'Fight, kill and die': Four Muslims tried to recruit undercover police as part of holy war, court hears
Harris Farooqi arriving at Manchester Crown Court today
A former Taliban fighter tried to recruit undercover police officers to 'fight, kill and die' in a holy war in Afghanistan, a court heard today.
Pakistani-born Munir Farooqi, 54, had been an 'active terrorist' with the Taliban before being jailed in Afghanistan in 2001, Manchester Crown Court heard.
He was then released by Pakistan, flew to Britain and was at the heart of a 'long and delicate process of radicalisation' of the two undercover officers, Manchester Crown Court heard.
The plan began at Islamic bookstalls in Manchester, taking in visits to mosques in the city, but ending with the sole intention of delivering recruits to 'training camps and battlefields' abroad, the jury was told.
'The prosecution allege in this case that this was an organised attempt taking place in Manchester to raise men for the jihad, to recruit fighters,' Andrew Edis QC, prosecuting, told the jury.
'This means finding people who are capable of being persuaded and persuading them that their religious duty requires them to fight to kill and to die, if necessary.
'It means persuading them to travel from the UK to training camps and battlefields abroad, principally in Afghanistan.'
Farooqi was running a Dawah bookstall in Manchester to spread the word of Islam, the court heard, when he was approached by the officers, identified only by the pseudonyms Ray and Simon, in October 2008.
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They pretended to be at a low ebb in their lives and interested in Islam, but wore secret recording devices as they were 'groomed' and 'brainwashed' by Munir, his son and two others, Andrew Edis, prosecuting, told the court.
Munir had been captured by the authorities in Afghanistan and imprisoned between November 2001 and May 2002, the court heard.
Matthew Newton is also accused of trying to recruit others to join the jihad against British troops in Afghanistan
But he was taken by Pakistani troops from the jail to Peshawar where he was released two months later.
'His wife flew over with money and they returned to the UK,' Mr Edis said.
Father-of-three Munir and his son, Harris Farooqi, 27, also on trial, turned the family's four-bed terrace house in Longsight, Manchester into a 'production centre for propaganda' using a computer and copying machines in the basement to churn out DVDS and CDs about radical Islam.
Munir also used his status as a Taliban 'veteran' to recruit others and would have the 'know how and contacts' to get willing fighters to Afghanistan, it was claimed.
British Muslim convert Matthew Newton, 29, and Israr Malik, 22, who are also in the dock, both worked at the stall and were involved in recruiting and trying to radicalise the officers, it was alleged.
They befriended the officers but after trust was built up the 'true purpose' of the relationship was revealed, the court heard.
Israr Malik was a typical target for recruitment; he had been jailed and his life was in a mess but was radicalised while in a Young Offenders Institute by the Farooqis and Newton who gave him Islamist literature to read while on visits.
The terror charges include disseminating terrorist publications, preparing for acts of terrorism and soliciting to murder.
All four defendants, all from Greater Manchester, deny all charges.
The trial continues.