BBC Producer Linked to 'Osama bin London' But Failed to Help Police

We noted Tuesday the conviction of this piece of garbage know as Osama bin London and now we revisit the BBC producer who had contact with him but felt no obligation to alert the authorities. Last time we checked in with Nasreen Suleaman, she and the Beeb were busy extolling the virtues of paintballing with terrorists.

A BBC producer failed to give police information that would have helped track down the July 21 bombers, the trial was told.

Don't Panic, I'm Islamic, which featured the group paintballing and an interview with Mohammed Hamid, was shown on BBC2 on June 12, 2005.

Nasreen Suleaman, the producer, told the court that Hamid said he would use his £300 fee to settle the fine he had been given by magistrates for racially abusing two policemen at his Oxford Street stall.

Called as a defence witness, Miss Suleaman admitted that she had spoken to Hamid in the days following the July 21 attacks and found out he knew the wanted men.

So what does any good citizen do at this point? Well, you should contact police, any prior relationship be damned.

But Suleaman is an exalted journalist, those most noble of all creatures, and their profession (ahem) comes first.

Miss Suleaman claimed she told BBC managers of the situation but no one passed on the information to the authorities.

She looked visibly shaken when told that two of the July 21 bombers, had joined Hamid on another paintball trip two weeks before the bombings.

Miss Suleaman saw Hamid a few days after July 21, 2005 and he seemed "very shocked that the men he knew were accused of this".

Duncan Penny, prosecuting, said: "Did you tell him to go to the police?"

Ms Suleaman replied: "I don't think I needed to."

Despite this, BBC kept Suleaman on the payroll to offer up sympathetic dreck like this and this months after the bombings.

Some journalist.

'Osama bin London' Found Guilty

When you give yourself a nickname like this, you get what you have coming.

Of course, running terrorist training camps and encouraging murder don't help, either.

A Muslim fanatic who boasted of being "Osama bin London" has been found guilty of organising terrorist training camps.

Mohammed Hamid, 50, was also convicted of encouraging others to murder non-believers at the end of a four-month trial at Woolwich Crown Court.

Three of his followers, Kibley da Costa, 25, Mohammed Al-Figari, 45, and Kader Ahmed, 20, were found guilty of attending terror camps in the New Forest and at a Berkshire paintballing centre.

Two further members of the gang, Mohammed Kyriacou, 19, and Yassin Mutegombwa, 23, admitted attending terrorist training camps, it can be reported today after restrictions were lifted.

Property manager Mousa Brown, 41, was cleared of providing and receiving weapons training and has been freed from custody.

The court heard Hamid led an al Qaida-style terrorist cell and aspired to send his recruits to join camps in Afghanistan and East Africa.

Among his pupils were five of the July 21 failed bombers, including ringleader Muktar Said Ibrahim, who attended Lake District camps in 2004.

Detectives said although there is no evidence Hamid organised the attacks, he was partly responsible for the state of mind of those that did.

He boasted that the July 7 attacks were "not even breakfast for me" and hours afterwards sent a text message to his friend, July 21 conspirator Hussain Osman.

It read: "We fear no-one except Allah. We will not change our ways, we are proud to be Muslim and we will not hide."

Hamid organised outdoor activities including camping and paintballing at sites in the Lake District, New Forest, Berkshire, Kent and East Sussex.

The jury found three of these trips were terrorist training designed to recruit, groom and corrupt impressionable young Muslims.

They were combined with incendiary weekly talks at his east London council home where he sowed the seeds of hate among his followers.

He was joined in his teachings by Atilla Ahmet, 43, the self-styled emir of the gang, who admitted three charges of soliciting murder at the start of the trial.

More from the BBC.

Here's a look at some of his cohorts. Looks like a braod strata.

Clockwise from top-left: Atilla Ahmet, 43: Guilty of soliciting to murder
Kibley Da Costa, 24: Guilty of attending terrorism training, providing training, holding terrorist articles
Kader Ahmed, 20: guilty of attending two training camps. Cleared on third charge
Mohammed Al-Figari, 42: Guilty of attending camps and holding terrorist articles