The notorious organisation that backed Jihadi John is now targeting young Muslims at their universities in a sinister campaign, the Mail can reveal.

CAGE – the group that provoked horror after calling the Islamic State killer a ‘beautiful young man’ – was involved in at least 13 student events last term.

Its representatives are being given unchallenged platforms at campuses across the country.

Inflammatory lectures: CAGE outreach director Moazzam Begg has been given extraordinary access to students - speaking without being challenged at least 11 separate occasions last term

They are using them to tell young Muslims to sabotage the Government’s anti-extremism policy Prevent, claiming it is an attempt by the State to spy on them.

The organisation’s outreach director Moazzam Begg has been given extraordinary access to students – speaking without being challenged on at least 11 separate occasions last term.

In a series of inflammatory lectures, he has told impressionable young Muslims that they are being treated in a similar way to Jews under the Nazis.

He also claimed Western reaction to the Paris terror attacks was disproportionate – because, he said there were ‘no children reported killed’ – and spoke dismissively of the deaths of only a ‘handful’ of Western hostages beheaded by IS.

Last night Home Secretary Theresa May said universities should not be allowing such ‘damaging, extremist rhetoric’ to go unchallenged.

And she said the investigation showed that ‘there is still more work to be done to challenge those who spread hatred and intolerance’.

'More work to be done': Home Secretary Theresa May said universities have a 'proud tradition of championing free speech' but should not be allowing such ‘damaging, extremist rhetoric’ to go unchallenged

It is thought that up to seven universities which held CAGE-linked events could now face an investigation by the Higher Education Funding Council for England.

Disturbingly, some of them told the Mail they’d had no idea that CAGE-linked events had even taken place on their campus.

Some events saw hostility and even abuse levelled at members of university staff who had been sent to monitor them.

In CAGE-linked university events last term, the Mail witnessed students being told:

‘As terrible as Paris was, there were no children reported killed’,

The Paris attacks were simply IS ‘responding to what it sees as an assault on itself’,

There ‘is no Islamic threat’ and ‘no evidence or proof’ that ‘so-called radicalisation is actually happening’,

The Government are ‘white-supremacists’ who want to ‘isolate’ Muslims,

There is nothing wrong with ‘being extreme’ and that the very notion of extremism is racist,

They should support convicted terrorists, many of whom been ‘wrongly imprisoned’ due to ‘prejudice’ and ‘fabricated accounts’.

Islamic State killer: CAGE provoked horror after calling Jihadi John (pictured) a 'beautiful young man'

The revelations will horrify parents at a time of mounting concerns over radicalisation in schools and on campuses.

PREVENT: COUNTER-TERROR DRIVE THEY WANT TO WRECK Preventing Violent Extremism – known as Prevent – is the key government strategy to tackle radicalisation and extremism. But it is still unclear whether the policy is working, and it remains deeply controversial in the Muslim community. Those who defend it say it is essential to tackle radicalisation, given the risk posed by home-grown terrorists in the UK. But, with hundreds of Britons believed to have travelled to Syria to join IS, questions are being asked about its effectiveness. And the Government is also facing claims that the way the policy has been implemented has alienated the Muslim community Less than 10 per cent of tip-offs to the programme came directly from the community, it was reported last month. And last March, a Muslim former police chief claimed Prevent had become a ‘toxic brand’. Dal Babu, who was chairman of the Association of Muslim Officers within the Met, added: ‘Prevent was brought in with good intentions. But over the years it has alienated the Muslim community who see it as spying.’ With an annual budget of £40million, Prevent is one of four strands of Contest, the Government’s counter-terrorism strategy. In response to claims that the policy – launched more than a decade ago – lacked focus, it was re-launched in 2011. Advertisement

They will also fuel growing concerns that universities are turning a blind eye to Islamic extremism – even as they clamp down on speakers considered Right-wing or non-PC.

Advocacy group CAGE provoked a public outcry in February after claiming the security services were to blame for the actions of knife-wielding Mohammad Emwazi, known as Jihadi John. Despite the outcry, it has been allowed to hold a string of events aimed at young people.

None of those attended by the Mail featured any opposing viewpoint.

Home Secretary Theresa May said: ‘This investigation highlights exactly the sort of damaging extremist rhetoric which none of us should allow to go unchallenged.

‘Our universities have a proud tradition of championing free speech – but this should never be at the expense of giving extremist views the oxygen they need to flourish.’

The ease with which CAGE is able to hold events on university campuses is all the more astonishing given that atheists, right-to-life groups, and those who support Israel are amomg those who have been prevented from addressing students.

Last night CAGE – which is not a proscribed organisation and denies any links to terrorism or support for violent extremism – said it was among hundreds of organisations which oppose Prevent.

A spokesman added: ‘CAGE has been invited to speak at a numerous public events including universities for several years. This has always been with the full awareness of the relevant institutions.’

Mr Begg said he had repeatedly condemned the actions of IS, including the Paris terror attack.

Fanatic’s Paris insult: Just days after jihadi killing spree that claimed 130 lives, Islamist group’s leader tells students outrage in the West was an over-reaction

The controversial leader of CAGE told students days after the Paris attacks that ‘as terrible as Paris was, there were no children reported killed’.

Moazzam Begg told a university event that the public were ‘hypocrites’ for focusing on Western victims of terrorism – and what he called ‘a handful’ of beheadings of Western hostages by Islamic State.

He suggested that the West’s reaction to the Paris atriocities was disproportionate because no children were reported dead among the 130 people slaughtered – whereas many youngsters had died in Syria.

Twisted view: CAGE director Moazzam Begg, left, at King's College London on October 14, last year with CAGE supporter Mohammed Umar Farooq

Despite the sensitive timing, Mr Begg was allowed to speak at the event at King’s College London on October 15 unchallenged.

It was just one of 11 events at which the CAGE frontman was permitted to lecture to students in the UK last term, with no-one to counter his views.

We’re hypocrites. As terrible as Paris was – and it was terrible – there were no children reported killed. Why are Syrian children not even worth a mention? Moazzam Begg, CAGE director

He told students at King’s College: ‘We’re hypocrites. As terrible as Paris was – and it was terrible – there were no children reported killed. Why are Syrian children not even worth a mention?’

In relation to the IS beheadings, he said: ‘Islamic State is not a threat to the West like it is a threat to the Muslim world.

‘They may have killed a handful of Western hostages. And we know the names of all of those Western hostages. But does anybody know the names of the Muslim hostages?’

He then went on to bizarrely criticise the media for not reporting on the deaths of fighters from the terror group Al Nusra – even though this is a proscribed organisation linked to Al Qaeda.

‘Does anybody know the numbers of the groups of the people – from Ahrar al-Sham, or from Al Nusra, or from every single group that they have targeted from the Syrian opposition?’ he asked. ‘Nobody knows because nobody cares.’

Former Gitmo detainee: Mr Begg, 47, was arrested in Pakistan in 2002 and spent nearly three years at Guantanamo Bay where he claimed to have been interrogated 300 times

Mr Begg – a former Guantanamo Bay detainee who has admitted attending terrorist training camps in Afghanistan – used his platform at universities last term to repeatedly tell students to sabotage the Government’s anti-radicalisation programme, Prevent.

Vice-president for welfare: Mr Begg - and his fellow CAGE directors - appear to be in direct contact with NUS figures such as Shelly Asquith (pictured)

In less than three months, he spoke four times at University of London’s SOAS, as well as once at Birmingham, Manchester, Bradford and East London universities.

He also spoke twice at King’s College London. During the events he has also encouraged students to sympathise with jihadi groups.

Mr Begg, 47, was arrested in Pakistan in 2002 and spent nearly three years at Guantanamo Bay where he claimed to have been interrogated 300 times.

He admitted having attended three separate Al Qaeda terrorist training camps in Afghanistan, but was awarded £1million compensation by the Government in 2010, after successfully claiming that Britain was complicit in his original abduction by US intelligence services, and then his mistreatment at Bagram camp in Afghanistan.

He used the money to buy a large five-bedroom house – complete with three reception rooms, garage and large garden – in an affluent street in Hall Green, Birmingham, and lives there with his wife, Sally, 44, and their four children.

It is thought to be worth nearly £500,000.

Mr Begg now spends much of his time travelling across the country giving impassioned speeches against the war on terror at universities and other locations on behalf of CAGE.

Most of his recent events have been part of the so-called Students Not Suspects tour, an NUS-led campaign against the Government’s Prevent programme.

Mr Begg – and his fellow CAGE directors – appear to be in direct contact on social media with NUS figures such as Shelly Asquith, vice-president for welfare, who arranged some of the events at which he spoke.

This is despite the NUS declaring in May that it ‘will not work with CAGE in any capacity’.

Islamic State is not a threat to the West like it is a threat to the Muslim world Moazzam Begg

The NUS said at the time that claims the NUS had agreed to lobby with CAGE against government counter-terrorism laws were ‘highly misleading’.

It also accepted that CAGE was a ‘deeply problematic’ organisation.

Mr Begg has long been a controversial figure. In 2010, he spoke of his desire for a Caliphate-style regime in Britain, and the same year, Gita Sahgal, then head of Amnesty’s gender unit, described Mr Begg as ‘Britain’s most famous supporter of the Taliban’ and publicly condemned her organisation for working with him.

Mr Begg has always strenuously denied being involved in terrorism, although this is at odds with a signed statement he gave to US security service agents after his capture in Pakistan.

Thoughts: The controversial leader of CAGE told students days after the Paris attacks that claimed 130 lives in November (above) that 'as terrible as Paris was, there were no children reported killed'

He said, among other things, that when living in Britain and running his Islamic bookshop in Birmingham, he acted as a ‘communications link’ between radical Muslims in the UK and others living abroad.

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Last year Mr Begg was arrested over alleged links to terrorism training and funding in Syria, to which he had previously travelled.

As a result, CAGE’s bank accounts were frozen after intervention from the Treasury. The charges were later dropped.

Last night Mr Begg said he had repeatedly condemned the actions of IS, including the Paris terror attack.

When asked to clarify his comments about Al Nusra and the beheading of Western hostages by IS, Mr Begg said: ‘The point being made was that IS was responsible for beheading both innocent Western hostages and local Muslims opposing them. I can’t see why this point would be objectionable.’

Regarding his comments about Paris, he said he was simply ‘expressing outrage about innocent children killed in war’.