Terror fundraisers jailed

 Shafiq, left, and Shabir Ali

 IDENTICAL twins were jailed yesterday for raising cash to help their brother train with fanatics linked to al-Qaeda.

British-born Shafiq and Shabir Ali, 25, sent £3,000 to a terrorist camp in Somalia where brother Shahim learned to handle guns such as AK-47 rifles.

Donors thought the money they gave the pair at their stall in East London was for genuine charities such as Muslim Aid and the Palestinian cause.

Shafiq, a Transport for London security guard, and his twin were told how to raise money by a shadowy figure called Brother Hamza, the Old Bailey heard.

The cash was secretly wired to Shahim, 29 — one of three recruits sent to Somalia four years ago to link up with al- Shabaab, a jihadist group that supports al-Qaeda.

Shahim said in a phone call home that recruits learned to use automatic weapons at the camp. He called the trainers “brothers”.

The twins and their sister recorded the call as a “memento” of his voice because they did not think Shahim would survive.

Shafiq and Shabir, of Stepney, East London, pleaded guilty to terrorist fundraising and were jailed for three years.

Charges of preparing for terrorist acts and collecting extremist literature were left on file.

Deb Walsh, deputy head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s Counter-Terrorism Division, said: “This case demonstrates the network of international support that funds acts of terrorism.”

Source: The Sun