Wales Muslim Cleric
Wrexham imam Abdurraouf Eshati jailed over Libyan arms plot
27 October 2015
North East Wales
BBC
A
Libyan man who lived at a mosque in Wrexham and sometimes led prayers
as an imam has been jailed for six years after admitting his part in a
network plotting an £18.6m arms deal.
Abdurraouf Eshati admitted collecting information for terrorist purposes.
The 29-year-old was sentenced at London's Old Bailey over the bid to get arms to the war-torn country.
The charge related to two documents on the purchase of ammunition and cargo plane hire.
Judge
John Bevan QC said on Tuesday: "It's obvious that his involvement means
that it was felt he could be trusted as a confidant in relation to
large-scale arms supply."
Eshati was due to stand trial on Monday but changed his plea.
The
court was told electronic documents found outlined a plan to send 1,100
tonnes of ammunition to Libya, via a contact in Italy, in support of
the Zintan people there.
During
their investigation, police searched Eshati's room at Wrexham Islamic
Cultural Centre where they found a number of letter-headed documents
which were blank, apart from a stamp and a signature which the
prosecution said was a forger's kit.
It
is understood Eshati lived at the mosque and would occasionally lead
prayers when no one else was available but he did not take any of the
main prayer meetings.
Eshati
was caught trying to get to France in the back of a lorry with 19 other
people at the port of Dover in Kent on 30 November, last year.
On
his mobile phone, police found an invoice from an arms supplier for the
sale and delivery of ammunition to Tobruk in Libya and a document about
chartering a cargo jet for £163,000 for use in Libya.
Eshati
also had images on his phone of militia group activists, a beheading
and armaments in action which, the prosecution said, showed his
allegiance to the Zintan people.
On his arrest, he told police he had been in Britain since 2009 on a visa and later as an asylum seeker.
Eshati said his father had been a senior figure in the Gaddafi regime
and was now in prison in Tripoli while his two brothers had been
murdered. This, however, was a false claim.
On
Monday, he admitted seeking leave to remain in the UK by deception on
or before 14 December 2012, by falsely claiming he was at risk of
persecution if returned to Libya.
Dr
Ikram Shah from the Wrexham Islamic and Cultural Centre said in a
statement the members want to disassociate themselves from Eshati's
actions and added they feel betrayed by what he has done.
Speaking
after the hearing, Det Ch Supt Terri Nicholson, head of operations at
the Metropolitan Police's counter terrorism command, said: "There is no
doubt trading arms in this way would endanger the lives of many
Libyans, with the potential for use in other conflicts."
The
Crown Prosecution Service said Eshati's arrest and the finding of these
documents led to Italian authorities discovering large scale illegal
arms supplies being imported from eastern Europe to conflict zones in
Libya and other places.
Lying cleric sacked from school canteen
The New South Wales Government has revealed that an Islamic cleric, who
lied about his name and criminal past to prison authorities, has been
working as a school canteen manager.
State Education Minister Carmel Tebbutt says the Department of
Education today cancelled a contract issued to Amwar Hisam Al Barq to
provide canteen services after becoming aware through media reports of
his prior criminal conviction in the United States on drugs charges.
Ms Tebbutt says he tendered for and was awarded the contract last month.
She says she has also asked the director-general to investigate the
matter and report on the appropriateness of the department's criminal
checks.
The Opposition has also used Parliament to question whether the State
Government put political pressure on prison authorities to keep
employing the cleric.
Mr Barq was removed from his position after it was revealed he had not used his real name and had a criminal record.
Opposition Leader Peter Debnam has taken issue with the statement that there was no evidence of links to terrorist groups.
"[On the] 15th of March, intelligence reports note and I quote, 'Al
Barq's known associations with groups and persons with links to
terrorist groups and activities' unquote. Why do you continue to cover
up what was obviously political pressure to allow this Muslim cleric
unsupervised access to New South Wales prisons?" he said.
The Opposition has also released a memo from a prison governor who said
he had to continue to allow prisoner access as refusal of entry might
cause an unnecessary political storm.
Premier Morris Iemma says a review will decide whether checking procedures will be upgraded
"It is clear that the department needs to do more to ensure that people
with rights to visit the jails have cleared comprehensive security
checks," he said.
Mr al Barq says the suggestions he has terrorist links are ridiculous.
He says he did not have to reveal his drug conviction because it
occurred more than 10 years before his application to work in the
prison system, but the NSW Corrective services Department disputes that.