Anas Al-Tikriti

Anas Altikriti ( ar, أنس التكريتي; born 9 September 1968 in Iraq) is the CEO and Founder of The Cordoba Foundation, The Cordoba Foundation describes its aim as "bridging the gap of understanding between the Muslim World and the West". Anas Altikriti himself is a hostage negotiator, who has successfully negotiated the release of 18 hostages from various conflict zones around the world, between November 2005 and October 2015.

The Cordoba Foundation has been criticized for its links to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. In 2009 David Cameron, then leader of the opposition, made a statement during a Parliamentary Prime Ministers Questions, in which he alleged that TCF was a front for the Muslim Brotherhood. In late 2014 The Cordoba Foundation was listed as a terrorist group by the United Arab Emirates, along with the more than 75 various other international Muslim organisations which operate in a variety of fields. The British government opened its own enquiry into the Muslim Brotherhood. After a long delay, the report concluded that the Muslim Brotherhood should not be classified as a terrorist organization in the UK.

Early life

Anas Altikriti was born into a Muslim family; his father Dr Osama Tawfiq Altikriti is a retired Consultant Radiologist who attained his Fellowship in Radiology from London in 1978. An opposition figure to the Ba'th regime which came to power in Iraq in 1968, he eventually came to head the Muslim Brotherhood in Iraq for a number of years until the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime in 2003 at the hands of the US led invasion. :ar:أسامة التكريتي In 2003, he retired from medicine and moved back to Iraq and served for 2 terms as a member of the Iraqi Council of Representatives on behalf of the Iraqi Islamic Party.

Professional activities

Anas Altikriti holds an MSc in Translation and Interpreting. He teaches translation and interpreting on part-time basis at Leeds University.

Anas Altikriti became involved with the UK's Stop the War Coalition protests against the 2003 invasion of Iraq, becoming the movement's vice-president. He headed the Respect Party Yorkshire and the Humber slate for the European elections in 2004. Altikriti also served as president of the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) between 2004 and 2005.Anas Altikriti Profile
''The Guardian''

The MAB was "elevated from a relatively obscure group to national prominence" due to its association with the Stop the War coalition. After the 7 July 2005 London bombings, Altikriti found himself increasingly at odds with the MAB, many of whose members wanted a retreat from activism including involvement in the Stop the War Coalition in favor of educational/community development programmes. By December that year, Altikriti together with Azzam Tamimi had effectively lost control of MAB policy; in response, Altikriti helped form the British Muslim Initiative to maintain high-level political activism.

Media appearances

As a commentator in the International and Arab media (including BBC
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