A mosque attended by one of the London Bridge attackers is linked to a controversial human rights group, The Times can reveal.
The Jabir bin Zayid Islamic Centre in Barking, east London, called in a spokesman for Cage, which represents prisoners and suspects in the “war on terror”, to help handle press attention after it emerged that Khuram Butt was a regular visitor.
Cerie Bullivant, a leading figure at Cage, said last night that he “did a favour for a friend”.
Mr Bullivant, 34, is a former terrorist suspect who converted to Islam aged 21. He defended Cage after its ties to the Isis killer Mohammed Emwazi, known as Jihadi John, emerged. Cage prompted widespread outrage in 2015 when its research director, Asim Qureshi, described Emwazi as an “extremely kind, gentle, beautiful young man”.
It emerged on Sunday that Butt, 27, was asked to leave the mosque for telling members of the congregation that voting in a general election was “un-Islamic”. He continued to attend and was seen there as recently as last week. Mr Bullivant, who made very clear his disdain for the terrorist attack in which seven people were killed, helped to prepare a statement for the mosque after dozens of journalists made approaches.
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The Times established the link after a statement was provided with a mobile number for “Kareem”, Mr Bullivant’s Muslim name, that matched his own.
“I lived in Barking and Dagenham. I never really went to that mosque that much. They approached me presumably because I know [a mosque leader’s son],” he said. “I’m a little bit of a face in the community.”
Mr Bullivant, who in 2007 fled a control order made over fears that he planned to travel abroad for terror training, stormed off a live interview with Sky News last year after Kay Burley, the presenter, repeatedly demanded that he condemn Emwazi. He refused on the grounds that her demand was “anti-Islamic” and she said: “No it’s not. Get over yourself.”
In 2008, the High Court ruled that MI5 had shown “no reasonable suspicion” that Mr Bullivant was a security risk. In the mosque’s statement, he wrote: “We are deeply shocked and saddened by the tragic events that unfolded at London Bridge on Saturday night. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families at this time of great heartbreak.
“As a community, we denounce this abhorrent criminal act, for which there can never be any justification.
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“We will continue to assist the police and the relevant authorities with any investigation to ensure that justice is achieved for the victims and that safety for the community is ensured.”
He added that the mosque, for which he said that he was acting in a personal capacity, was not aware that Butt was a member of Al-Muhajiroun, the proscribed group set up by the hate preacher Anjem Choudary. Butt was also known at the Uthman bookshop and mosque in Dagenham, where one worshipper said he remembered him being thrown out of the mosque a year ago for trying to recruit for Isis. Musa Phillips, a spokesman for the Uthman mosque, said: “If he said something in support of Isis we would definitely have thrown him out, but we would have to make inquiries to find what he might have said.”
Home from home
Barking in east London, where 12 people were arrested by police investigating the London Bridge attack, has nearly four times as many Muslims as the UK average, (George Sandeman writes).
According to the 2015 annual population survey by the Office for National Statistics, Islam is the second most practised faith behind Christianity in the borough of Barking and Dagenham, which has a population of 202,000.
Muslims make up 19 per cent of residents — the UK average is 5 per cent and the average for London is 15 per cent. Christianity is practised by 59 per cent of the borough’s population, which is slightly higher than the national figure of 57 per cent and higher than the London average of 49 per cent.
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Figures from the same survey show that nearly 38 per cent of the population was born abroad. This compares with a figure of 13 per cent for the UK and is slightly higher than the 37 per cent average for London. In 2006, 21 per cent of the borough’s residents were born abroad, but the number has been rising ever since.
A total of 63 per cent of the population were of working age, with 27 per cent younger than 16 and 10 per cent aged 65 or over.
The 2011 census showed that people from Pakistan made up the third largest migrant population.
Yesterday the Metropolitan Police confirmed that one of the attackers was Khuram Shazad Butt, 27, a British citizen born in Pakistan.
The 2011 census also showed that 19 per cent of residents in the borough said that English was not their main language, more than double the nationwide figure of 8 per cent. Figures from the Greater London Authority show that in 2013 half of the population of the borough were of a BAME (Black, Asian and minority ethnic) background, a higher figure than the average for London of 43 per cent.
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All 12 people arrested were released without charge yesterday.