Madrid imam, Arabic teacher arrested for ‘radicalising minors’

From AFP via Yahoo News

Spanish police said Thursday they had arrested a 44-year-old imam who worked as an Arabic teacher and used his position “to radicalise minors” and recruit possible Islamic State (IS) members.

The Guardia Civil police force said the suspect was arrested on November 29 following an investigation which began last year after police identified him as having links to jihadist ideology and trying to indoctrinate minors.

The suspect, who worked at a Madrid mosque, had been detained “for using his role as a teacher to radicalise the minors he taught and to recruit potential members for Daesh”,

“The detainee presented the minors with a violent view of religion using the same language as the main jihadist terrorist organisations,” it said. “In his talks, he praised the idea of the suicide bomber as a legitimate figure in the fight against Jews, Christians and apostates. He expanded on these theories in his classes as an example of behaviour all Muslims should follow.”

As an imam, the suspect had led prayers and taught at the Madrid mosque, but when the community became aware of what he was doing, he was forced to step down. “These activities did not pass unnoticed within the community, which created conflict and meant the suspect was forced to leave the mosque and continue his activities in more private places,”