interesting read

Thursday, May 06, 2004



Al Qaeda gaining foothold in US prisons: Report

ERIC LICHTBLAU

WASHINGTON, MAY5 Groups promoting Islamic extremism have gained a foothold in US prisons, and counterterrorism officials believe that the Al Qaeda is likely to try and use the prisons ‘‘to radicalise and recruit inmates,’’ according to a Justice Department investigation. Investigators said safeguards were so loose in the 105 federal prisons that inmate chapels ‘‘remain vulnerable to infiltration by religious extremists.’’
The investigation grew out of concerns among members of Congress that groups training Muslim chaplains had terrorist ties and were breeding extremism. But the probe found that the problem of ‘‘radicalised’’ prayer sessions was less a reflection of the chaplains than of unsupervised inmates who were allowed to lead their own worship meetings.

Several groups that have trained Muslim chaplains have denied charges of terrorist links, and Muslim leaders point out that charges linking a military chaplain at Guantanamo Bay to possible terrorism largely collapsed.

The report concluded that while the problem of terrorist recruitment in federal prisons was not widespread, officials needed a number of systemwide improvements to ensure tighter control. Prison officials said on Tuesday they had already moved to fix some problems identified in the report by demanding more information about outside groups that train chaplains and by improving communications with the FBI.

An addendum to the report details cases in which counterterrorism officials assert that people leading prison prayer sessions may have ties to terrorist groups. In a briefing on Tuesday for Congressional officials, evidence was found that volunteers leading prayer services had been linked to people who showed up on terrorist watch lists, and that people associated with Al Qaeda had already managed to recruit support within the federal prisons, said Senator Charles E. Schumer.

Federal prison officials ‘‘were putting out the welcome mat to any group that wanted to infiltrate the prisons,’’ Schumer said. ‘‘There was virtually no vetting of who would become a chaplain or a volunteer, and there was virtually no supervision. It was an invitation to danger.’’ — (NYT)



URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=46430