Muslim protester who works as baggage handler at Luton Airport has security pass suspended after hurling abuse at troops
Venom: Jalah Ahmed, centre, brandishing a banner calling British soldiers 'Butchers' during the Royal Anglian Regiment's homecoming parade on Tuesday
One of the Muslim extremists who waved hate-filled placards at soldiers during a homecoming march works as a baggage handler at Luton Airport, it has emerged.
Jalal Ahmed - who brandished a sign saying 'Anglian soldiers: Butchers of Basra' - has an airside pass which gives him access to secure areas. His duties involve loading luggage on to conveyor belts into aircraft holds.
Yesterday Ahmed's employer, Menzies Aviation, said it had rescinded his airside pass and he would not be working for them until a full investigation was complete. He is not a full-time employee and is understood to work mainly during holidays or peak periods.
Ahmed, 21, a British citizen who lives in Luton, took part in a demonstration in the town on Tuesday against 200 soldiers from 2nd Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment.
It is believed to have been organised by hardline Islamist group Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaaha, which took over from banned organisation Al-Muhajiroun.
Menzies Aviation provides passenger, ramp and cargo handling facilities for 500 airlines in 24 countries.
A spokesman for parent firm John Menzies plc said: 'All employees are subject to a five-year criminal record check and airport authority checks before they can be given an airside pass to work on the airport.
'Jalal Ahmed passed these checks, which are the standard security checks for every airport in the UK.'
Tory MP David Davies yesterday said he had tabled an amendment to the Policing and Crime Bill currently going through Parliament which would make it an offence to wave offensive placards or make offensive gestures at uniformed military personnel.
Ahmed is said to have once joked he was the nephew of Osama bin Laden and was also allegedly questioned over pictures of passenger jets.
He told officers he was interested in planes and no further action was taken.
Approved: Ahmed has access to secure areas of Luton Airport (above)
John Menzies plc insisted Ahmed would have been supervised at all times as he worked at the airport.
Luton Borough Council, which owns the airport, said: 'The Council has been assured that all employees at the Airport receive criminal record and security checks. We are unable to comment on individuals.
'The issue of security is taken very seriously by the Council and the Airport Company.'
Budget airline easyJet, which is the main operator at Luton, made it clear Ahmed was not employed directly by them.
A spokesman said: 'We are obviously working with his employers. We are working with Special Branch and we are aware his airside pass has been temporarily suspended.'
The Royal Anglian soldiers' return home from Iraq on Tuesday was ruined by the Muslim protest, which ended in clashes with people who had turned out to support the troops.
Islamic extremists waved offensive placards branding the soldiers 'killers' as they marched through the streets of Luton, provoking shock and condemnation.
Firebrand preacher Anjem Choudary added insult to injury yesterday by taunting the grieving families of three Royal Anglian regiment members killed by 'friendly fire'.
He said troops in Iraq and Afghanistan were 'not heroes but closer to cowards who cannot fight, as their uncanny knack for death by friendly fire illustrates'.
The three soldiers to whom he was referring - Privates Robert Foster, 19, John Thrumble, 21, and Aaron McClure, 19 - were killed in Afghanistan in August 2007 when an American F-15 jet dropped a 500lb bomb on their position.