Norman Miwambo
28 February 2008
Kampala — A Ugandan was among seven men found guilty of involvement in terrorist training activities by a British court on Tuesday. Ugandan-born Yassin Mutegombwa, 23, was sentenced to three years and five months in jail by the Woolwich Crown Court during one of the largest terrorist trials in Britain.
A resident of South London, Mutegombwa had pleaded guilty to attending the training camps. Under the UK 2006 Terrorism Act, receiving training in terrorism is illegal.
He confessed having undergone weaponry training at Woodland near Matleywood caravan and camping site, Beaulieu, Lyndhurt, near Southampton in June 2006.
Mutegombwa and his brother, Hassan, were arrested in September 2006 during Scotland Yard's anti-terror raids across London.
Hassan was sentenced earlier to 10 years in jail for seeking funds for terrorism training overseas. They are both detained at Britain's most protected jail, HM Prison Belmarsh.
The Ugandan brothers belonged to a group led by 50-year-old Mohammed Hamid, who also called himself 'Osama bin London'.
Hamid helped train those who carried out the failed attempt to bomb London's public transport system on July 21, 2005.
Born in Tanzania to Muslim parents of Indian origin, Hamid moved to the UK at the age of five.
In 1996, he opened a Koran bookshop in East London. He also worked as a volunteer youth worker and on Sundays trained a young soccer team.
After the bombing of the World Trade Centre in the US, he began preaching at Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park.
In 2002, he spent three months in Pakistan. He brought hospital equipment and went to North-West Frontier Province, where he visited camps for Afghan refugees.
After his return to the UK, at Speaker's Corner, he met the four men who would later carry out the failed attacks on the London transport network.
Britain's intelligence agency, MI5, fixed a surveillance bug inside Hamid's home. This provided valuable information which was used in the trial.
An undercover officer from the Special Branch was sent to infiltrate the group. He met Hamid at his bookstall, pretended to be a Christian and was 'converted' within half an hour.
Hamid gave the undercover agent a new name, Dawood. The officer would visit Hamid's home in Clapton to attend his meetings. He would also go with Hamid on one of his terror training exercises in the New Forest in Hampshire.
Hamid was on Tuesday found guilty of three counts of soliciting murder and three counts of providing terrorist training. His sentence will be announced at a later date.
Ironically, while Hamid was radicalising young Muslims, the BBC used him as a poster boy for moderate Islam.
He was filmed at his bookstall doing his dawah activities, and was even shown with others, including some of those convicted, attending a paint-balling exercise.
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