Honestly, is there anybody in Britain surprised by the following news?
Sensational footage has emerged showing the father of one of the three schoolgirl ‘jihadi brides’ at the head of an Islamist rally led by hate preacher Anjem Choudary and attended by Michael Adebowale, the killer of soldier Lee Rigby.
The video shows Abase Hussen marching at the front of the demonstrators, behind a banner reading: ‘The followers of Mohammed will conquer America.’
He was filmed chanting ‘Allahu Akbar’ amid dozens of protesters and standing just yards away as the American flag is burned.
Earlier this month, Mr Hussen blamed police for placing a ‘heavy burden’ on his daughter by handing her the letter about their inquiry – and the police apologised.
Yesterday, a Government report on foreign fighters was released containing testimony from Mr Hussen.
Hannah Stuart, domestic extremism expert at the Henry Jackson Society, said:
‘We saw Mr Hussen on TV looking very innocent, holding a teddy bear. But he was linked with individuals who espouse an extremist ideology.
‘The impression given was that Islamic extremism was an alien world to his daughter – this footage suggests it wasn’t.’
Mr Hussen’s daughter, Amira Abase, 15, fled the UK with two of her closest friends to join Islamic State last month sparking a national outcry.
Mr Hussen, who is originally from Ethiopia, led public appeals for her return as their families blamed the authorities for failing to stop them.
He addressed MPs at the Home Affairs Select Committee and was filmed appealing for help while clutching his daughter’s teddy bear.
But at no time has he mentioned his own passion for militant Islam or attendance at one of the most notorious rallies of the last few years.
It is also worth noting that Tasnime Akunjee, the family’s lawyer, and the source of the whole “blame the police, nothing to do with us guv!” act is himself linked to the jihadist support group, CAGE.
I believe, also, that the family attended the extremist-linked East London Mosque: which for years paraded Islamist hate preacher after hate preacher in front of its congregation.
Sara Khan says – correctly in my view – that these girls were in effect “groomed” rather than recruited by ISIS. I think that those grooming her included her own father.
When you have been brought up in a milieu in which all around you believe that the world’s ills stem from the failure to “implement the Sharia”, and that they will all be cured when an Islamic State is established, and that you personally have an obligation to create that Islamic State and to defend and support it, it is the most natural thing in the world to hop on a flight to Turkey with the intention of fulfilling your religious duty.
It is a pity that this information didn’t come out before Abase Hussen gave his bollocks testimony to Parliament.
