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Moazzam Begg ( ur, ; born 5 July 1968 in
Sparkhill
Sparkhill is an inner-city area of Birmingham, England, situated between Springfield, Hall Green and Sparkbrook.
Historically part of Worcestershire, Sparkhill once existed as a rural area with its main industry being agriculture until the 1 ...
,
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
) is a
British Pakistani
British Pakistanis ( ur, (Bratānia men maqīm pākstānī); also known as Pakistani British people or Pakistani Britons) are British people, citizens or residents of the United Kingdom whose ancestral roots lie in Pakistan. This includes ...
who was held in
extrajudicial detention
Administrative detention is arrest and detention of individuals by the state without trial. A number of jurisdictions claim that it is done for security reasons. Many countries claim to use administrative detention as a means to combat terrorism ...
by the
US government
The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...
in the
Bagram Theater Internment Facility
The Parwan Detention Facility (also called Detention Facility in Parwan or Bagram prison) is Afghanistan's main military prison. Situated next to the Bagram Air Base in the Parwan Province of Afghanistan, the prison was built by the U.S. during t ...
and the
Guantanamo Bay detainment camp
The Guantanamo Bay detention camp ( es, Centro de detención de la bahía de Guantánamo) is a United States military prison located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, also referred to as Guantánamo, GTMO, and Gitmo (), on the coast of Guant ...
, in
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
, for nearly three years. Seized by Pakistani intelligence at his home in
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
in February 2002, he was transferred to the custody of US Army officers, who held him in the detention centre at
Bagram
Bagram (; Pashto/ fa, بگرام) is a town and seat in Bagram District in Parwan Province of Afghanistan, about 60 kilometers north of the capital Kabul. It is the site of an ancient city located at the junction of the Ghorband and Panjshir Va ...
,
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
, before transferring him to Guantanamo Bay, where he was held until January 2005.
David Ignatius
David Reynolds Ignatius (born May 26, 1950) is an American journalist and novelist. He is an associate editor and columnist for ''The Washington Post''. He has written eleven novels, including '' Body of Lies'', which director Ridley Scott adapt ...
"A Prison We Need to Escape"
''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', 14 June 2006; accessed 22 June 2014.
The US authorities held Begg as an
enemy combatant
Enemy combatant is a person who, either lawfully or unlawfully, engages in hostilities for the other side in an armed conflict. Usually enemy combatants are members of the armed forces of the state with which another state is at war. In the case ...
, claiming Begg was an
al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
member, who recruited for, and provided money for, al-Qaeda training camps, and himself trained there to fight US or allied troops.
Begg acknowledged having spent time at two non-al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan in the early 1990s and given some financial support to fighters in Bosnia and Chechnya, but denies that he was ever involved in terrorism.
[
Begg says that he was abused by guards at Bagram, and saw two detainees beaten to death. Military coroners ruled that the two deaths were homicides, but US military spokesmen denied Begg's story at the time. Later, a 2005 military investigation into reports of abuse at Bagram concluded that both deaths were caused by abuse by American guards.]
Following a "long public outcry" in the UK over the detention of British nationals, in 2004, the UK government intervened on behalf of British citizens who were being detained at Guantanamo Bay. President George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
had Begg released without charge on 25 January 2005, despite Pentagon, CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
, and FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
objections. Begg and other British citizens who had been detained at Guantanamo later sued the British government for complicity in their alleged abuse and torture while in US custody. In November 2010, the British Government announced an out-of-court financial settlement with 16 detainees, including Begg.
After his release, Begg became a media commentator on issues pertaining to US, UK and international anti-terror measures. He toured as a speaker about Guantanamo and other detention facilities. Begg co-authored a book, and has written newspaper and magazine articles. He was interviewed in ''Taxi to the Dark Side
''Taxi to the Dark Side'' is a 2007 American documentary film directed by Alex Gibney, and produced by Gibney, Eva Orner, and Susannah Shipman. It won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. It focuses on the December 2002 killing of ...
'' (2007), a documentary about the death in custody of an Afghan detainee and the mistreatment of prisoners held by Americans in Afghanistan and elsewhere.
In 2014, British police arrested Begg, alleging terrorist activities during the Syrian civil war. Charges were later withdrawn and he was released when the prosecution became aware that MI5
The Security Service, also known as MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), G ...
had known of, and consented to, his travel to Syria.
Life prior to detention
Early life and education
Moazzam Begg was born in Sparkhill
Sparkhill is an inner-city area of Birmingham, England, situated between Springfield, Hall Green and Sparkbrook.
Historically part of Worcestershire, Sparkhill once existed as a rural area with its main industry being agriculture until the 1 ...
in 1968, and grew up in Moseley
Moseley is a suburb of south Birmingham, England, south of the city centre. The area is a popular cosmopolitan residential location and leisure destination, with a number of bars and restaurants. The area also has a number of boutiques and ot ...
, both suburbs of Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
. His father, Azmat Begg, was born in British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
and lived in Pakistan before emigrating with his wife to Great Britain. Begg's mother died when he was six, and his father initially worked in Britain as a bank manager. Begg holds dual UK–Pakistani citizenship.
Begg attended the Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
King David School, Birmingham, from age 5 to 11, because his father thought it promoted good values. Begg later attended Moseley Secondary School. During secondary school, he became a member of the Lynx Gang, a Birmingham street gang. The group was mostly Pakistani, but also included Algerian, Asian, Afro-Caribbean and Irish youths. The group banded together to fight persecution by far right anti-immigrant groups.[Moazzam Begg Interview](_blank)
, ''Liverpool's The Nerve'', Spring 2007 He said "we did things that no good Muslim should," but stated he rarely did anything violent. He once appeared in court for taking part in a fight with skinhead
A skinhead is a member of a subculture which originated among working class youths in London, England, in the 1960s and soon spread to other parts of the United Kingdom, with a second working class skinhead movement emerging worldwide in th ...
s.
Begg attended Solihull College
Solihull College & University Centre, formerly called Solihull Technical College, is a further education college located in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, in the West Midlands, England. The College has two main campuses; the Blossomfiel ...
, and later the University of Wolverhampton
The University of Wolverhampton is a public university located on four campuses across the West Midlands, Shropshire and Staffordshire in England. The roots of the university lie in the Wolverhampton Tradesmen's and Mechanics' Institute founde ...
, where he studied Law for two years, which he did not enjoy and did not complete his degree.
UK and travels to Islamic countries, 1993–98
On a family holiday to Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
and Pakistan in his late teens, Begg became interested in Islam. In late 1993 he returned to Pakistan and crossed the Pakistani–Afghan border with some young Pakistanis near the city of Khost
Khōst ( ps, خوست) is the capital of Khost Province in Afghanistan. It is the largest city in the southeastern part of the country, and also the largest in the region of Loya Paktia. To the south and east of Khost lie Waziristan and Kurram ...
. Begg said he visited a camp where US-backed nationalist and Islamic rebels were training to fight the Soviet-backed Afghan government. The training camp was run by either the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance
The Northern Alliance, officially known as the United Islamic National Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan ( prs, جبهه متحد اسلامی ملی برای نجات افغانستان ''Jabha-yi Muttahid-i Islāmi-yi Millī barāyi Nijāt ...
or a Pakistani group fighting for Kashmir. Begg later wrote of his time at the camp: "I had met men who seemed to me exemplary in their faith and self-sacrifice, and seen a world that awed and inspired me". Begg says he did not participate in the training.
Inspired by the commitment of the ''mujahedeen,'' Begg said he travelled to Bosnia in the early 1990s to help the Muslims during the war. He said he was "terribly affected by some of the stories ... of the atrocities taking place there". In 1994 he joined a charity that worked with Muslims in Bosnia. He states he "very briefly" joined the Bosnian Army Foreign Volunteer Force: "In Bosnia, I did fight for a while. But I saw people horribly damaged, and I thought, This is not for me". Begg first met Khalil Deek in Bosnia.
Begg also tried to travel to Chechnya
Chechnya ( rus, Чечня́, Chechnyá, p=tɕɪtɕˈnʲa; ce, Нохчийчоь, Noxçiyçö), officially the Chechen Republic,; ce, Нохчийн Республика, Noxçiyn Respublika is a republic of Russia. It is situated in the ...
, in the early 1990s during its war with Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
. While he thought that "fighting wasn't out of the question," he says that he did not participate in the armed struggle, but did give financial support to the foreign fighters.
In 1994, Begg was arrested charged with conspiracy to defraud the Department of Social Security
The Department of Social Security (DSS) was a governmental agency in the United Kingdom from 1988 to 2001. The old abbreviation is still often used informally. Advertisements for rented accommodation used to describe prospective tenants who wou ...
. His friend and fellow "Lynx Gang" member Syed Murad Meah Butt was also charged, pleaded guilty, and served 18 months in jail. The fraud charges against Begg were dropped for lack of evidence.
A search of his home by anti-terrorist police, at the time of the 1994 arrest, reportedly found night vision goggles
A night-vision device (NVD), also known as a night optical/observation device (NOD), night-vision goggle (NVG), is an optoelectronic device that allows visualization of images in low levels of light, improving the user's night vision. The dev ...
, a flak jacket
The two components of an obsolete British military flak vest. On the left, the nylon vest. On the right, the several layers of ballistic nylon that provide the actual protection
A flak jacket or flak vest is a form of body armor. A flak jacke ...
, and " extremist Islamic literature".[Daniel Foggo and Simon Trum]
"Briton facing US trial in Cuba was arrested by MI5"
''Daily Telegraph'', 6 July 2003. Other items found included a hand-held night vision lens. Begg insisted that the goggles and flak jacket were from his charity work in Bosnia and Chechnya and denied owning any "extremist Islamic literature"[O'Keeffe, Greg]
"Moazzem Begg: I saw a prisoner beaten to death"
!--note: forename was misspelled in the title-->, ''Liverpool Echo
The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St Paul's Square, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is published Monday to Sunday, and is Liverp ...
'', 2 April 2008,
archive
and noted the items seized were identical to those that many aid workers operating in conflict zones carry. His father said Begg had been collecting military paraphernalia as a hobby since childhood.
In 2005, after Begg's detention at Guantanamo became public knowledge, the US Justice Department
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and a ...
alleged he had "received extensive training in al-Qaeda terrorist camps since 1993". Pentagon officials said that Begg trained at three terrorist camps associated with al-Qaeda. While at the training camps, he reportedly trained to use handguns, AK-47
The AK-47, officially known as the ''Avtomat Kalashnikova'' (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is a gas-operated assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms d ...
rifles, and RPGs RPG may refer to:
Military
* Rocket-propelled grenade, a shoulder-launched anti-tank weapon
**''Ruchnoi Protivotankoviy Granatomyot'' (Russian: ''Ручной Противотанковый Гранатомёт''), hand-held anti-tank grenade launc ...
and to plan ambushes. The statement identified Begg as "a member of al-Qaeda and affiliated organisations," who was "engaged in hostilities against the United States and its coalition partners" in Afghanistan and said he "provided support to al-Qaeda terrorists, by providing shelter for their families while the al-Qaeda terrorists committed terrorist acts". Begg has denied all these charges, saying that he has "never planned, aided or participated in any attacks against Westerners".
Marriage and move to Pakistan
In 1995, Begg married, and in early 1998, he and his new family moved to Peshawar, Pakistan
Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...
. An American counterterrorism official claimed that the CIA and MI5
The Security Service, also known as MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), G ...
suspected Begg had worked with Khalil Deek, who also lived in Peshawar at that time, to create a CD-ROM terrorist manual. Begg said in interviews that he had met Deek in Bosnia and later collaborated with him on a business enterprise to sell traditional Pakistani clothing, but said he had never met Zubaydah. Pentagon officials said this conflicts with what he told interrogators.
Begg notes that he visited a second Afghan training camp, near Jalalabad
Jalalabad (; Dari/ ps, جلالآباد, ) is the fifth-largest city of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 356,274, and serves as the capital of Nangarhar Province in the eastern part of the country, about from the capital Kabul. Jala ...
, for two or three days during that time.[ He says it was run by Iraqi Kurds, not by ]al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
. They were training to use improvised incendiary grenades to fight Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...
. He donated a few hundred British pounds to that camp and a third training camp.[ A Pentagon spokesman said Begg spent five days in early 1998 at Derunta, an ]al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
-affiliated Afghan training camp. Defense Department officials said that Begg's sworn statements state he trained at Derunta and two other Afghan camps. He denied saying that, but acknowledged signing some documents while in custody because he feared for his life.
UK, 1998–2001
Begg returned to Birmingham in 1998 and, along with Imran Khan, a former stockbroker, opened the 'Maktabah Al Ansar' Islamic book and video shop, in Sparkhill, Birmingham. Police raided the shop the following year. In 1999, Begg's bookstore commissioned and published a book by Dhiren Barot
Dhiren Barot (aliases: Bilal, Abu Musa al-Hindi, Abu Eissa al-Hindi, and Issa al-Britani; born 1 December 1971) is a convicted Indian-born British terrorist.
Background
Barot was born in Baroda, India, into a Hindu family but converted to Isla ...
about Barot's experiences in Kashmir
Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...
, entitled ''The Army of Madinah in Kashmir.''
In February 2000, police and MI5
The Security Service, also known as MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), G ...
officers investigating Islamic terrorism raided the bookshop, took away books, files and computers, questioned staff and arrested Begg under British anti-terrorism laws. Begg was released without charge.["Terrorism act raid on bookshop"](_blank)
''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', 1 March 2000. Begg's father said the British government retrieved encrypted
In cryptography, encryption is the process of encoding information. This process converts the original representation of the information, known as plaintext, into an alternative form known as ciphertext. Ideally, only authorized parties can deci ...
files from his son's computer, and ordered Begg to open them, but Begg refused. A judge ruled that Begg could not be compelled to unlock the files.
Ruhal Ahmed
Ruhal Ahmed (also spelled Rhuhel Ahmed) (born 3 November 1981) is a British citizen who was detained without trial for over two years by the United States government, beginning in Afghanistan in 2001, and then in the Guantanamo Bay detention ca ...
was one of the so-called 'Tipton Three
The Tipton Three is the collective name given to three British citizens from Tipton, England who were held in extrajudicial detention by the United States government for two years in Guantanamo Bay detainment camp in Cuba.
Ruhal Ahmed was born on ...
,' young men from Tipton
Tipton is an industrial town in the West Midlands in England with a population of around 38,777 at the 2011 UK Census. It is located northwest of Birmingham.
Tipton was once one of the most heavily industrialised towns in the Black Country, w ...
in Britain who were held as Guantanamo detainee
The Guantanamo Bay detention camp ( es, Centro de detención de la bahía de Guantánamo) is a United States military prison located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, also referred to as Guantánamo, GTMO, and Gitmo (), on the coast of Guant ...
s. While incarcerated in Guantanamo, he is alleged to have told investigators that he had first become interested in jihad in summer 2000 after purchasing books on the subject from the Maktabah Al Ansar bookshop.
Begg's home in the UK was raided by anti-terrorist police in the summer of 2001. They took his computer and some related materials, but he was not charged.
Afghanistan and Pakistan, July 2001 – February 2002
With his wife Zaynab and three young children, Begg moved to Kabul
Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...
, Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
, in late July 2001. At the time, the Taliban
The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pasht ...
ruled Afghanistan. Begg considered it an economical place to bring up his family, and one where they would not be harassed for their race. He wrote in his autobiography that by 2001 the Taliban had made "some modest progress — in social justice and upholding pure, old Islamic values forgotten in many Islamic countries". Begg has since criticised the Taliban for its human rights abuses.
He says that he moved to Kabul to build wells in northwest Afghanistan, where there had been a drought in 2000. He and others also intended to build a school for girls in Kabul. Begg says while still in the UK, he, and others, had raised money and had begun providing equipment for a school. He says he was in the process of starting the school, and intended to work in it as an aid worker. The Taliban regime opposed education for females and had not given him a licence for the school, but "they didn't try to stop us either", The Taliban, he says, "were more receptive to Islamic volunteers", and that the repression of women was less intense in Kabul than in other places he saw. While in Afghanistan, he bought a handgun.[
In his book ''Enemy Combatant'', Begg recalls telling two US agents who visited him in Guantanamo Bay that: ]I wanted to live in an Islamic state–one that was free from the corruption and despotism of the rest of the Muslim world.... I knew you wouldn't understand. The Taliban were better than anything Afghanistan has had in the past 25 years.
Begg has also said "before the Taliban, warlords abounded, there was no security, the opium trade was booming, children were being used as sex slaves. At least the Taliban provided security and were building roads, and as opposed to the warlords, they seemed honest".
Begg says that he "had never even heard of Al Qaeda before 9/11", and although he knew about Osama bin Laden, he agreed with those who saw bin Laden's conflict with the US as "counterproductive for Muslims".
The Allied attack on Afghanistan began in October 2001, and, following the fall of the Taliban, a US Justice Department dossier on Begg alleges that he joined their retreat to the Tora Bora
Tora Bora ( ps, توره بوړه, "Black Cave") is a cave complex, part of the Spin Ghar (White Mountains) mountain range of eastern Afghanistan. It is situated in the Pachir Aw Agam District of Nangarhar, approximately west of the Khyber ...
mountains. The Pentagon claims that he was "prepared to fight in the front line against allied forces". He says that he and his family intended to evacuate to Islamabad
Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...
in Pakistan for safety. Initially he became separated from his family in Afghanistan, he and several other men were guided over the mountains into western Pakistan, and he was reunited with his family in Pakistan by mid-November.
Derunta training camp, from Jalalabad, was captured in November 2001. In the camp was found, among other things, a photocopy of a wire transfer moving funds from the Habib Bank AG Zurich
Habib Bank AG Zurich is a Swiss multinational commercial bank which is based in Zurich, Switzerland. It has its operations in Hong Kong, Kenya, Pakistan, South Africa the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.
History
Habib Bank AG Zuric ...
to a 'Moazzam Begg' in Karachi
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...
. US and Pakistani officials did not know who this was. Begg maintains that he is unaware of such a transaction, and that no one has ever shown him the document.["Inside Bin Laden's chemical bunker"](_blank)
''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', 17 November 2001; retrieved 17 February 2010.
In February 2002, Begg was seized at his rented home in Islamabad by, what Begg believes were, Pakistani agents working on behalf of the US. His family maintained it was a case of mistaken identity. Begg says the Pakistanis treated him well and that after several weeks, they transferred him to United States Army officers in Bagram, near Kabul.
Detention by US, 2002–2005
Detention in Afghanistan
Begg was held at Bagram Theater Internment Facility
The Parwan Detention Facility (also called Detention Facility in Parwan or Bagram prison) is Afghanistan's main military prison. Situated next to the Bagram Air Base in the Parwan Province of Afghanistan, the prison was built by the U.S. during t ...
from February 2002 to February 2003. He says that while there he was hog-tied
The hogtie is a method of tying the limbs together, rendering the subject immobile and helpless. Originally, it was applied to pigs (hence the name) and other young four-legged animals.
Details
The hogtie when used on pigs and cattle has ...
, kicked, punched, left in a room with a bag put over his head (even though he suffered from asthma
Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, cou ...
), sworn at, denied access to a lawyer, and threatened with electric shocks, having his fingers broken, sexual abuse, and, with extraordinary rendition
Extraordinary rendition is a euphemism for state-sponsored Kidnapping, forcible abduction in another jurisdiction and transfer to a third state. The phrase usually refers to a United States-led program used during the War on Terror, which had t ...
to Egypt or Syria if he did not sign confessions.
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman later said there was "no credible evidence that Begg was ever abused by US forces", and US intelligence officials insisted Begg had exaggerated the harshness of his treatment, though Whitman declined to answer whether Begg's abuse allegations had ever been investigated.
In July 2004, Begg wrote in a letter of "threats of torture, actual torture, death threats, racial and religious abuse", "cruel and unusual treatment", and that "documents ... were signed under duress".[ He also wrote: "This culminated, in my opinion, with the deaths of two fellow detainees, at the hands of US military personnel, to which I myself was partially witness".][ Begg claims that while at Bagram, he saw two other detainees ( Dilawar and Habibullah) being beaten so badly that he believed the beatings caused their deaths.]['Two people were beaten to death': Moazzam Begg interview]
''Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
'', 24 February 2005
At the time DoD denied Begg's account and, despite military coroner's having ruled the deaths as homicides, military spokesmen at that time attributed the deaths to natural causes. However a Department of Defense investigation, whose results were reported in May 2005, concluded that the deaths of Dilawar and Habibullah were wholly due to mistreatment by American soldiers. Begg wrote after his release that, he believed, one of the reasons he had continued to be detained was because he had been a witness to the two killings.
Guantanamo files leaked in 2011 revealed that, nine months after Begg's capture, the Department of Defence had concluded that Begg was a "confirmed member of al-Qaida," and that he had been an instructor at the Derunta training camp, as well as having attended the al-Badr
Al Badr is a village in Mecca Province, in western Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making ...
and Harakat aI-Ansar training camps.["Guantánamo Bay files: Profiles of the 10 released British prisoners"](_blank)
Ian Cobain, ''The Guardian'', 25 April 2011.
Detention in Guantanamo Bay
On 2 February 2003, Begg was transferred to United States military custody at Guantanamo Bay detention camp. A February 2003 editorial in '' Gulf News'' reported that Begg had written to his parents that he did not know what he was accused of and was beginning to feel hopeless and depressed. It also said that Begg had confessed to being part of a plot to spray the Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parli ...
with anthrax, a plan which had "caused hilarity" among security experts because of its implausibility, but, the article claimed, detainees were not allowed access to a lawyer until they had confessed to a crime.
Begg was held in Guantanamo Bay for just under two years, the first almost 600 days of which were spent in solitary confinement
Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment in which the inmate lives in a single cell with little or no meaningful contact with other people. A prison may enforce stricter measures to control contraband on a solitary prisoner and use additi ...
. The US government considered Begg an enemy combatant
Enemy combatant is a person who, either lawfully or unlawfully, engages in hostilities for the other side in an armed conflict. Usually enemy combatants are members of the armed forces of the state with which another state is at war. In the case ...
, and claimed that he trained at al-Qaeda terrorist camps in Afghanistan.["Guantanamo Four are too dangerous to free, says US"]
''The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was fo ...
'', 8 March 2004. He was not charged with any crime and was not allowed to consult legal counsel for the majority of the time he spent there.
On 9 October 2003, a memo summarising a meeting between General Geoffrey Miller and his staff and Vincent Cassard of the International Committee of the Red Cross
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC; french: Comité international de la Croix-Rouge) is a humanitarian organization which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and it is also a three-time Nobel Prize Laureate. State parties (signato ...
said that camp authorities did not permit them to have access to Begg, due to "military necessity". This is allowed by the Geneva Conventions, only as an "exceptional and temporary measure".
In July 2004, Begg wrote a letter saying he was not tortured in Guantanamo, though the conditions were "torturous". Late in 2004, Clive Stafford Smith (a British lawyer working in the US) visited Begg and said he heard "credible and consistent evidence" from Begg of torture, including the use of strappado.["Guantanamo Briton Tortured for Reciting Qur’an: Paper"]
''Islam Online
IslamOnline is a global Islamic website on the Internet providing services to Muslims and non-Muslims in several languages. Its motto is "credibility and distinction".It was founded by Yusuf al-Qaradawi.
Contents
The website consists of forum ...
'', 2 January 2005.["Guantanamo Briton 'in handcuff torture'"]
''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', 2 January 2005["Guantanamo Britons are still a threat, says Blair"]
''The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was fo ...
'', 14 November 2004.
Begg's American lawyer, Gitanjali Gutierrez of the Center for Constitutional Rights
The Center for Constitutional Rights[The Center for Constitutional Rights](_blank)
(CCR) is a Begg's letter to US Forces Administration
12 July 2004. Retrieved 21 February 2010, hosted by the BBC["A letter from Guantanamo: In full"]
BBC, 11 January 2005. Its full text was passed to his British lawyer, Gareth Peirce
Gareth Peirce (born Jean Margaret Webb; March 1940) is a British solicitor and human rights activist. She has worked on a number of high-profile cases involving allegations of human rights injustices. Her work with Gerry Conlon and the Guildf ...
. He insisted: "I am a law-abiding citizen of the UK, and attest vehemently to my innocence, before God and the law, of any crime — though none has even been alleged".[
]
Alleged contacts with extremists
Release
Following the United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
decision in '' Rasul v. Bush'' (2004), in which the court ruled that detainees had habeas corpus
''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...
rights and could challenge their detention, the US government quickly developed a system of Combatant Status Review Tribunals
The Combatant Status Review Tribunals (CSRT) were a set of tribunals for confirming whether detainees held by the United States at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp had been correctly designated as "enemy combatants". The CSRTs were estab ...
, Administrative Review Board
The Administrative Review Board is a United States military body that conducts an annual review of the detainees held by the United States in Camp Delta in the United States Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The purpose of the Board is to re ...
s, and military commissions to provide the detainees with an "impartial tribunal" for reviewing their cases. Detainees could not call defence lawyers, could not review the evidence against them, and had allegations made that were dependent on hearsay evidence. The British government protested about their citizens being subjected to the planned Guantanamo tribunals, because due process
Due process of law is application by state of all legal rules and principles pertaining to the case so all legal rights that are owed to the person are respected. Due process balances the power of law of the land and protects the individual pers ...
rights would be severely curtailed.
On 11 January 2005, the British Foreign Secretary
The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen ...
Jack Straw
John Whitaker Straw (born 3 August 1946) is a British politician who served in the Cabinet from 1997 to 2010 under the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He held two of the traditional Great Offices of State, as Home Secretary ...
announced that, after "intensive and complex discussions" between his government and the US, the remaining four British nationals in Guantanamo Bay would be returned "within weeks". While they were still regarded as "enemy combatants" by the US government, it had brought no specific charges against them. ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' and ''CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
'' reported that Bush had released Begg as a favour to British Prime Minister Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
, who was being harshly criticised in the UK for his support of the Iraq war. ''The Atlantic
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'' claimed that the Bush administration has tried to make a gag order
A gag order (also known as a gagging order or suppression order) is an order, typically a legal order by a court or government, restricting information or comment from being made public or passed onto any unauthorized third party. The phrase may ...
a condition of Begg's release, but that this would not have been acceptable to the British public.
On 25 January 2005, Begg and the three other British detainees, Feroz Abbasi
Feroz Abbasi is one of nine British men who were held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba. He was repatriated in 2005 and released by the British government the next day. He was released from de ...
, Martin Mubanga
Martin Mubanga is a joint citizen of both the United Kingdom and Zambia. He was held, without charge, and interrogated at the American prison at Guantanamo Bay for 33 months.
In 1995, he spent six months in Bosnia working for a charity.
In Jan ...
and Richard Belmar, were flown to RAF Northolt
("Ready to carry or to fight")
, pushpin_map = Greater London
, pushpin_label = RAF Northolt
, pushpin_map_caption = Shown within Greater London
, coordinates =
, type = Royal Air Force station
, code =
, site_area =
, height =
, owner ...
in west London.[Guantanamo four arrive back in UK]
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, 25 January 2005 On arrival they were arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000
The Terrorism Act 2000 (c.11) is the first of a number of general Terrorism Acts passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It superseded and repealed the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1989 and the Northern Ireland (Emer ...
by officers from the Metropolitan Police
The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...
and taken to Paddington Green Police Station
Paddington Green Police Station was a Metropolitan Police Service station located in Paddington, Central London, England, and closed in 2018.
History
Building work on the station was completed in 1971.
As well as providing local services, th ...
for questioning by anti-terrorist officers. By 9.00pm on 26 January, all four had been released without charge.
Post-release: January 2005–present
US claims of ties to terrorism
Bush released Begg over the objections of the Pentagon, the CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
, and the FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
, overruling most of his senior national security advisers, who were concerned that Begg could be a dangerous terrorist. In 2006, the Pentagon still maintained that he was a terrorist.
After Begg's release, Bryan Whitman, a Defense Department spokesman, said of Begg: "He has strong, long-term ties to terrorism — as a sympathizer, as a recruiter, as a financier and as a combatant". Whitman quoted from a single-spaced eight-page confession that Begg had signed while incarcerated in Bagram: "I was armed and prepared to fight alongside the Taliban and al-Qaeda against the U.S. and others, and eventually retreated to Tora Bora
Tora Bora ( ps, توره بوړه, "Black Cave") is a cave complex, part of the Spin Ghar (White Mountains) mountain range of eastern Afghanistan. It is situated in the Pachir Aw Agam District of Nangarhar, approximately west of the Khyber ...
to flee from U.S. forces when our front lines collapsed".
Begg maintains the confession is false, and that he gave it while under duress. Whitman said Begg was trying to recant his confession and that Begg was now "clearly lying", though Whitman declined to answer whether Begg's abuse allegations had ever been investigated.
Former military interrogator Christopher Hogan said: "He provided us with excellent information routinely ... I don't think he was the mastermind of 9/11, but nor do I think he was just an innocent ... more of a romantic than some sort of ideologically steeled fighter". ''The New York Times'' reported in June 2006, "of nearly 20 American military and intelligence officials who were interviewed about Begg, none thought he had been wrongly detained. But some said they doubted that he could be tied to any terrorist acts".
Alleged contacts with extremists after release
Begg gave a number of presentations to the Islamic Society at University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
in 2007, at a time that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab ( ar, عمر فاروق عبد المطلب ; also known as Umar Abdul Mutallab and Omar Farooq al-Nigeri; born December 22, 1986) popularly referred to as the "Underwear Bomber" or "Christmas Bomber", is a Nigerian-bor ...
was its president. ''The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' reported that Begg took part in the 'War on Terror Week' UCL presentations at Abdulmutallab's invitation. ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' reported that Abdulmutallab had helped to organise the week as president of the society and that an attendee had claimed that Abdulmutallab was seated "very close o Begg
O, or o, is the fifteenth Letter (alphabet), letter and the fourth vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in ...
. The Weekly Standard
''The Weekly Standard'' was an American neoconservative political magazine of news, analysis and commentary, published 48 times per year. Originally edited by founders Bill Kristol and Fred Barnes, the ''Standard'' had been described as a "re ...
called Begg "A jihadist", "a masterful anti-American propagandist" and "a demonstrable fraud".
Begg said that he does not recall Abdulmutallab, and that he was told that the 'War on Terror Week' UCL presentations were organised by Qasim Rafiq, a friend of Abdulmuttalab's. He was told Abdulmutallab did not attend any of the lectures.
Begg interviewed American imam
Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...
, and alleged al-Qaeda senior figure, Anwar al-Awlaki
Anwar Nasser al-Awlaki (also spelled al-Aulaqi, al-Awlaqi; ar, أنور العولقي, Anwar al-‘Awlaqī; April 21 or 22, 1971 – September 30, 2011) was an American imam who was killed in 2011 in Yemen by a U.S. government drone strik ...
after al-Awlaki was released from jail in Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
in 2007. Al-Awlaki was invited to address CAGE's' Ramadan
, type = islam
, longtype = Religious
, image = Ramadan montage.jpg
, caption=From top, left to right: A crescent moon over Sarıçam, Turkey, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramadan. Ramadan Quran reading in Bandar Torkaman, Iran. ...
fundraising dinners in August 2008 at Wandsworth Civic Centre, South London
South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, London Borou ...
(by videolink, as he was banned from entering the UK), and August 2009 at Kensington Town Hall.
Passport refusal and confiscation
In February 2005, British Home Secretary
The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national s ...
Charles Clarke
Charles Rodway Clarke (born 21 September 1950) is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Norwich South from 1997 until 2010, and served as Home Secretary from December 2004 until May 2006.
Early life
T ...
refused to issue Begg a passport. He did so based on information obtained while Begg was in US custody. He said "there are strong grounds for believing that, on leaving the UK, egg
An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...
would take part in activities against the United Kingdom or allied targets". Clarke used Royal prerogative
The royal prerogative is a body of customary authority, privilege and immunity, recognized in common law and, sometimes, in civil law jurisdictions possessing a monarchy, as belonging to the sovereign and which have become widely vested in th ...
to refuse the passport which had only been used 13 times since 1947 in this way – the previous time being in 1976.
A British passport was issued in 2009, but in 2013 it was confiscated at Heathrow airport upon Begg's return from a trip to South Africa. The Home Office said that Begg had been assessed as having been involved in terrorist activity due to a trip to Syria the previous year. Begg claimed that the real reason for the confiscation was his campaign to prove UK and US complicity in the use of torture and rendition of suspects, and that he had been stopped for questioning almost every time he had travelled, even when returning from an official speaking invitation at the European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
.
In January 2022, Begg announced he was taking legal action for a judicial review
Judicial review is a process under which executive, legislative and administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. A court with authority for judicial review may invalidate laws, acts and governmental actions that are incompat ...
of the British Home Secretary's rejection of his application for a passport, which had been confiscated in 2013. In February 2022 VICE World News published an interview of Mr Begg in which refers to his continuing “harassment” by authorities.
Public positions
Since his release, Begg has stated he is against attacks such as 9/11 but that he supported those fighting against British soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2010, referring to Afghanistan, Begg said he completely supported the inalienable right of the people to fight "foreign occupation" . . . if resisting the occupation of Afghanistan was not only considered good but lionised n the 1980s
N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''.
History
...
by the British government and US . . . then nothing has changed other than interests."
He has worked as outreach director for the charitable organisation and advocacy group CAGE
A cage is an enclosure often made of mesh, bars, or wires, used to confine, contain or protect something or someone. A cage can serve many purposes, including keeping an animal or person in captivity, capturing an animal or person, and displayin ...
, (formerly 'Cageprisoners') to represent those detainees still held at Guantanamo, as well as to help those who have been released to get services and integrate into society. He has travelled on speaking tours, and worked to persuade governments to accept former detainees for resettlement. In 2010, Cynthia Stroum, then-U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg, commented "Mr Begg is doing our work for us...", adding that Begg's "articulate, reasoned presentation makes for a convincing argument".
In December 2005, Begg made a video appeal to the Swords of Righteousness Brigade, the Iraqi kidnappers of four Western peace workers, asking for their release.[Ex-US detainee pleads for hostage]
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, 9 December 2005 There was an inter-faith effort calling for the men's release.
["Inter-faith support helped save the Iraq hostages"]
''Lebanon Star'', 7 April 2006 Abu Qatada, a detainee held in Britain also appealed for release of the men. In early March 2006, the body of the American hostage, Tom Fox, was found in Baghdad. A week-long military operation led by British forces secured the release of the remaining three hostages, one Briton and two Canadians, later that month.
In 2010, when CAGE had recently expanded its work to include the highlighting of the use of drone strikes for extrajudicial killings, Begg said that little had changed despite
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
's promises: "We say that Bush was the president of torture, but Obama is the president of extra-judicial killing . . . while one used to extra-judicially detain people, the other has gone a step further and extra-judicially kills them".
Speaking of Guantánamo, Begg said that recently released detainees had told him that conditions had improved slightly after Obama came to power, but none believed it would close: "It is like a town now and every thing around it has continued to expand. It seems that this is a permanent facility and they intend to keep it as such".
Following the
2014 Peshawar school massacre, in which over 130 pupils and teachers were killed by the
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan
The Pakistani Taliban (), formally called the Tehreek-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan (Urdu/ ps, , lit=Student Movement of Pakistan, TTP), is an umbrella organization of various Islamist armed militant groups operating along the Afghan–Pakistani bo ...
, Begg wrote a comment on Facebook which was reported in his home town's main newspaper, the ''
Birmingham Post''. Begg stated that 'It is time to stop this cycle of uncontrolled rage and internecine violence that will only drive us to the pits of hell. Incessant calls for revenge each time need to be tempered with reflections on the consequences of what that means. There are no winners in this'.
Speaker and activist
As director of outreach for the prisoner rights organisation,
CAGE
A cage is an enclosure often made of mesh, bars, or wires, used to confine, contain or protect something or someone. A cage can serve many purposes, including keeping an animal or person in captivity, capturing an animal or person, and displayin ...
, Begg has appeared in the media and around the country, lecturing on issues pertaining to the British Muslim community, such as imprisonment without trial, torture, anti-terror legislation and measures and community relations. He has appeared as a commentator on radio and television interviews and documentaries, including the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
's ''Panorama'' and ''Newsnight'' shows,