Dental Student Jailed For Amassing And Spreading Terrorist Material

January 11, 2019 Article

A dental student who amassed and disseminated a “breathtaking” amount of terrorist-related material has been jailed for eight years.

Abdurahman Kaabar also sent hundreds of pounds to his brother, Mohammed Kaabar, who was fighting for Jihadists in Syria, Sheffield Crown Court heard.

Jailing Kaabar, 24, on Friday, Judge Paul Watson QC said: “It was clear that you had wed yourself to a corrupt and corrosive ideology of Islamic extremism. The volume of material which you downloaded and kept in your possession was frankly breathtaking and the content of which was horrific.”

The judge said he was confident the material distributed by Kaabar was “intended to encourage others to engage in terrorist activities”.

He said one of those in contact with the defendant was Mohammed Awan, another dentistry student whom he jailed for 10 years in 2017 for preparing acts of terrorism.

Judge Watson said Kaabar had been found with documents which gave instructions for knife attacks and bomb making as well one which glorified the Orlando nightclub attack in June 12016, which left 49 people dead.

Kabaar, of Martin Street, Upperthorpe, Sheffield, pleaded guilty last year to 15 offences relating to disseminating or possessing material likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.

He was found guilty by jury of two counts of terrorist fundraising relating to cash sent to his brother in Syria.

The former Plymouth university student told the jury last year that the cash was for medical treatments.

Another defendant – Badroddin Kazkaz, 23, of Cross Myrtle Road, Heeley, Sheffield – pleaded guilty to a similar terrorism funding offence. He was jailed for four years on Friday. Judge Watson said Mohammed Kaabar, who travelled to Syria in 2016, was “engaged in violent Jihadi activity”.

The judge it was not clear which group Kaabar was fighting with, but it did not matter.

He said the cash sent abroad was to be used “for a terrorist purpose”.

Judge Watson told Kazkaz: “I’m not sentencing you for the views that you had or even may continue to have.

“The privilege that you enjoy of living in a democratic society, based on democratically passed laws and conventions, is to hold such views.”

But he said that privilege ended when someone engaged in acts supportive of terrorism “designed to undermine those very privileges”.

Detective Chief Superintendent Martin Snowden, head of counter-terrorism policing North East, said: “Kaabar had a radical mindset and an active interest in extremism. He was not only in possession of terrorist material, he was also sharing it and encouraging others to carry out terrorist activity.

“Kabaar and Kazkaz both transferred money to Kabaar’s brother, believed to be fighting in Syria. It is highly likely that they would have at least suspected that the money would be used to further the cause of terrorist groups and potentially fund terrorist activity.

“Showing support and providing funds to these types of groups allows terrorism to survive.”

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Categories: Abdurahman Kaabar, Dentist, Jihadi, Mohammed Kaabar, News, Syria

Paying Attention to Substance Abuse Could Prevent Terror Attacks, Study Finds

January 11, 2019 Article

Paying more attention to substance abuse could predict or prevent radicalisation, a study has concluded.

The research suggested terror attacks are carried out by “psychologically disturbed young men” who sought out radicalism as a form of self-help.

According to the findings, the attackers had a history of violence due to substance abuse, had acted alone, had no help from a radical group and died as a result of their actions.

The study, conducted by international security lecturer Dr Lewis Herrington from Loughborough University, looked at six incidents – including the Westminster Bridge attack by Khalid Masood in 2017, and the murder of soldier Lee Rigby in 2013 by Michael Adebowale and Michael Adebolajo.

Dr Herrington found that paying closer attention to Masood’s regular cocaine and alcohol use, Adebolajo and Adebowale’s chronic drug use, and Berlin Market attacker Anis Amri’s alcohol consumption since the age of 13, could have provided intelligence services with “helpful indicators” to prevent the attacks.

The study concluded that from a population of 52 lone-actor terrorists across Europe between 2012 and 2017, at least 75% had a history of chronic substance abuse.

Research also found that Muslim communities which introduce the 12-step recovery programme for addiction could help prevent vulnerable members seeking Islamic fundamentalism.

Dr Herrington said: “Fundamentalism provides a structurally equivalent means of recovery from addiction as the widely recognised 12-step programme.

“However, it is a programme that inadvertently directs a minority of vulnerable men along a pathway towards isolation, obsession, resentment and finally martyrdom, rather than sobriety.

“Based on our understanding of addiction, isolation leads to extreme feelings of self-pity, guilt, shame and remorse.”

Dr Herrington continued: “This in turn may trigger suicidal thoughts within Islamic fundamentalists who are unable to commit suicide due to newly established religious beliefs.

“Our six case studies were not exceptional, and some attacks may have been prevented if the perpetrators had been screened for addiction.

“The case of Khalid Masood is especially alarming, and there are almost certainly many others like him.”

He added: “Improved knowledge of the connectivity between addiction and suicide terrorism may provide us with a new working framework within which to help prevent future attacks.”

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Categories: Herrington, Khalid Masood, Michael Adebolajo, Michael Adebowale, News, Substance abuse, terror attacks