Anti-terror group starved of funds, claims former Jihadi

A former Jihadi who has dedicated his life to deterring other young Muslims from becoming terrorists is getting the support he needs to continue his work, Hazel Blears said today.

Hanif Qadir, from east London, was recruited into jihad in 2002 and even received an inscribed scarf from Osama bin Laden for his contribution to the cause.

But after witnessing the horrendous reality on the terrorist frontline in Afghanistan he returned to the UK determined to persuade others not to follow the same path.

He claims his vital work is under threat due to lack of funding but Communities and Local Government Secretary Ms Blears said she believed he was getting enough backing.

She said: “My understanding is that Hanif is in contact with his local authority and is getting support…

“He is getting support and will be able to do the type of work he is talking about.”

Mr Qadir now runs the Active Change Foundation in Leyton where he seeks to counteract efforts by extremists to recruit impressionable young people into terrorism.

He believes his work is more important than ever because young Muslims are now being radicalised within weeks rather than months but that it is suffering due to lack of funding.

The one-time extremist told Sky News: “Sometimes I feel like saying well, okay, I am going to sit back and watch.

“But then sitting back and watching is not going to be the solution to it. I am really hungry and greedy to make a difference.”

Once young Muslims were radicalised, not even their parents, wider family or close friends knew about it, he said.

Only in certain cases would they ever talk to those closest to them about what they were becoming involved in.

After his time in Afghanistan five years ago, he said he returned feeling that he “had been lied to seriously” and set about helping others to resist the pressure to join Jihad.

Ms Blears, also speaking to Sky News, said: “The work Hanif is doing with such passion and such commitment is exactly the kind of work we want to encourage up and down the country.”

The extra £70m (€103m) to help fund community-based projects aimed at reaching out to disaffected young Muslims announced last month would go to these sorts of projects, she added.

The Cabinet Minister said: “That is absolutely the kind of work we want to fund, that we will be funding and supporting and making sure that we are on the ground and making a difference.”

She was repeatedly pressed about Mr Qadir’s claims his work was suffering due to lack of funding, but only re-iterated that she believed he was getting the support he needed.

The Minister added that the “severe and sustained threat” of terrorism and the problem of people being groomed by extremists was one that faced every person in Britain.

“We can all do things to help, whether that is the Government through the resources we are putting through, local authorities who are on the ground and in touch with the communities but also people themselves,” she said.

Young people and women had to be particularly encouraged to speak out and reject the “ideology of hate and division”, Ms Blears said.

She added: “We want to build up the resilience of whole communities to stand up and isolate these tiny minority of people who want to lead people down this path.”