Claims doctor backed al Qaeda

A doctor at the centre of a Medical Council inquiry was described in internal HSE correspondence as being “radicalised” and a supporter of al Qaeda.

A fitness-to-practise inquiry into Pakistan-born Saqid Ahmed heard that the letter, written in April 2014, said Dr Ahmed’s colleagues were “concerned about how he was becoming increasingly insular”. It added that “he became radicalised and even spoke of his support for al Qaeda”.

Details of the letter, written by director of human resources at University Hospital Limerick, were read out by Dr Ahmed, who is representing himself by telephone from Michigan in the US.