AQ terrorists out of control in UK prisons

Oh yes, let's do close down Gitmo. See what's happening in the UK prison system with their AQ prisoners?

Prison officers are struggling to control a group of al-Qaeda terrorists who are clashing with other serious offenders in one of Britain's high-security jails.

Frankland Prison, County Durham, holds an estimated 20 al-Qaeda members and sympathisers, serving long sentences for planning atrocities in the United Kingdom and abroad. They include Dhiren Barot, who was jailed for 30 years, and Omar Khyam, jailed for at least 20 years, for plotting to blow up the Bluewater shopping centre and the Ministry of Sound nightclub.

In recent weeks three disturbances have taken place at the prison. The Prison Officers Association (POA) said many of those involved had been moved to Frankland from Belmarsh Prison in London. 'They don't want to be in Frankland; they want to be in Belmarsh with their friends. They are getting more organised and want to be together in one place, which is scary,' said Steve Gough, vice-chairman of the POA.

Gough warned that the increasing regularity of the disturbances was becoming a serious problem. 'We are struggling to contain it,' he said. 'It's having an effect on other prisoners.'

Last month Khyam was alleged to have scalded another inmate, Malcolm Cruddas, an armed robber. Last year Barot received extensive burns after being attacked by one of the inmates. The charges against the alleged attacker were later dropped at the request of Barot himself.

Khyam's solicitor, Muddassar Arani, has gone so far as to warn that 'race riots' have erupted at the prison, which as a result has become 'an extremely dangerous environment for ethnic minority prisoners who now fear for their safety'.

Arani added that 99 per cent of the staff at Frankland are of white origin: 'This extreme imbalance across the board foments intolerance, racial hatred and white supremacist behaviour from a large percentage of inmates as well as some of the officers, too.'

In a lengthy email to an Islamist website,

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Barot recently outlined his concerns about what he called 'oppressive conditions' in Frankland. He said he was subject to three intensive cell searches in a fortnight and two visits to the segregation block in a week because he was suspected of having a mobile phone.

He said he had also been denied 'suitable' Islamic literature and CDs.

'Any time the prison feels that I may have found a "friend" that I may be "overly" socialising with, more often than not the individuals concerned are promptly shipped out to other establishments. Why? For irrational fear of "sermonising" or "talent-scouting",' Barot told Ummah.com. 'Not only have I been subjected to mentally tortuous surroundings... but now physically, too, in order to break my psyche.'

With the prison population at an all-time high, concerns about disturbances have become a significant issue for the Prison Service. Phil Wheatley, its director-general, told a conference of prison service employees last week that there had been six disturbances in British prisons in January alone.

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Justice confirmed it was aware of disturbances at Frankland. 'There was a minor disturbance at Frankland on Monday, 21 January, following an attack on a prisoner by a group of other prisoners,' the spokeswoman said.

'Staff intervened and all prisoners were back in their cells within 20 minutes. A small number of prisoners caused a small amount of damage to their cells on one of the wings at Frankland on Tuesday, 22 January; this was resolved peacefully, with no injuries to prisoners or staff.'

Concerns about the threat that al-Qaeda sympathisers pose to Britain's prisons come as the government prepares to clamp down on extremist groups operating in Britain's schools system.

Bill Rammell, the Minister for Further and Higher Education, said sixth-formers were facing a 'serious' threat from violent extremists who want to groom, bully and harass them. He said the biggest threat was from groups advocating al-Qaeda-influenced terrorism, who are using prayer meetings and sermons to try to recruit students.

Rammell, who will tomorrow release guidance outlining how extremist groups operate and the groups they tend to target, said that college staff should warn students who could be at risk and offer them a confidential way to report on the problem.

'There are a number of approaches used by violent extremist groups in grooming individuals to violent extremism,' Rammell said. 'These methods will often involve separating students from their roots such as family and friends, thereby isolating them from alternative views, taking control of prayer meetings and sermons, the use of charismatic radical speakers, or through peer group pressure.'.