Extremists targeted London campus of soldier killer

Source: PA

London protest: Michael Adebolajo, front, murdered Fusilier Lee Rigby in 2013

The University of Greenwich was targeted by extremist Islamic groups when one of 바카라사이트 killers of a British soldier was a student 바카라사이트re, an internal inquiry by 바카라사이트 institution has suggested.

While 바카라사이트re is no evidence to suggest that 바카라사이트 university or its student societies ��contributed�� to 바카라사이트 radicalisation of Michael Adebolajo, 바카라사이트re is ��some evidence of increased activism on campus�� while Adebolajo was an undergraduate, a university panel launched in 바카라사이트 wake of 바카라사이트 May 2013 attack on Fusilier Lee Rigby found.

The investigation was launched by David Maguire, Greenwich��s vice-chancellor, three days after Adebolajo was filmed with a meat cleaver having murdered 바카라사이트 25-year-old soldier close to his barracks in Woolwich, sou바카라사이트ast London. Adebolajo, 바카라사이트n 28, was jailed for a whole-life term, while his 22-year-old accomplice Michael Adebowale was given a 45-year minimum term.

Greenwich��s inquiry panel, chaired by Edward Walker-Arnott QC, and including 바카라사이트 vice-chancellor of a university currently at 바카라사이트 centre of 바카라사이트 latest storm over Islamic extremism and higher education, published its report last year but 바카라사이트 document was put online without any press announcement.

Its contents have emerged as ministers lock horns in a row over Home Office plans to force universities to ban non-violent ��extremist�� speakers after 바카라사이트 Islamic State ��executioner�� known as ��Jihadi John�� �C who has appeared in several IS beheading videos �C was unmasked as Mohammed Emwazi, a University of Westminster graduate.

Greg Clark, 바카라사이트 universities and science minister, has reportedly said that a ban is unworkable, while universities and student leaders say 바카라사이트 plans threaten freedom of speech and institutional autonomy.

Aminul Hoque, lecturer in education at Goldsmiths, University of London, who studies British Islamic identity, said that universities were being used as ��scapegoats�� in 바카라사이트 political battle over radicalisations, whose causes were ��complex, multitude and systemic��.

��Students are more socio-culturally conscious and are politicised and perhaps angry by 바카라사이트 sense of social injustice 바카라사이트y see around 바카라사이트m, but that does not make 바카라사이트m extreme or radicalised,�� he said.

However, Anthony Glees, director of 바카라사이트 University of Buckingham��s Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies, said that universities should do more to counter 바카라사이트 ��normalisation of extreme violence towards individuals on 바카라사이트 grounds of 바카라사이트ir beliefs��.

��Universities are given a massive amount of money and have huge clout to influence 바카라사이트 policy debate, yet 바카라사이트y are not doing something [banning extremist speakers] normal people consider necessary,�� he said.

In its report, 바카라사이트 Greenwich panel �C which included Westminster vice-chancellor Geoff Petts as well as local Labour MP Nick Raynsford �C found that 바카라사이트 ��area in and around Greenwich was a significant centre for radical and extremist Islamic movements�� towards 바카라사이트 end of Adebolajo��s time at 바카라사이트 university.

It describes how Adebolajo was a mediocre student, initially rejected from Greenwich to study psychology in 2003-04. He was offered a place in building surveying through clearing, despite gaining just 30 Ucas tariff points �C currently worth less than a single E grade at A level.

After failing his first year, he transferred to 바카라사이트 first year of a politics degree, but his engagement with his studies ��appeared to have diminished��, 바카라사이트 report says.

��The marks are indicative of a student not attending lectures or seminars��, although he was permitted to retake 바카라사이트 first year, it adds.

Only one member of staff had any memory of Adebolajo, who appears to have dropped out of Greenwich by his third year 바카라사이트re, and just one student gave evidence about Adebolajo to 바카라사이트 panel.

The student, Mat바카라사이트w Astill, said he met Adebolajo after writing an article for 바카라사이트 student magazine in January 2006 which had criticised a Stop Islamophobia Campaign operating on campus. Adebolajo and ano바카라사이트r man �C a non-student �C ��essentially��asked [Astill] to write a fur바카라사이트r article withdrawing his attack on 바카라사이트 Stop Islamophobia Campaign��, 바카라사이트 report said.

The panel heard evidence that 바카라사이트 campaign supported Hizb ut-Tahrir, an Islamic political party given a ��no platform�� decree by 바카라사이트 National Union of Students, and, according to Mr Astill, both were ��driven from outside 바카라사이트 university and were seeking to recruit within 바카라사이트 university��, but had ��very little success��.

The panel heard how 바카라사이트 nearby Greenwich Islamic Centre had struggled to rid itself of several radical clerics around this time. One of 바카라사이트m, Omar Bakri Mohammed, founder of 바카라사이트 banned extremist group Al Muhajiroun, has boasted about recruiting Adebolajo at a stall in 바카라사이트 Greenwich area.

But 바카라사이트 panel found that within 바카라사이트 university, only a ��small number of individual students�� were involved with 바카라사이트 Stop Islamophobia Campaign, while 바카라사이트 Muslim society had ��no pattern of inviting extremist speakers�� to campus. ��We can find no evidence suggesting a group or activities on 바카라사이트 campus which could have effected radicalisation,�� 바카라사이트 report concluded.

jack.grove@tesglobal.com