Jawad Akbar
Current Status: Sentenced to life
Biography
Jawad Akbar, considered to be one of Britain's most dangerous terrorists, is a Pakistani-born radical Islamist who went to the United Kingdom at a young age and also spent time in Italy while his father worked there. Akbar, who is sentenced to life, was convicted of plotting to bomb shopping malls, nightclubs, and Britain's gas network back in 2007. He was described by the trial judge as someone who possesses “intelligence and frightening deviousness.” Akbar was introduced to other radical Islamists, including Omar Khyam, during his university years, and during that time, travelled to Pakistan to fight alongside armed Islamist groups in Afghanistan. A biography of Akbar in a BBC article described him as having a deep contempt and hatred for the British community at large.
Jawad Akbar's case was recently brought to the Parole Board using legal aid, in a bid for release that may cost the UK public £50,000. This case was believed to be the longest terrorism-related trial in British history.
Akbar is considered one of the most dangerous imprisoned terrorists in the UK, and can potentially recruit other Islamists in jail who are not serving life sentences, and who are due to be released at some point in the future.
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Evidence of Hate Speech/Incitement:
April 2007: In a published article by the BBC, it is stated that Jawad Akbar held secret information on his laptop that was at the heart of the plot - bomb-making recipes. The MI5 forces bugged Akbar’s apartment and it was there they heard Akbar proposing to Omar Khyam to bomb the nightclubs and shopping malls. “A big nightclub in central London, no-one can put their hands up and say they're innocent - those slags dancing around,” said Akbar. “If you got a job in a bar or club, say the Ministry of Sound, what are you planning to do there then?” asked Khyam. “Blow the whole thing up,” replied Akbar.
Akbar hated non-Muslims and referred to them as kuffars or kufs, meaning infidels unworthy of protection. He once said “when we kill the kufs, this is because we know Allah hates the kufs,” and he also referred to Tony Blair as being a “dirty kuffar”.
July 2003: Akbar was a member of a violent Islamist political movement at Brunel University and had ties to Anjem Choudary’s (link to profile) al-Muhajiroun network. He began to urge for a violent reaction to the difficulties he saw Muslims face all around the world. In 2003, Akbar teamed up with other like-minded extremists to set off a paramilitary training camp in Pakistan's remote northwestern Malakand area. It is during this period that they agreed that they should focus on striking the UK upon their return from Afghanistan, rather than fighting abroad.
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