A reader has emailed me to point out that one of the Charities which has endorsed Ken Livingstone is already under investigation by the Charities Commission:
Britain’s charity regulator has frozen the bank accounts of the aid organisation Crescent Relief and begun a formal inquiry into possible connections with the men suspected of planning an alleged terror plot to blow up transatlantic airliners.
The Times revealed last week that Crescent Relief, which raised funds for victims of last year’s Pakistan earthquake, had emerged as a potential link between some of the terror suspects.
The probe, announced today by the Charity Commission, the regulator for England and Wales, will focus on whether or not the charity’s funds – or funds raised on its behalf – were used unlawfully or subject to terrorist misuse. It will also consider the financial policies and practices of the charity.
…
The commission has frozen the of the charity’s bank accounts “as a temporary and protective measure”.Crescent Relief was co-founded in 2000 by the Abdul Rauf, the father of Rashid Rauf, who has been arrested in Pakistan in connection with the plot.
The signatory of the Ken Livingstone letter on behalf of Crescent Relief is Mohamed Mumtaz.
Mohamed Mumtaz is Rashid Rauf’s uncle.
Rashid Raud fled the United Kingdom shortly after the murder of a (different) uncle in 2002. He was a key suspect in the airlines plot, and is thought to have “played a pivotal role in planning the operation, as well as being the go-between between al-Qaeda and the alleged [airline] plotters in Britain”. Last month Rauf was allowed to escape from custody by the two police officers who were “guarding” him. The police officers have now been charged with “criminal conspiracy”.
I wonder why the Muslim Brotherhood front group, the British Muslim Initiative, which organised the statement, thought that it was a good idea to have a “charity” linked to a thwarted Al Qaeda-related terror attack on London, endorsing Ken Livingstone.
I wonder if anybody in Ken Livingstone’s team thinks that Crescent Relief’s endorsement which is worth having?
