- Several gulf states 'intentionally' exporting Islamic extremism to UK, report says
- This is done through grants to mosques and education funding, authors claim
- Saudi Arabia 'is undoubtedly at the top of the list' of countries funding efforts
- Henry Jackson Society is calling for full and open public inquiry into the issue
Saudi Arabia is 'at the top of the list' of countries exporting extremist Islam to the UK, a new report says.
The
kingdom has engaged in a 60-year, multi-million dollar campaign to
advance its extremist brand of Wahhabi Islam in British Muslim
communities, according to a study by the Henry Jackson Society.
This
has been achieved through endowment grants to mosques, the funding of
Islamic education institutions and the training of imams, the report
authors say.
Saudi Arabia is 'at the top of
the list' of several Gulf states engaged in an 'intentional and
systematic' policy of exporting extremist ideology to the West, a new
report claims
'A clear and
growing link' can be drawn between this overseas money, which originates
in several Gulf states and Iran, and atrocities in the UK and
throughout Europe, the society found.
The
report identifies what it calls 'an intentional and systematic policy'
by these states to 'advance an illiberal and at times anti-Western
version of the Islamic religion' in Western countries.
How
much money has been allocated to this effort is unknown because the
majority of it remains secret, the report admits, but the amount is
though to have increased in recent years.
'Indications
of the kind of influence that such funding can have... can be seen
through the prevalence of Islamist extremist preachers and literature,
including the use of Saudi school textbooks,' the report reads.
'This combined with scholarship
programmes that bring clerics to Saudi Arabia for training, has
gradually contributed to changing the climate of religious belief and
practice in many of the West's Muslim communities.
'As
well as promoting hardline Wahhabi practices to Muslim communities that
formerly identified with other Islamic traditions, this phenomenon has
created a challenge for moderate voices and empowered extremists.'
The
Henry Jackson Society is calling for a public inquiry into the issue
and asks the government to introduce laws forcing Islamic organisations
to declare certain types of finance received from overseas, and any
conditions placed upon its use.
The
Home Office already commissioned a closed-door inquiry into funding for
Islamic extremist groups in the UK back in 2015 as part of a Coalition
deal to expand airstrikes in Syria and Iraq.
The kingdom has engaged in a
60-year, multi-million dollar effort to export Wahhabi Islam - which
forms the basis of extremist ideologies exploited by the likes of ISIS -
to the UK, the report says (file image)
It
was understood that the report would largely focus on Saudi Arabia, but
in May this year the Home Office announced the research has yet to be
completed.
Even if the report is
finished, the findings may never be made public because of the 'very
sensitive' nature of the material, a spokesman said.
Prime
Minister Theresa May, who visited Saudi Arabia earlier this year, has
been accused of 'kowtowing' to the kingdom by 'suppressing' the report.
Tom
Wilson, who wrote the report for the Henry Jackson Society, said:
'There is a clear and growing link between foreign funding of Islamist
extremism and the violent terrorism we have witnessed across the UK and
Europe.
'The key now is to get ahead of
the issue and find out the full extent of what has been going on. A
public inquiry would go some way to informing the debate.
'While
entities from across the Gulf and Iran have been guilty of advancing
extremism, those in Saudi Arabia are undoubtedly at the top of the list.
'Research
indicates that some Saudi individuals and foundations have been
apparently heavily involved in exporting an illiberal, bigoted Wahhabi
ideology.'
A Government spokesman said: 'Defeating the evil ideology of Islamist extremism is one of the greatest challenges of our time.
'The Commission for Counter-Extremism, which the PM announced earlier this year, will have a key role to play in this fight.
'We
are determined to cut off the funding which fuels the evils of
extremism and terrorism, and will work closely with international
partners to tackle this shared global threat, including at the upcoming
G20 summit.'
The UK's Saudi Arabian embassy says the claims are 'categorically false'.
Labour
MP Dan Jarvis said: 'This report from the Henry Jackson Society sheds
light on what are extremely worrying links between Saudi Arabia and the
funding of extremism here in the UK.
'In
the wake of the terrible and tragic terrorist attacks we've seen this
year, it is vital that we use every tool at our disposal to protect our
communities.
'This includes identifying
the networks that promote and support extremism and shutting down the
financial networks that fund it.
'I'm
calling on the Government to release its foreign funding report, and
guarantee that the new counter extremism commission will make tackling
the funding of extremism a priority.'
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