Anti-terror adviser wanted by Interpol
An anti-terror adviser to British police is accused of founding a group that wants to establish an Islamic state in Tunisia, The Times of London said Monday.
Mohamed Ali Harrath, the chief executive of the Islam Channel in London and an adviser to Scotland Yard's Muslim contact unit, is wanted by Interpol for alleged terrorism activities in founding the Tunisian Islamic Front, or FIT, the newspaper reported. Interpol says FIT wants to establish an Islamic state by means of armed revolutionary violence.
Interpol has had a red notice,
or highest alert, on Harrath since 1992. He has been convicted in absentia of numerous criminal and terrorism-related offenses by Tunisian courts and sentenced to 56 years in prison, The Times said.
Harrath says he did set up FIT but claims it is a non-violent political party founded in 1986 to oppose the one-party state in Tunisia,
adding, We are not extremists and we are not terrorists and (we've) never been involved in any such activities.
Former Scotland Yard Muslim contact unit chief Robert Lambert supported Harrath, telling The Times he has made a key contribution to our efforts to defeat adverse influence of al-Qaida in (Britain).
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