Moazzam Begg Admits to Involvement in Henning Rescue Attempt – One Day After Breitbart Questions

Just a day after Breitbart London speculated over the role former Guantanamo inmate Moazzam Begg may have had in British attempts to retrieve the recently murdered captive Alan Henning, a number of British newspapers have printed his admission that he knew who the terrorists who held Henning were, and could have helped secure his release.

We asked yesterday whether there was anything in the timing of Begg’s arrest and release, as he was taken into custody shortly after Henning’s capture in Syria and then turned out without charge only 48-hours before the latest ISIS murder video was released. As reports The Guardian, Begg was working with the Government to secure his release both before and after his release, using his fluency in Arabic to draft a letter calling for Henning’s release.

Begg appears to blame the government for Henning’s death, claiming he had saved lives of captives before but after his arrest was “demonised” by the government: “I was in Syria before Isis and before [al-Qaida’s] al-Nusra Front was proscribed. I was involved in interventions when they had taken hostages. I had got other groups to pressurise them and got [people] released”.

It is becoming increasingly clear that the charitable organisations that Alan Henning was involved with at the time of his capture may not have been all they appeared. The Al-Fatiha Global charity, which purported to raise money for the people of Syria, Bosnia, and Gaza, and for whom Henning was a “valued fellow convoy member, volunteer and friend” is now under investigation by the Charity commission for links to violent extremists in Syria and misuse of funds. Its director was photographed posing with armed militants earlier this year, and it has been suggested the group who took Henning may have had received a tip-off of his coming.

Moazzam Begg himself has a chequered past concerning Islamic fundamentalism, having been a member of proscribed groups, been detained in Guantanamo Bay and has recently had his car bugged by the security services. He was released from Belmarsh high security prison last week, apparently after difficulties with evidence held by MI5 meant he has no case to answer. He has vowed to sue the government for unlawful arrest and it has been reported he may be awarded as much as £100,000.