a section of the Terrorism Act 2006.

Hassan Mutegombwa, also of Upper Norwood, is charged with one count of procuring funds for terrorism.

Firearm

Mr Akmet, 47, of Eltham, is charged with having information useful to a person committing an act of terrorism. He is also charged with possession of a flare launcher under the Firearms Act.

And Mr Abdullah, 24, of Stockwell, is charged with having information useful to a person committing an act of terrorism.

The four men are due to appear at the same court on 10 October.

The raids in London led to 14 arrests, including 12 at The Bridge to China Town restaurant in Borough. Two people have since been released.

Anti-terrorism officers also swooped on the Jameah Islameah Secondary School in Mark Cross, near Crowborough, East Sussex, which they continue to search.

Sussex Police said investigations at the school could take weeks but that no arrests had been made there.

Ultimatum

The school was set up in 2003 as an Islamic teaching facility for boys aged between 11 and 16, according to Ofsted inspectors who raised concerns after an inspection last year.

The Department for Education has since issued the school with an ultimatum to improve or face being shut down, and inspectors are due to return this term.

A total of eight men remain in custody in connection with the police investigation.

Officers have been given an extra two days to hold one man whose custody time limit was about to expire.

Among those being held is Abu Abdullah, a former associate of the radical Islamic cleric Abu Hamza.

Police said the arrests were not connected to the alleged plot to blow up transatlantic airliners or the 2005 London bombings.

This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2366