I, a former Islamic extremist, feel we have given in to the fanatics



Extremism: Abdulla Ahmed Ali was found guilty of conspiring to murder thousands

Like many young British Muslims, I was 'radicalised' at college. Just as the three British-born men who were found guilty this week of plotting to blow flights out of the sky were recruited at school, I encountered extreme Muslims at the age of 16 and was slowly converted to their ranks.



At my East London college, the Islamic society was run by the extremist group Hizb ut Tahrir, which believes in setting up an Islamic state, destroying Israel, and denounces Western values.

At first, I, too, was convinced by their rhetoric. However one awful violent moment changed me for ever. A young African man was knifed to death by the Muslim contingent at the college, simply for being a non-believer.

After a petty row over the use of the snooker table, the Muslim group issued a call of Jihad against the young man and summoned their Hizb ut Tahrir contacts for 'outside backup'.

An operative arrived and plunged a dagger into the boy's heart. The victim's name was Ayotunde Obunabi and I saw him lying dead. To Hizb ut Tahrir his life was worthless because he was not a Muslim.

At that moment I understood the consequences of the rhetoric of radicalism.

The murder, in 1996, compelled me to walk away from extremism. Now I believe I have to speak out about what I see happening in Britain before a terrible act of terrorism claims yet more lives.

Although one fanatical Muslim cell has been caught, this is no time for complacency. Make no mistake, terrorism is flourishing in our country as never before.

Why? Because a toxic combination of politically correct policy, denial and fear have opened the way for hate to grow in our midst.

Unwilling or unable to recognise the scale and cause of the danger we are all facing, our leaders have turned a blind eye to what is going on.

There are now tens of thousands of Muslims living in Britain, physically present in our country, but psychologically attached to Muslim-dominated countries.

Large parts of our cities have become Muslim ghettos, where you can wake up in the morning and go to bed at night without seeing a non-Muslim face.

They might as well be in Pakistan or Afghanistan for all the contact they have with ordinary Britain. They can send their children to Muslim state schools, go to Muslim NHS doctors, and do business at the Islamic bank.

Not only this, but we, the taxpayers, fund many of these Muslim ghettos. When immigrants arrive in this country to claim free housing from the Government, they are given a choice of Muslim areas to settle in. Why do we allow this? Why not offer these new arrivals housing where they can integrate with the British people and learn about our nation's culture?

Meanwhile, our prisons have become recruiting centres for radical imams, or Islamic priests.

Around 10,000 ordinary Muslims are in our prison system, sharing space with convicted terrorists and extremists, putting them at risk of brainwashing.



But instead of protecting them from this, our system actually directs them towards these forces. So when a young Asian drug dealer from Bradford's streets goes down, he is designated a practising Muslim, whether he was previously religious or not.

He is issued with a prayer mat and a copy of the Koran and is handed over to the prison imams, many of whom come from the same Islamic school of thought that produced the Taliban. Time and time again, I have seen Muslims go into prison as young Asian men, and return to their communities as something very different.

Then there are the satellite television stations that freely transmit the radical Islamic message straight into British homes. Thousands of UK Muslims-watch the Islam channel for their news instead of the BBC or ITN.

The tragedy is that it doesn't have to be like this. There are four million Muslims living in America, and yet they are not producing 'home-grown' bombers like ours, despite America leading the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that are so often cited by extremists as the root cause of their grievance.

Because of their stronger national identity, the Americans encourage immigrants to join their culture and newcomers are expected to be loyal to the U.S.

For us, it is not too late. We can reverse the damaging policies that have made Britain a seedbed for terrorists. But if we fail to do so, I fear we will see further carnage unleashed on our streets.