UK: former Guantanamo Bay detainee Moazzam Begg arrested for Syria-linked terrorism offences

The Times of India
Moazzam Begg charged with Syria-linked terrorism offences
Kounteya Sinha,TNN | Mar 2, 2014, 06.48 AM IST

LONDON: The former Guantanamo Bay detainee Moazzam Begg was remanded in custody on Saturday charged with Syria-related terror offences.

Begg who was born in Birmingham to a family of Indian descent appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court and denied the charges. The 45-year-old from Hall Green will next appear at the Old Bailey on 14 March.

A woman arrested with him has also been remanded in custody.

Gerrie Tahari, 44, of Sparkbrook, Birmingham is charged with facilitating terrorism overseas.

Both were arrested on Tuesday.

Two men aged 20 and 36 also arrested on Tuesday remain in custody. The charges have been authorised by the Crown Prosecution Service.

Begg was held in the US-run military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba for nearly three years but was never charged with any offence.

He is a British citizen who moved to Afghanistan with his family in 2001, before moving again to Pakistan in 2002 when the Afghanistan War started.

He was detained in Islamabad in January 2002 and taken to Bagram internment centre in Afghanistan for about a year before being transferred to the Guantanamo camp.

He was released in January 2005 along with three other British citizens and returned to the UK.

Begg is now a director of campaign group Cage which helps the families of people who have been detained.

All four are being held at a police station in the West Midlands area.

Their home addresses have been searched by officers from the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit.

Vehicles and electronic equipment have been removed for forensic analysis.

Head of investigations detective superintendent Shaun Edwards said: "All four arrests are connected. They were pre-planned and intelligence led. There was no immediate risk to public safety. We continue to urge anyone planning to travel to Syria to read the advice issued by the Foreign Office".

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