UpdateBot at 23:11, 25 June 2022

2022-06-25T23:11:12Z

New page

{{Short description|British Islamist}}
{{other people||Haroon Rashid (disambiguation){{!}}Haroon Rashid}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2012}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Haroon Rashid Aswat
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1979}}
| birth_place = [[United Kingdom|Britain]]
| death_date = 
| death_place =
| nationality = [[United Kingdom]]
| other_names =
| known_for =
| occupation =
}}

'''Haroon Rashid Aswat''' (born {{ca.|1979}} in [[UK|Britain]]) is a British citizen of [[South Asia]]n origin with ancestral ethnic roots to [[Gujarat]], born and raised in [[Yorkshire]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rediff.com/news/2005/aug/08ukblast.htm|title=Haroon Aswat arrested, 2 more charged with murder|website=www.rediff.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.historycommons.org/timeline.jsp?timeline=complete_911_timeline&complete_911_timeline_possible_moles_or_informants=complete_911_timeline_haroon_rashid_aswat|title=Complete 911 Timeline: Haroon Rashid Aswat|website=www.historycommons.org}}</ref> American officials allege that he has ties to [[al Qaeda]],<ref name=Times20050731>
{{cite news
|url = http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article549996.ece
|date = 31 July 2005
|title = Tangled web that still leaves worrying loose ends
|work = The Times
|author = Richard Woods
|accessdate = 11 December 2007
|location = London
|display-authors = etal
|url-status = dead
|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20110718180245/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article549996.ece
|archivedate = 18 July 2011
}}

</ref> and have sought his extradition to the United States, which is supported by the British Government.<ref name="Bbc2010-07-08" /> After his internment in [[Broadmoor Hospital]] in 2008, in 2010 the [[European Court of Human Rights]] blocked efforts to extradite Aswat due to concerns over the conditions of his potential imprisonment in the United States.<ref name="Bbc2010-07-08" /> This decision was upheld on 11 September 2013, meaning that he can not be extradited while under treatment for [[paranoid schizophrenia]].<ref name=BBC24047097/>

==Early life==
Haroon Rashid Aswat, a British [[Gujarati Muslim]], was born in the UK in 1979 (some sources quote dates as early as 1974), to a [[South Asia]]n family, and was raised in [[Dewsbury]], [[West Yorkshire]], on leaving school he moved to [[Wood Green]], [[London]].{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}

==Activities==
From 1995 he became associated with [[Abu Hamza al-Masri]] and the [[Finsbury Park Mosque]]. There, he helped to organise 200 British-based men of [[Pakistan]]i origin to engage in terrorism in [[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu and Kashmir]]. The group later deployed to [[Bosnia]] to join [[Abdelkader Mokhtari]]'s new battalion [[Harkat ul-Ansar]], based in [[Zenica]].<ref>[[American Council for Kosovo]], [http://www.savekosovo.org/default.asp?p=4&leader=0&sp=41 Islamic Terror in Kosovo: Special Report 2], October 2005</ref><ref name="evan">[[Evan Kohlmann|Kohlmann, Evan]]. "Al-Qaeda's Jihad in Europe", p. 62</ref>

In 1999 together with Abu Hamza and American-born convert [[James Ujaama]], the three attempted to buy land in [[Oregon]], [[United States]] to build a training camp for young Muslims. During this period Aswat lived in [[Seattle, Washington]] for over a month, and it is alleged that he was an [[MI6]] informant.{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}

After the project failed, he began a period of travel around the world. By 2002 he was at a religious school in [[Lahore]], hosted by [[HM Treasury v Ahmad|Mohammed al-Ghabra]]. In November 2004 he met in [[Pakistan]] with the ringleader of the [[7 July 2005 London bombings|London 7/7]] attack, [[Mohammad Sidique Khan]], and accomplice [[Shehzad Tanweer]].{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}

By late 2004/early 2005 Aswat was resident in [[South Africa]]. US authorities tried to extradite him with regards the Oregon camp project, but as he was a British Citizen who had committed no crimes in South Africa, the South African authorities refused the extradition request. After the London 7/7 bombings, local South African newspapers reported that Aswat had been living a quiet life there for at least five months.<ref name=Rediff20050802>
{{cite news
|url = http://www.rediff.com/news/2005/aug/02ukblast1.htm
|title = UK blast mastermind sold CDs in Johannesburg
|date = 2 August 2005
|publisher = [[rediff]]
|accessdate = 30 July 2007
|quote = Haroon Rashid Aswat, believed to be the mastermind behind the July 7 London bombings that killed 56 people, made his living by selling compact discs in downtown Johannesburg and was known in his neighbourhood as a 'nice family man.'
|url-status = dead
|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20111220004831/http://www.rediff.com/news/2005/aug/02ukblast1.htm
|archivedate = 20 December 2011
}}

</ref> Neighbors and co-workers described Aswat as "a family man" and said that he showed no apparent interest in radical Islamic politics.<ref name=Rediff20050802 />

In late June 2005 he arrived in the UK, through the [[Port of Felixstowe]]. He then left again via [[Heathrow Airport]] on 7 July 2005 for India, hours before the [[7 July 2005 London bombings|July 2005 London bombings]].{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}{{relevance inline|date=March 2017}}

==Allegations of terrorism==
American counter-terrorism officials state that they began investigating Aswat in 2002.<ref name=SundayHerald20050731>
{{cite news
| url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_20050731/ai_n14827406/print
| title=Brains behind terror plot may be Brit the security services thought
| work=[[Sunday Herald]]
| date=31 July 2005
| author=Liam McDougall
| accessdate=4 August 2007
| author-link=Liam McDougall
}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_20050731/ai_n14827406/ mirror]
</ref><ref name=LATimes20050730>
{{cite news
|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wire/ny-wobomb304364351jul30%2C1%2C3657461.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines
|title=Raids nab rest of 4 bombs suspects: Arrests made in London and Rome
|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]
|author1=Letta Tayler
|author2-link=Colby Itkowitz
|author2=Colby Itkowitz
|date=30 July 2005
|accessdate=30 July 2007
|df=
|author1-link=Letta Tayler
}}{{dead link|date=June 2017|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

</ref><ref name="TimesUnion2005-07-22">
{{cite news
|url = http://alb.merlinone.net/mweb/wmsql.wm.request?oneimage&imageid=6348470
|title = London blasts a sober reminder: Bombs misfire, but popping sound of detonators sends lunchtime transit passengers fleeing in panic
|publisher = [[Times Union (Albany)|Times Union]]
|date = 22 July 2005
|accessdate = 30 November 2011
|page = A1
|author = Letta Tayler
|quote = Meanwhile, U.S. and British authorities investigating the [[July 7 attacks]] searched for information on Haroon Rashid Aswat, a Pakistani man allegedly connected to a foiled plot to create a terrorist training camp in Bly, Ore.
|url-status = dead
|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20120425152339/http://alb.merlinone.net/mweb/wmsql.wm.request?oneimage&imageid=6348470
|archivedate = 25 April 2012
}}

</ref><ref name="Komo2009-10-18">
{{cite news
|url = http://komonews.com/news/local/trial-record-provides-account-of-oregon-jihad-camp
|title = Trial record provides account of Oregon jihad camp
|publisher = [[Komo News]]
|date = 18 October 2009
|accessdate = 21 July 2016
|quote = In late 1999, Ujaama made a pitch to a London imam, Abu Hamza al-Masri. He promised al-Masri a safe haven, recruits and weapons to transform the desert ranch into a Muslim military training camp, court records said.
}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20091022130143/http://www.komonews.com/news/local/64709457.html mirror]
</ref><ref name="OregonLive2009-10-17">
{{cite news
|url = http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/10/terrorist_plot_unravels_at_rur.html
|title = Terrorist plot unravels at rural Oregon ranch
|publisher = [[Oregon Live]]
|date = 17 October 2009
|accessdate = 30 April 2012
|quote = The events that led to the effort 10 years ago to establish a jihad camp outside Bly have been well-chronicled. But testimony and exhibits from Kassir's trial in New York provide the fullest account to date of what went on behind the gates of the Dog Cry Ranch.
|author = Les Zaitz
|url-status = dead
|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20120124214104/http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/10/terrorist_plot_unravels_at_rur.html
|archivedate = 24 January 2012
}}

</ref> In reporting on [[Oussama Kassir]]'s 2009 trial ''[[Oregon Live]]'' described Lebanese-born Swedish militant Kassir and Aswat taking a bus from the east coast to Oregon.<ref name="Komo2009-10-18"/><ref name="OregonLive2009-10-17"/> According to [[The Sunday Herald]], by 1999, Aswat was calling himself a "[[hit man]]" for [[Osama bin Laden|bin Laden]].<ref name=SundayHerald20050731/> [[File:Dog Cry Ranch, Bly, Oregon, 1999.jpg|thumb|During the 2009 trial of Lebanese-born Swedish militant Islamist [[Oussama Kassir]], prosecutors alleged he and Haroon Aswat traveled to [[Bly, Oregon]] to provide military training at the [[Dog Cry Ranch]].<ref name="OregonLive2009-10-17"/>]]

American and British counter-terrorism officials stated that they found Aswat's passport on a man killed in action in Afghanistan in early 2003, and believed him to be Aswat.<ref name=SundayHerald20050731/><ref name=InternationalHeraldTribune20050730>
{{cite news
|url = http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/07/29/news/britain.php
|title = Suspect in London fatal blasts eluded arrest
|author = William K. Rashbaum
|author2 = Raymond Bonner
|publisher = International Herald Tribune
|date = 30 July 2005
|quote = Aswat first came to the attention of the U.S. counterterrorism investigators in 2002 in Seattle. But the authorities there believed he had subsequently been killed fighting U.S. forces in Afghanistan. In the weeks before the London bombings, the South African authorities informed the U.S. authorities in New York that Aswat was living in their country, one of the officials said.
|url-status = dead
|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20070814043221/http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/07/29/news/britain.php
|archivedate = 14 August 2007
}}

</ref>

In the first two weeks following the [[7 July 2005 bombings]], police sources initially told newspapers that Aswat made some 20 [[mobile phone]] calls to two of the suspected bombers just hours before the blasts.<ref name=Times20050721>
{{cite news
|url = http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article546327.ece
|date = 21 July 2005
|title = Top al-Qaeda Briton called Tube bombers before attack
|author = Zahid Hussain
|author2 = Daniel McGrory
|author3-link = Sean O'Neill (journalist)
|author3 = Sean O'Neill
|work = The Times
|accessdate = 30 July 2007
|location = London
|url-status = dead
|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20110814113033/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article546327.ece
|archivedate = 14 August 2011
|author-link = Zahid Hussain (journalist)
|author2-link = Daniel McGrory
}}

</ref><ref name="TimesUnion2005-07-30">
{{cite news
|url = http://alb.merlinone.net/mweb/wmsql.wm.request?oneimage&imageid=6349809
|title = Last 3 of 4 suspects in failed attacks held: Two arrested in London, one in Rome completes tally in failed attacks
|publisher = [[Times Union (Albany)|Times Union]]
|date = 30 July 2005
|accessdate = 30 November 2011
|quote = Scotland Yard declined to comment on the arrest in Zambia of a British man sought in connection with the 7 July bombings. British investigators reportedly believe Haroon Rashid Aswat, 31, had been in telephone contact with some of the four suicide attackers.
|page = A1
|author = Letta Tayler
|url-status = dead
|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20120425152333/http://alb.merlinone.net/mweb/wmsql.wm.request?oneimage&imageid=6349809
|archivedate = 25 April 2012
}}

</ref> On 31 July 2005, following a more thorough forensic analysis of the remains of the bombers' phones, ''[[The Times]]'' reported that:<ref name=Times20050731/> "British investigators, examining whether telephone calls were made between the London bombers and Aswat before the attacks of 7/7, caution that the calls may have been made to a phone linked to Aswat, rather than the man himself."

The ''New York Times'' quoted unnamed security officials that when Aswat's presence was brought to the attention of American authorities, that they wanted to subject him to an [[Extraordinary rendition by the United States|extraordinary rendition]].<ref name=InternationalHeraldTribune20050730/>
The ''New York Times'' sources said British officials objected, stating that "He's got U.K. papers, and they said you can't render somebody with U.K. papers."<ref name=InternationalHeraldTribune20050730/>

On 29 July 2005, during an interview on ''[[Fox News]]'' a former US prosecutor named [[John Loftus (author)|John Loftus]], asserted that Aswat was a double agent, backed by MI6.<ref name=TheGuardian20050910>
{{cite news
|url = http://politics.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0%2C9115%2C1566919%2C00.html
|title = Britain now faces its own blowback: Intelligence interests may thwart the July bombings investigation
|author = Michael Meacher
|date = 10 September 2005
|publisher = The Guardian
|accessdate = 10 August 2007
|location = London
|url-status = dead
|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20081202233340/http://politics.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,9115,1566919,00.html
|archivedate = 2 December 2008
|author-link = Michael Meacher
}}

</ref> Loftus claimed that MI6 intervened to protect Aswat while he was trying to evade capture.

==Arrest and extradition to the United Kingdom==
Having travelled via [[Pakistan]], Aswat was arrested in [[Zambia]] on 20 July 2005.<ref name=Rediff20050802/> He was deported from Zambia to the UK on 7 August 2005 and arrested on his arrival.<ref name=LATimes20050730/> Following Aswat's capture his family issued a press release, stating that Aswat "has not lived at this house and we have not had contact with him for many years... there is no story that we can provide."<ref name=Fox20050721>
{{cite news
| url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,163182,00.html
| title=U.K. Gov't Plans Tough Terror Laws
| date= 21 July 2005
| publisher=[[Fox News]]
| accessdate=30 July 2007
}}</ref>

==U.S. extradition proceedings==
Once Aswat was transferred to the United Kingdom, he was held in detention on a U.S. arrest warrant.<ref name=TheTimes20050808>
{{cite news
|url = http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article553004.ece
|date = 8 August 2005
|title = British al-Qaeda suspect facing extradition to US
|author = Simon Freeman
|work = The Times
|accessdate = 2 August 2007
|location = London
|quote = Mr Keith said that Mr Aswat had claimed to have been in a camp in Afghanistan and to have met Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda. He remained at the camp in Bly, Oregon, for a month before going back to Seattle and his whereabouts after that were unknown, Mr Keith said.
|url-status = dead
|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20110523204253/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article553004.ece
|archivedate = 23 May 2011
}}

</ref><ref name=TheGuardian20060105>
{{cite news
|url = https://www.theguardian.com/alqaida/story/0,12469,1679876,00.html
|title = 'Al-Qaida' Briton faces extradition to US
|date = 5 January 2006
|publisher = The Guardian
|accessdate = 2 August 2007
|location = London
}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20060110055854/http://www.guardian.co.uk/alqaida/story/0,12469,1679876,00.html mirror]
</ref><ref name=TheGuardian20050811>
{{cite news
|url = https://www.theguardian.com/terrorism/story/0,12780,1546887,00.html?gusrc=rss
|title = 10 detained over 'threat to national security'
|author = James Sturcke
|date = 11 August 2005
|publisher = The Guardian
|location = London
|author-link = James Sturcke
}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20080106225047/http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,12780,1546887,00.html?gusrc=rss mirror]
</ref> American justice officials sought to try Aswat for his alleged role in setting up the Oregon training camp in 1999.

A British judge approved Aswat's [[extradition]] on 30 November 2006, discounting the concern Aswat's lawyers expressed that there was "a real risk" Aswat would face inhumane treatment in U.S. custody.<ref name=TheGuardian20061130>
{{cite news
|url = https://www.theguardian.com/terrorism/story/0,,1960713,00.html
|title = UK terror suspects lose extradition battle
|date = 30 November 2006
|publisher = The Guardian
|accessdate = 2 August 2007
|location = London
}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20110224025539/http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2006/nov/30/terrorism.world mirror]
</ref> But in 2008 he was transferred to [[Broadmoor Hospital]], a high-security [[psychiatric hospital]] after being diagnosed with [[paranoid schizophrenia]].<ref name=BBC24047097/>

In 2010 the [[European Court of Human Rights]] blocked the extradition orders of Aswat, Abu Hamza, [[Babar Ahmad]] and [[Syed Talha Ahsan]].<ref name="Bbc2010-07-08">
{{cite news
|url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10551784
|title = Abu Hamza US extradition halted
|publisher = BBC News
|date = 8 July 2010
|quote = Abu Hamza, Mr Ahmad and Mr Ahsan face life sentences and US prosecutors have said that Abu Hamza could be jailed for 100 years. Mr Aswat faces a maximum of 50 years.
|author = Dominic Casciani
|url-status = dead
|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20101108165029/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10551784
|archivedate = 8 November 2010
}}

</ref><ref name="FoxNews2010-07-09">
{{cite news
|url = http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/court-halts-radicals-extradition/story-e6frfku0-1225889612291
|title = Court halts radical's extradition
|publisher = [[Fox News Australia]]
|date = 9 July 2010
|accessdate = 11 December 2013
|quote = The Strasbourg-based court said it wanted to look into the men's concerns over the length of their possible sentences and conditions at the ADX Florence "supermax" prison in Colorado where they were likely to be held
|url-status = dead
|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20100709184910/http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/court-halts-radicals-extradition/story-e6frfku0-1225889612291
|archivedate = 9 July 2010
}}

</ref>

On 16 April 2013, the [[European Court of Human Rights]] decided that Aswat's extradition to the U. S. would violate his right for protection against inhumane treatment, given his mental state.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-118583#{%22itemid%22:[%22001-118583%22]|title=CASE OF ASWAT v. THE UNITED KINGDOM|website=hudoc.echr.coe.int}}</ref> The UK Government appealed for the case to be reconsidered by the court's [[European Court of Human Rights|Grand Chamber]], but on 11 September 2013 that was rejected, making the decision become final that Aswat cannot now be extradited.<ref name=BBC24047097>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-24047097|title=Haroon Aswat extradition block upheld by European Court|publisher=BBC News|date=11 September 2013|accessdate=11 September 2013}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*[https://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/29/international/29london.html As 3 Nations Consulted, Terror Suspect Eluded Arrest], ''[[The New York Times]]'', 28 July 2005
*{{cite news
| url=http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0507/29/bn.02.html
| title=CNN BREAKING NEWS: Major Anti-Terror Operation Under Way in West London
| publisher=CNN
| date=29 July 2005
| accessdate=4 August 2007
}}
*{{cite news
| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/77-one-year-on-why-did-it-happen-the-big-questions-still-need-answers-406351.html
| title=7/7 one year on: Why did it happen? The big questions still need answers
| author=Francis Elliott
| author2=Sophie Goodchild
| date=2 July 2006
| accessdate=4 August 2007
| location=London
| work=The Independent
| author-link=Francis Elliott (journalist)
| author2-link=Sophie Goodchild
}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aswat, Haroon Rashid}}
[[Category:1979 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Dewsbury]]
[[Category:British Islamists]]
[[Category:People with schizophrenia]]
[[Category:July 2005 London bombings]]
[[Category:British people imprisoned abroad]]
[[Category:People detained at Broadmoor Hospital]]
[[Category:English people of Gujarati descent]]
[[Category:People from Gujarat]]
[[Category:British people of Indian descent]]

Haroon Rashid Aswat - Revision history

UpdateBot at 23:11, 25 June 2022