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Ex-BNP activist 'recruiting prisoners to join al-Qa'ida'

By John Hirst

Ex-BNP activist 'recruiting prisoners to join al-Qa'ida'

A former British National Party activist who converted to Islam in a maximum-security jail is being held in isolation on suspicion of trying to recruit fellow prisoners to terrorist groups.

Stephen Jones has been confined to a segregation unit in Whitemoor prison, Cambridgeshire, for three weeks while the intelligence services investigate his alleged links to al-Qa'ida.

It is thought to be the first time a prisoner has been put in isolation because of fears he was attempting to radicalise other inmates. The authorities were also said to be concerned about his safety. Two other Muslim prisoners are thought to be in the same unit.

Fears have been growing that extremist groups are using prisons as a fertile recruiting ground. Britain is believed to have more prisoners with terrorist sympathies than any other European country.

The Prison Officers' Association (POA) has called for extremist prisoners to be kept away from inmates who could be vulnerable to radicalisation.

Well, this is certainly a new twist to the tale of the poacher turning gamekeeper...

Full post as published by prisonlawinsideout on June 21, 2008 (boomark / email).