Charity Worker, Orphanage Owner Hunted in Bangladesh For Running Islamic Terror Training Camp

UPDATE: Faisal Mostafa, of Stockport, Greater Manchester, who was acquitted in 2002 of being part of an al-Qaeda bomb plot, was arrested on Wednesday night in Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital, an officer said.

Captain Shafiul Alam, of the elite Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), told The Times that Dr Mostafa, 45, who has a chemistry degree and a PhD in metals corrosion, was detained along with his “agent”, a Bangladeshi citizen. “They are charged with illegally keeping arms, explosive and ammunition, and with militancy and terrorism.”

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A British charity worker twice cleared of terror charges in this country is being hunted in Bangladesh after explosives were seized at an orphanage he founded.
Security forces there claimed last night that the orphanage set up by Dr Faisal Mostafa, from Stockport, was in fact an arms factory and terrorist training camp.
Mostafa ran Green Crescent, a charity that provided humanitarian aid to families in Bangladesh and Pakistan.

The Charity Commission, which awarded it charity status in 2004, last night launched an inquiry. Its chief executive, Andrew Hind, said: ‘The matter is of serious concern to us.’Mostafa, who has a PhD in chemistry from Manchester Polytechnic, was known to security forces in Britain, having been cleared of conspiracy to cause explosions with intent to endanger life at Birmingham Crown Court in 2002.

Six years earlier, he had been cleared at Manchester Crown Court of involvement in a bomb plot campaign.In July last year he was caught at Manchester Airport trying to board a plane to Bangladesh with a pistol and bullet parts in his luggage.The father-of-three was given a suspended sentence. On Monday Bangladeshi security forces raided the orphanage Mostafa set up and the attached Muslim school on the remote island of Bhola in South Bangladesh.

In July last year he was caught at Manchester Airport trying to board a plane to Bangladesh with a pistol and bullet parts in his luggage.

The father-of-three was given a suspended sentence. On Monday Bangladeshi security forces raided the orphanage Mostafa set up and the attached Muslim school on the remote island of Bhola in South Bangladesh.

Lieutenant Colonel Munir Haque, from the Rapid Action Battalion, said: ‘We found small arms about nine or 10 in total plus equipment to make small arms, about 3,000 rounds of ammunition, two walkie-talkies, two remote control devices and four sets of army uniforms.

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