Police probe 25 charities for terror funds

By Justin Penrose Crime Correspondent And Ken Hyder, sundaymirror.co.uk 29/06/2008

Anti-terror police are probing 25 charities which fund terrorist training camps and attacks.

Scotland Yard and the security services has already uncovered eight charities connected with the 7/7 bombings, which killed 52 people, and three with the airline plot where terrorists planned to blow up several planes.

They have found that millions of pounds each year are generated by the charities - and channelled into training camps and radicalisation through madrassa schools, where youngsters are indoctrinated to wage "holy war".

Some of the cash is sent to Pakistan and Iraq to help fund attacks on Allied forces and pay for training camps. The rest is used to radicalise people in the UK, or to help fund attacks. The charities - all officially registered - also send money to legitimate places, such as orphanages, and for medical supplies. But much of the cash raised is siphoned off for terrorism. Counter-terrorism officers are now working with Inland Revenue specialists and the Charity Commission.

But the charities probe is a delicate operation.

A senior officer said: "We have to be careful to avoid stamping into a charity and closing them down. These terrorist fund-raisers will put some of their money into projects like orphanages. But they will also be channelling huge amounts of cash into al-Qaeda terrorist training camps.

"One charity has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds. They use the real projects to cover the terrorist funding.

It's very clever, especially as they have charitable status and are tax-exempt."

A senior Whitehall source said mortgage frauds and faked accident insurance scams are used to raise funds.