The word “Sheffield” sits in the entrance gates to a Sheffield steel mill. Oli Scarff / AFP
The word “Sheffield” sits in the entrance gates to a Sheffield steel mill. Oli Scarff / AFP

Sheffield terror raid at Qatar-linked centre



A British police operation to foil a suspected bomb plot by Islamist extremists ahead of the Christmas break targeted a community centre with ties to Qatar-run charity.

The raid on the Fatima Community Centre in Sheffield was part of a wider swoop for evidence at a series of homes and gathering places in northern England on Tuesday. The Fatima centre is run by the Muslim Association of Britain, which has been linked to the Muslim Brotherhood.

The city's Emaan Trust has attracted substantial financial support for construction of a mosque in Sheffield  from Qatar Charity UK (QCUK), an arm of the Qatari body that has been proscribed within the Arab Quartet, for links to terrorism.

An army bomb disposal team was sent to a house in northern England after police arrested four men on Tuesday on suspicion of planning acts of terrorism. Reports said police fear two explosive devices were being prepared to explode at popular Christmas markets. Three men, aged 22, 36 and 41, were held after raids at their homes in Sheffield and a 31-year-old was detained at an address in Chesterfield, a town west of the city.

“The arrests were intelligence-led and pre-planned as part of an ongoing investigation by Counter Terrorism Policing North East and (domestic security agency) MI5,” West Yorkshire Police said. “The public may have heard loud bangs at the time police entered the properties. We would like to reassure them that this was part of the method of entry to gain access.”

Police said the bomb disposal unit had been sent to the Chesterfield house and that nearby residents had been evacuated as a precaution. The suspects, including a Syrian national, were being questioned on suspicion of being concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.

Britain has suffered five terror attacks so far this year, four of which led to loss of life, while security chiefs say another nine have been thwarted.

The country remains on its second-highest threat level meaning an attack is considered highly likely.

The National reported earlier this year  that QCUK provided a grant of £400,000 (Dh1.96 million) for a “multipurpose centre in the UK” to the Emaan Trust in Sheffield.

Abderak Bougara, a trustee of the Muslim Association of Britain and the Emaan Trust, said one of the arrested men worked at the centre. "They have arrested four people. One of them worked there and others went there," he told The Times.

Concerns over the views held by Emaan Trust office holders have been known for some time. One of the trustees of the Emaan Trust, Essam Al Fulajii, has said Muslims and Christians should unite against the “monster” Jews, and claimed that he is “still convinced that the international Zionists and Mossad were behind the September 11 attacks.”

Its honorary chairman, Dr Khalid Al-Mathkour, is “a member of the Kuwaiti Muslim Brotherhood’s charitable arm, the Social Reform Society” and “follows the Brotherhood’s ideology”, according to one research report.

Yousef bin Ahmed Al Kuwari is listed as the chief executive of Qatar Charity UK (QCUK) at Companies House and as chairman on the Qatar Charity website. Accounts filed to the Charity Commission — the body that regulates registered charities — show that 99 per cent of the charity’s money comes from its parent organisation in Doha.

Mr Kuwari has also linked to Islamweb.net, which is sponsored by the Qatari Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs. He was head of information technology, according to an official biography given when he spoke at a Corporate Social Responsibility summit in Qatar.

Islamweb says it is "a site designed to enrich the viewers' knowledge and appreciation of Islam", and is used by British citizens "seeking religious guidance on a range of issues." But it also espouses extreme views on such issues as integration into British society. In June, the website said of Jews and Christians: "It is incumbent to hate them for the sake of Allah."

In response to a query about whether Muslims should sign an oath of allegiance when becoming a UK citizen, it says: “There is no doubt that a person who accepts the naturalisation of disbelieving countries commits many religious infractions. Among these infractions is to utter what is not permissible to believe in or abide by, like accepting their regime which is totally different from Islam, and uttering an oath to be loyal and friendly with them.”

QCUK also has links with preachers who have been banned in the UK. Accounts show that it donated £800,000 (Dh3.9 million) to the European Institute for Human Sciences (IESH) in France. The IESH publishes fatwas following the guidance of the European Council on Fatwa and Research. The president of the Council is Yousef Al Qaradawi, a Qatari hate preacher who has been banned from the UK.

Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENamara%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJune%202022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMohammed%20Alnamara%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMicrofinance%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E16%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeries%20A%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFamily%20offices%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs

Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cyl turbo

Power: 194hp at 5,600rpm

Torque: 275Nm from 2,000-4,000rpm

Transmission: 6-speed auto

Price: from Dh155,000

On sale: now

David Haye record

Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4

The drill

Recharge as needed, says Mat Dryden: “We try to make it a rule that every two to three months, even if it’s for four days, we get away, get some time together, recharge, refresh.” The couple take an hour a day to check into their businesses and that’s it.

Stick to the schedule, says Mike Addo: “We have an entire wall known as ‘The Lab,’ covered with colour-coded Post-it notes dedicated to our joint weekly planner, content board, marketing strategy, trends, ideas and upcoming meetings.”

Be a team, suggests Addo: “When training together, you have to trust in each other’s abilities. Otherwise working out together very quickly becomes one person training the other.”

Pull your weight, says Thuymi Do: “To do what we do, there definitely can be no lazy member of the team.” 

The past winners

2009 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)

2010 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)

2011 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)

2012 - Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus)

2013 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)

2014 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

2015 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)

2016 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

2017 - Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)

MATCH DETAILS

Barcelona 0

Slavia Prague 0

Cricket World Cup League 2

UAE squad

Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind

Fixtures

Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE

Can NRIs vote in the election?

Indians residing overseas cannot cast their ballot abroad

Non-resident Indians or NRIs can vote only by going to a polling booth in their home constituency

There are about 3.1 million NRIs living overseas

Indians have urged political parties to extend the right to vote to citizens residing overseas

A committee of the Election Commission of India approved of proxy voting for non-resident Indians

Proxy voting means that a person can authorise someone residing in the same polling booth area to cast a vote on his behalf.

This option is currently available for the armed forces, police and government officials posted outside India

A bill was passed in the lower house of India’s parliament or the Lok Sabha to extend proxy voting to non-resident Indians

However, this did not come before the upper house or Rajya Sabha and has lapsed

The issue of NRI voting draws a huge amount of interest in India and overseas

Over the past few months, Indians have received messages on mobile phones and on social media claiming that NRIs can cast their votes online

The Election Commission of India then clarified that NRIs could not vote online

The Election Commission lodged a complaint with the Delhi Police asking it to clamp down on the people spreading misinformation

Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Cargoz%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EDate%20started%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20January%202022%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Premlal%20Pullisserry%20and%20Lijo%20Antony%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2030%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Seed%3C%2Fp%3E%0A