Muslim groups infiltrated by 7/7 bombers had huge British government grants

Daily Mail:

Government grants totalling hundreds of thousands of pounds were handed out to Muslim organisations infiltrated by the July 7 suicide bombers.

Huge chunks of taxpayers' money were given to four Leeds-based institutions that were the haunts of ring-leader Mohammed Sidique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer.

Grants ranging from a few hundred pounds to £200,000 were made in Beeston, the bombers' home territory where three of the four 7/7 bombers lived.

The money came from funds intended to regenerate the area but suspicions persist that some of the cash may have been diverted to recruit and train the home-grown terrorists who killed 52 people in last year's attacks.

The Iqra Islamic bookshop - where hate-filled DVDs glorifying suicide bombers were produced - was one recipient.

Leeds Community School, which shared the same building with the radical bookstore, obtained a grant of over £106,000 for 'staffing and construction costs.'

The 'al-Qaeda gym' in the basement of a nearby mosque used by Edgware Road bomber Khan,30, was also equipped with money provided by Leeds City Council.

The Hamara youth centre, raided by police after the four men blew themselves and where Khan's inner circle met, received two £200,000 grants for building costs and an £189,000 EU building grant.

Details of the government financing emerged during research for a Channel 4 documentary, Cult of the Suicide Bomber.

The programme, produced and directed by terror expert Kevin Toolis, is broadcast on Monday - the fifth anniversary of 9/11.

It contains an interview with IT worker Martin Gilbertson, whose expertise was sought by the four interconnected institutions in Beeston - the Iqra, Leeds Community School, the gym and the Hamara Youth Access Point, an offshoot of a mainstream Muslim community centre nearby.

The 45 year old computer expert claims he tried to warn police about the July 7 bombers two years before the suicide attacks on London.

He first encountered the bombers at a party in Beeston to celebrate the September 11 attacks and worked alongside Khan and Tanweer, the 22 year old Aldgate bomber, while helping to produce DVDs and provide IT support.

Mr Gilbertson worked alongside Khan and Tanweer at the book shop and youth centre. Between 2001 and 2004 he was commissioned to make graphic DVD 'presentations' which showed children in Iraq and Palestinian territories mutilated or killed by American or Israeli forces.

The DVDs contributed to what he called the 'atmosphere conducive to the bombers' in Beeston but when he became so alarmed by what was going on he went to the police.

The computer expert says youth worker Khan and Tanweer were regular visitors to the Iqra book shop and Hamara Youth Access Point. He says both bombers were part of the Mullah Crew, a local gang which used to train at the locally-known 'al-Qaeda' gym which was linked to the nearby bookshop.

Mr Gilbertson said he posted DVDs, confidential information and a list of names to police but was never called. After the July 7 attacks he contacted police again and was interviewed three times.

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