:00:13. > :00:21.UK watch your back! Islamic extremists on the streets of
:00:21. > :00:26.Cardiff. The city has been shocked by a series of events, including a
:00:26. > :00:35.terrorism plot to blow up the London Stock Exchange. Tonight we
:00:36. > :00:41.go undercover to expose the Welsh Islamic extremists. There's growing
:00:41. > :00:45.concern about this group. We have seen a confidential police report
:00:45. > :00:51.which warns of vulnerable people being radicalised. One or two of
:00:52. > :01:01.those young people have the potential to turn into real
:01:02. > :01:19.
:01:19. > :01:24.terrorists. They hate, what they Cardiff is a city which prides
:01:24. > :01:31.itself on its diversity and tolerance. These streets hold a
:01:31. > :01:37.dark secret. A group of Islamic extremists who are linked to some
:01:37. > :01:41.disturbing events. Nick Palit investigates. For months we have
:01:41. > :01:47.been undercover with a group of Muslim extremists, trying to get to
:01:47. > :01:57.the heart of who is behind them, what they believe in, and what
:01:57. > :02:10.
:02:10. > :02:17.Our undercover reporter has been regularly meeting up with a member
:02:17. > :02:23.of the group. Going undercover has opened my eyes to their world and
:02:23. > :02:31.how dangerous it could be. It's only when someone tries to radical
:02:31. > :02:36.ice you can you realise what they could do. Concerns about
:02:36. > :02:45.radicalisation of young Muslims in Cardiff has existed for several
:02:45. > :02:52.years. The Home Office has recognised the threat. -- threat,
:02:52. > :02:58.and dedicated Cardiff for protection. A local group of
:02:58. > :03:03.Muslims held a protest in Cardiff City centre. UK watch your back!
:03:03. > :03:09.They are demonstrating against what they say is the threat of -- to
:03:09. > :03:14.Islam from the West. Keeping a close watch on them are the police,
:03:14. > :03:19.openly filming the protesters to make sure they don't break the law
:03:19. > :03:23.and also for intelligence purposes. Four months after that
:03:23. > :03:27.demonstration three of those protesters were again being watched
:03:27. > :03:37.by police. This time they were terrorism suspects. They are
:03:37. > :03:47.Gurukanth Desai and his elder brother Abdul Miah and a fellow
:03:47. > :03:57.protester. They were arrested and charged with for terrorism offences,
:03:57. > :03:58.
:03:58. > :04:05.Latif jailed,. All these men involved with a group of Muslims
:04:05. > :04:15.who protested in Cardiff and call themselves supporter of Tawheed.
:04:15. > :04:20.
:04:20. > :04:25.They say they want to spread the word of slam by peaceful means. We
:04:26. > :04:31.wanted to find out more about this group, supporters of Tawheed, who
:04:31. > :04:36.is involved in what they stand for. Our undercover reporter has made
:04:36. > :04:40.contact with a member of supporters of Tawheed who calls himself Rofi.
:04:40. > :04:47.They have met several times. At this stage we're not secreting
:04:47. > :04:53.filming with our undercover reporter. His story is it's a young
:04:54. > :04:59.Muslim estranged from his family and interested in learning more
:04:59. > :05:04.about Islam. My character appealed to this chap, and perhaps to the
:05:04. > :05:09.wider group, the fact I'm -- I'm vulnerable and have time on -- time
:05:09. > :05:15.on my hands. They asked me whether I was married, and they said the
:05:15. > :05:23.reason being to see if I had any ties. It was a unusually question
:05:23. > :05:33.but it seemed to be relevant to him. They met again and this time Rofi
:05:33. > :05:36.
:05:36. > :05:44.tells him about his dislike for non-Muslims or Kuffars. Rofi turned
:05:44. > :05:50.to a Kuffars and said locking Kuffars. They said interfaith was
:05:50. > :05:55.bollocks. They did not think we Muslims should integrate or talk to
:05:55. > :06:00.anybody from another faith. Rolf -- Rofi texts our undercover reporter
:06:00. > :06:06.a link to a website which he says will help him understand the
:06:06. > :06:14.brothers of knowledge. I was agreeing with a lot of what they
:06:14. > :06:22.had to say. That anger was started. Someone more vulnerable would be
:06:22. > :06:27.easily convinced by the series of videos. The website is called
:06:27. > :06:37.Izharudeen and contains a lot of messages and videos by radical
:06:37. > :06:38.
:06:38. > :06:44.Muslims. Alex Hitchens is an expert in radicalisation. We asked him to
:06:44. > :06:49.look at the website. Essentially it's a base for all the teerlts
:06:49. > :06:53.produced by the movement to try and radical ice recruits and mobilise
:06:53. > :06:58.people. Directing them to a website would be a very important first
:06:58. > :07:04.step. A resource that provides a lots of the material that you would
:07:04. > :07:11.need if you want to convert to extremism slammism. It provides
:07:11. > :07:17.everything you need. Our undercover reporter has met again with Rofi
:07:18. > :07:25.and he explains about the leadership. He made references to
:07:25. > :07:33.his colleagues. He says he has a big beard. He is the leader of the
:07:33. > :07:39.group who co-ordinates the activities. He's an extremely
:07:39. > :07:46.knowledgable person. Sajid Idris is a postman for the Royal Mail. He
:07:46. > :07:55.uses the name Abu Hajar. The only person able to answer the question
:07:55. > :08:00.is the Muslim. Supporters of Tawheed is a relatively small group.
:08:00. > :08:07.Estimates suggest there could be up to 100 of them. They want Sharia
:08:07. > :08:13.law in this country, law determined by the Koran and not man made. They
:08:13. > :08:18.believe that Islam will dominate the world and they are opposed to
:08:18. > :08:24.democracy and freedom. They say they are a peaceful organisation,
:08:24. > :08:32.but you don't have to look too far to find some views not altogether
:08:32. > :08:38.peaceful. No longer do you have to say you support terrorism. Enough
:08:38. > :08:44.to say La Ilaha Illallah, you have declared war against everybody else.
:08:44. > :08:52.You have to believe and have the hatred in your heart. That was
:08:52. > :09:01.Sajid Idris in a submit in Cardiff called Islamic awakening. Sitting
:09:01. > :09:11.next to him is a convicted terrorist Izharudeen. He was jailed
:09:11. > :09:14.
:09:14. > :09:21.in 2008 for four-and-a-half years for incitement for terrorism.
:09:21. > :09:27.Whether he was released from prison in 2010 members of supporters of
:09:27. > :09:32.Tawheed were there to welcome him, including Idris. That same year
:09:32. > :09:42.Idris took to the streets of Swansea to protest against the
:09:42. > :09:43.
:09:43. > :09:51.burning of the Koran. No longer can you support... No longer can you
:09:51. > :09:57.say this is a Jihad for the sake of allah it becomes terrorism now...
:09:57. > :10:02.Back in Cardiff the efforts to find new supporters for the extremist
:10:02. > :10:08.group goes on. Our undercover reporter is still meeting Rofi.
:10:08. > :10:15.talks about the meeting and doing study classes. He says in the study
:10:15. > :10:24.classes you'll learn about the true meaning, the more hardline stuff.
:10:24. > :10:29.They have engaged me. And sussed me out. And I've been invited to
:10:29. > :10:37.classes, where they will continue the radicalisation process, and
:10:37. > :10:45.tinker with the hatred inside of me. The next time we meet Rofi we start
:10:45. > :10:55.secretly filming him. Just about the Tawheed. The virtues... The the
:10:55. > :10:57.
:10:57. > :11:05.talk learns to -- turns to study circles or halaqas. When that
:11:05. > :11:12.happens let me know. No point in me telling you now... This will be
:11:12. > :11:20.cool. Rofi has sent our undercover reporter links to more websites. We
:11:20. > :11:24.asked our expert to assess our undercover reporter's relationship
:11:24. > :11:30.with Rofi. Radicalisation refers to a process, a process by which a
:11:30. > :11:35.individual or a group come to adopt extreme political or social or
:11:35. > :11:39.religious ideas that go against or undermine the Status Quo. It's the
:11:39. > :11:46.process by which they not only begin to believe in the ideas but
:11:47. > :11:52.also look to act on them. In the context of home grown Jihadist
:11:52. > :11:57.radicalisation it's the process by which you become convinced that you
:11:57. > :12:02.are living in a country and a society very hostile to your
:12:02. > :12:12.religion, and the process in which you become convinced it's your role
:12:12. > :12:12.
:12:12. > :12:22.to react to this. What do we know about the man who calls himself
:12:22. > :12:24.
:12:24. > :12:31.Rofi. Last December he was ejected from a mosque in Newport. He and
:12:31. > :12:37.another man were protesting at the media launch of an anti-extremism
:12:37. > :12:42.drive in Newport. Rofi is associated with Islamic extremist
:12:42. > :12:47.groups subsequently banned by the Home Office for glorifying
:12:47. > :12:52.terrorism. Rofi was keen to be a guide for myself. He said I was the
:12:52. > :12:59.first person he tried to support, and he was trying to take it in
:12:59. > :13:06.small steps and not throw me into the deep end. He said he was told
:13:06. > :13:13.to slow things down with me. He said the term he used was to give
:13:13. > :13:18.me breadcrumbs, so I'm not overwhelmed. At one meeting Sajid
:13:18. > :13:28.Idris turned up. He talked about not being afraid to go out and
:13:28. > :13:28.
:13:28. > :13:34.fight for what you feel is wrong. He thought democracy was a fares.
:13:34. > :13:42.He said Sajid Idris is good friends with Anjem Choudary. Anjem Choudary
:13:42. > :13:51.was a leading light in banned Muslim organisations, Islam for UK,
:13:51. > :13:57.and Muslims against crusades. ex d explained that Sajid Idris is
:13:57. > :14:07.a follower of Choudary. He and Choudary leads a protest and
:14:07. > :14:15.
:14:15. > :14:20.prayers against the killing of an war al-Awlaki. Sajid Idris and
:14:20. > :14:29.Choudary were involved in a Islamic organisation later banned. The man
:14:29. > :14:35.in the middle is Omar Bakri. Islam is pro-life not against life. Islam
:14:35. > :14:40.doesn't have something like terrorism in our dictionary. He's a
:14:41. > :14:47.radical Muslim cleric banned from the UK because his presence is not
:14:47. > :14:56.conducive to the public good. He lives in the Lebanon where he has
:14:56. > :15:02.been convicted of terrorism offences. He's a member of Al
:15:02. > :15:07.Muhajaroun, another Islamic group banned under the terrorism laws.
:15:07. > :15:12.Our undercover reporter has been introduced to the on line
:15:12. > :15:19.preachings by Omar Bakri. Rofi tells him to go to a website and
:15:19. > :15:25.look for a specific chatroom. He's given the exact name and time to
:15:25. > :15:31.join in. Check out tonight, approximately 9, 10.00. On line at
:15:31. > :15:35.the same time appear to be two members of supporters of Tawheed
:15:35. > :15:39.including Sajid Idris. The confidential police report we have
:15:39. > :15:45.seen says Sajid Idris was considered to be a leader of a
:15:45. > :15:49.group of Islamic extreme -- extremists in Cardiff banned for
:15:49. > :15:55.glorifying terrorism. The same group is now called supporters of
:15:55. > :16:01.Tawheed. The police report voices concerns that the group are in
:16:01. > :16:04.pursuit of radicalising vulnerable individuals into their movement.
:16:04. > :16:09.Lord Carlisle advised the government on terrorism laws for
:16:09. > :16:16.ten years. We showed him some of the videos involving supporters of
:16:16. > :16:21.Tawheed. There's an implication that terrorism is acceptable.
:16:21. > :16:25.There's no statement of any kind to say that terrorism is not
:16:26. > :16:34.acceptable. There is a clear implication in all this that bin
:16:34. > :16:39.Laden was simply a holy man and not a terrorist. Which is papably
:16:40. > :16:43.absurd. Lord Carlisle was also concerned that some vulnerable
:16:44. > :16:48.young Muslims could be radicalised by the extreme views expressed by
:16:48. > :16:52.the supporters of Tawheed. I don't believe that kind of activity
:16:52. > :16:57.attracts many people. But it will attract some. The problem we have
:16:58. > :17:02.is one or two of those young people have the potential to turn into
:17:02. > :17:10.real terrorists who can cause immense danger to the public
:17:10. > :17:16.including the Muslim population. Last October two teenagers from
:17:16. > :17:26.Cardiff were arrested by police 234 Kenya. It was claimed they were
:17:26. > :17:26.
:17:26. > :17:32.trying to get to Somalia to fight a holy war with a group affiliated to
:17:32. > :17:42.Al-Qaeda called Al-Shabab. The father of one of the youths went to
:17:42. > :17:42.
:17:42. > :17:48.find his son. I went to find him to save him from himself. Some within
:17:48. > :17:52.the local community allege that the supporters of Tawheed were
:17:52. > :17:57.responsible for brainwashing or radical sighs the two 18-year-olds.
:17:57. > :18:02.The family of the two youths and the community were so concerned
:18:02. > :18:09.more than 200 people to discuss their disappearance. The two youths
:18:09. > :18:12.were arrested by security forces in Kenya. We are grateful that the
:18:12. > :18:17.authorities are in collaboration with the communities were able to
:18:17. > :18:22.establish the whereabouts of the two noupblgs -- youths. Until the
:18:22. > :18:26.two youths arrive back home we are not in a position to make any
:18:26. > :18:32.further comments. Back to in the UK they were interviewed by South
:18:32. > :18:38.Wales police but were not charged. The two teenagers insist they were
:18:38. > :18:42.having an adventure and they had no intention of joining Al-Shabab. We
:18:42. > :18:48.have been told that a mosque in Cardiff has been working with one
:18:48. > :18:52.of the youths to help deradicalise them. There have been concerns
:18:52. > :18:58.expressed about the supporters of Tawheed from within the 30,000
:18:58. > :19:04.strong community in Cardiff. At every mosque they are banned from
:19:04. > :19:14.handing out leaflets and holding meetings. But they are allowed to
:19:14. > :19:14.
:19:14. > :19:20.go there and pray. We have spoken to members of the community who
:19:20. > :19:25.fear that supporters of Tawheed are targeting vulnerable young Muslims.
:19:25. > :19:31.What they are preaching is misquoting is the verses of the
:19:31. > :19:38.Koran and teaching the youngsters about hatred which is not been the
:19:38. > :19:44.-- within the meanings of Islam. The Islam they were teaching were
:19:44. > :19:50.different from what real Islam is. He accepts the Muslim community has
:19:50. > :19:54.not always known how to tackle the problem of extremism. He's
:19:54. > :19:59.convinced action is now taken. There are people who are very naive
:19:59. > :20:06.who would fall into the clutches of these individuals and they could
:20:06. > :20:10.used for their own political ends and that's why the community is
:20:10. > :20:15.more concerned and the steps they have taken, with their positive and
:20:15. > :20:25.active roles. Our undercover reporter has been meeting with Rofi
:20:25. > :20:27.
:20:27. > :20:36.a member of supporters of Tawheed for a couple of months now. Today
:20:36. > :20:46.they are on their way to prayers when Rofi expresses his disTate for
:20:46. > :20:46.
:20:46. > :20:56.non-Muslims or Kuffars. -- distaste. After prayers their conversation
:20:56. > :20:57.
:20:57. > :21:43.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 46 seconds
:21:43. > :21:53.Rofi then promises to send a -- send a web address for a specific
:21:53. > :22:08.
:22:08. > :22:12.The video is by Anwar al-Awlaki, the Al-Qaeda suspect killed by an
:22:12. > :22:18.American drone last year. Online material by al-Awlaki was also said
:22:18. > :22:24.to have been involved in inspiring the London Stock Exchange bomb
:22:24. > :22:29.plotters from Cardiff When you direct someone to al-Awlaki is
:22:29. > :22:34.through his work is convince them that Islam is under great threat
:22:34. > :22:40.and you have a religious duty to respond with violence. And anybody
:22:40. > :22:50.who tells you that al-Awlaki is the right preacher to go to, and listen
:22:50. > :23:29.
:23:29. > :23:33.Our undercover reporter and Rofi continue to keep in touch. Their
:23:33. > :23:39.meetings stop. During this time two people from Cardiff were arrested
:23:39. > :23:45.and charged with terrorism offences in two separate operations. Experts
:23:45. > :23:52.believe that the ideology of Rofi and supporters of Tawheed is very
:23:52. > :23:57.similar to that of terrorist groups. They have taken their Kew from Al-
:23:57. > :24:03.Qaeda. They use the same sources and religious interpretations. The
:24:03. > :24:08.only core difference is Al-Qaeda is focused and on prompting and
:24:08. > :24:13.organising terrorist attacks in the West. This group for its survival
:24:13. > :24:19.has to avoid doing that because they won't be able to operate
:24:19. > :24:25.otherwise. As we have seen with the London Stock Exchange and other
:24:25. > :24:31.occasions many of their members easily decide to go violent.
:24:31. > :24:40.wasn't until the arrest of the London bomb plotters, and the two
:24:40. > :24:46.youths who allegedly tried to join Al-Shabab that more serious
:24:46. > :24:53.questions begun to be asked about the youths of Cardiff. Supporters
:24:53. > :25:03.of Tawheed were holding a meeting when police broke it up. During
:25:03. > :25:05.
:25:05. > :25:10.this action this man Mohamed Abdin was arrested, and jailed for four
:25:10. > :25:16.months. He shouted at police I'm going to cut your head off and I'm
:25:16. > :25:25.going to shoot you with a machine gun. Police said they believed that
:25:25. > :25:31.supporters of Tawheed was linked with another banned Islamic group
:25:31. > :25:37.called Muslims against crusades. Those events r had one thing in
:25:37. > :25:44.spon, Supporters of Tawheed. Its leader Sajid Idris has told us that
:25:44. > :25:54.one of the London Stock Exchange bomb plotters, Abdul Miah attended
:25:54. > :25:55.
:25:55. > :26:05.their meetings, and also the youths that allegedly went to Somalia. He
:26:05. > :26:11.
:26:11. > :26:20.denies criminality involving When there's war, the people will
:26:20. > :26:25.no longer... We asked Lord Carlisle for his opinion on the footing we
:26:25. > :26:30.showed him. If an extreme right wing organisation was doing what we
:26:30. > :26:37.have seen on the clips, I've no doubt some of the members would be
:26:37. > :26:43.arrested for public order offences, and breach of the peace, and
:26:43. > :26:50.incietding racial hatred. Abu Hamza extremism, they say he's the right
:26:50. > :26:55.possibility that counter-terrorism laws are breached by the
:26:55. > :27:02.glorification of the actions of those found to be terrorists.
:27:02. > :27:08.wanted to put a number of other series allegations to Sajid Idris
:27:08. > :27:14.concerning his involvement with banned Muslim extremist groups and
:27:14. > :27:24.convicted terrorists. Sajid Idris declined to do an interview when we
:27:24. > :27:24.
:27:24. > :27:30.put to him that a young Muslim had been radicalised by his group he
:27:30. > :27:37.replied I don't think he got very far. We wanted to speak to Rofi but
:27:37. > :27:43.he refused to answer our questions. I already advised I don't want to
:27:43. > :27:50.do an interview. We have series allegations, you have been
:27:50. > :27:55.directing people to hate pretty muchers, and tried to radicalise.
:27:55. > :28:01.preached Islam by the way it's supposed to be preached. Stkphra
:28:01. > :28:07.what does that include? No comment. Rofi is continuing to preach on the
:28:07. > :28:17.streets of Cardiff and last Monday we filmed him in a protest in
:28:17. > :28:19.
:28:19. > :28:24.London against the American film about the Private morpld -- prophet
:28:24. > :28:32.Mohamed. Supporters of Tawheed are a visible sight on the streets of
:28:32. > :28:36.Cardiff, protesting. The Home Office, Welsh government and South
:28:36. > :28:42.Wales police declined our requests to take part in this programme. The
:28:42. > :28:49.Home Office told us Cardiff was a priority area to receive funding as
:28:49. > :28:52.part of the strategy to combat extremist and radicalisation. South
:28:52. > :28:56.Wales police confirmed they were concerned about the activities of a
:28:56. > :29:03.small number of people but were able to take action because of the
:29:03. > :29:10.support of the Muslim community. people understand the real Islam,
:29:10. > :29:16.the real meaning of Islam, the true Islam, there's no way, no way they
:29:16. > :29:22.can be extremists N of any sort. This is what we feel our
:29:22. > :29:32.responsibility is to teach the youngsters what real Islam is and
:29:32. > :29:37.not let them fall into the hands of the ideologues. My biggest worry is