UK al Qaeda prisoners out of control

Observer/Guardian:

Prison officers are struggling to control a group of al-Qaeda terrorists who are clashing with other serious offenders in one of Britain's high-security jails.

Frankland Prison, County Durham, holds an estimated 20 al-Qaeda members and sympathisers, serving long sentences for planning atrocities in the United Kingdom and abroad. They include Dhiren Barot, who was jailed for 30 years, and Omar Khyam, jailed for at least 20 years, for plotting to blow up the Bluewater shopping centre and the Ministry of Sound nightclub.

In recent weeks three disturbances have taken place at the prison. The Prison Officers Association (POA) said many of those involved had been moved to Frankland from Belmarsh Prison in London. 'They don't want to be in Frankland; they want to be in Belmarsh with their friends. They are getting more organised and want to be together in one place, which is scary,' said Steve Gough, vice-chairman of the POA.

Gough warned that the increasing regularity of the disturbances was becoming a serious problem. 'We are struggling to contain it,' he said. 'It's having an effect on other prisoners.'

...

He said he had also been denied 'suitable' Islamic literature and CDs.

'Any time the prison feels that I may have found a "friend" that I may be "overly" socialising with, more often than not the individuals concerned are promptly shipped out to other establishments. Why? For irrational fear of "sermonising" or "talent-scouting",' Barot told Ummah.com. 'Not only have I been subjected to mentally tortuous surroundings... but now physically, too, in order to break my psyche.'

...

They should ship him to Gitmo. They would have no concern about him being out of control there. What is rally happening is that al Qaeda training is kicking in and these guys are being deliberately disruptive in order to game the system and create a situation where they can either escape or use some lawfare attack on the British.