Islam Channel CEO – Mohamed Ali Harrath appeared this morning in Kempton Park Magistrates Court in Pretoria, in what was regarded as a formality following his arrest at the end of January this year, in connection with an Interpol Red Notice posted by the Tunisian authorities.

Mohamed Ali was bound over to re-attend the court to allow the Tunisian authorities time to put forward a case for his extradition in connection with convictions imposed in his absentia relating to his opposition 20 years ago to the one party state in Tunisia.

In January this year following Mr Harrath’s arrest at the Oliver Tambo airport, lawyers representing Mr Harrath challenged the lawfulness of the arrest and demanded that evidence be produced to confirm Mr Harrath’s guilt or complicity in alleged crimes.

In the absence of such evidence or indeed any submission from the Tunisian authorities, the Magistrate at the court in Kempton Park today notified Mr Harrath that there are no grounds on which he should be held either now or in the future in relation to the notice.

On the basis of Tunisia’s lack of response, its decision not to present evidence in this trial and the Magistrate’s dismissal of the case, the lawyers representing Mr Harrath will today be making an application to have the notice removed from Interpol’s records. Lawyers are also intending to pursue the South African authorities for damages in respect of wrongful arrest – on the basis that the notice was issued against him over 20 years ago by Interpol, on a misleading instruction by the government of Tunisia and that Interpol’s website states that “An Interpol Red Notice is not an international arrest warrant” and “the person should be considered innocent until proven guilty.”

Following the trial, Mr Harrath proclaimed: “This trial has been a significant legal test both in terms of the lack of sincerity and integrity of the allegations against me and of the unjustness of the Interpol Red Notice system – which has been used to intimidate and harass political opponents by states such as Tunisia. This result is a complete vindication of the allegations against me and I shall be pressing for a complete and urgent review of the misuse and abuse of the Interpol Red Notice system.”

Islam Channel press release, 29 March 2010

Cf. Douglas Murray, “I had dinner with a wanted terrorist”, Telegraph blog, 17 March 2010

“Like much of the QF’s steady output of drivel, the report is poorly researched with causal relationships established on the flimsiest of empirical data.”

ENGAGE provides a critique of the Quilliam Foundation’s reportRe-programming British Muslims: A study of the Islam Channel.

See also ENGAGE’s letter to Charles Farr, Director-General of the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism. They write:

“What the OSCT and the Foreign Office, who fund the QF, surely need to now ask themselves in response to this latest smear campaign is whether their association with a body that British Muslims find abhorrent for its half-baked analysis and laughable policy prescriptions, and which derails the other benign efforts by government departments to fully engage British Muslims in debates on integration and belonging, is a price worth paying?”

While he’s at it, Charles Farr might also like to consider whether it is an appropriate use of taxpayers’ money for the Quilliam Foundation to hire expensive libel lawyers in an attempt to intimidate their critics.

Hamas link of charity praised by Brown

By Andrew Gilligan

Sunday Telegraph, 28 March 2010

A charity praised last week by Gordon Brown and the Prince of Wales has channelled hundreds of thousands of pounds to groups linked to Hamas, the banned terrorist organisation, according to security sources.

The Prime Minister and the heir to the throne personally praised Muslim Aid, whose own accounts show it has paid at least £325,000 to the Islamic University of Gaza, where leading Hamas figures teach, and £13,998 to the al-Ihsan Charitable Society, designated by the US government as a “sponsor of terrorism” and a front for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group.

Security sources also claim that Muslim Aid has helped channel a further Pounds 210,600 to six other organisations in the Gaza Strip since July 2009, all of which they say are linked to Hamas.

Muslim Aid is banned from the West Bank by the Israeli government, which says it is a member of the Union of Good, an alliance of charities that raise money for Hamas. Hamas is banned throughout the EU as a designated terrorist organisation.

In a video address to Muslim Aid’s 25th anniversary dinner on Wednesday, Mr Brown praised the charity’s “valuable work” and said: “I wish Muslim Aid and its passionate and committed staff and supporters the very best for another 25 years of achievement.”

According to invitations sent out by Muslim Aid, Mr Brown had been due to speak in person at the dinner, but cancelled at the last minute. However, another member of the Cabinet, Shaun Woodward, the Northern Ireland Secretary, did speak, as did a member of the Conservative front bench, Andrew Mitchell MP. Two other ministers, Sadiq Khan and Gareth Thomas, attended the dinner.

The Prince sent a message saying that “our country is incredibly fortunate to be able to count on organisations like Muslim Aid, who bring not only help, but hope to those most in need”.

Update:  See “Muslim Aid rejects false allegations printed in theSunday Telegraph“, Muslim Aid press release, 29 March 2010