Former Taliban fighter gets 4 life imprisonments
A British former Taliban fighter who sought to recruit Muslims to travel to Afghanistan and attack NATO soldiers was jailed for life on Friday by a court in England, AFP reported.
Pakistani-born British citizen Munir Farooqi radicalised young men in Manchester, northwest England, using an Islamic bookstall as cover before trying to persuade them to fight with the Taliban in war-torn Afghanistan.
But anti-terrorism police caught the 54-year-old ringleader and two others after infiltrating their group and carrying out a year-long undercover operation, prosecutors told Manchester Crown Court.
Farooqi told undercover police officers they could become martyrs fighting in the Afghan jihad, or holy war, the court heard. It is not known if he succeeded in persuading anyone to travel to Afghanistan.