A Muslim MP brought in to deradicalise the mosque used by Abu Hamza to recruit Al-Qaeda terrorists is to quit as a trustee after complaining his signature was forged on legal documents.
Khalid Mahmood has called for a Charity Commission investigation after the alleged forgery on papers prepared by the North London Central Mosque.
The signature of a second trustee, Mohammad Sarwar, the Labour MP for Glasgow Central, was also allegedly forged.
Mahmood’s resignation will renew controversy at the former Finsbury Park Mosque, which was linked to Al-Qaeda terrorists including the shoebomber Richard Reid and Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called 20th hijacker in the 9/11 attacks.
In 2003 it was raided by police as part of an investigation into an alleged ricin poison plot, which uncovered a mini-arsenal of weapons, terrorism paraphernalia and forged passports. Radical preacher Hamza was thrown out and later jailed for seven years for inciting murder and stirring up racial hatred.
The mosque was put under the control of the Muslim Association of Britain by the Charity Commission. The two MPs agreed to sit on the trust board in a deal backed by David Blunkett, then home secretary, and Tony Blair to reclaim the mosque for moderate Muslims.
Announcing his intention to resign, Mahmood, Labour MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, said: “I don’t think I can work with these people. Some of the things that have been done have been completely out of order, including the forging of my signature.”
The MP, a member of the parliamentary committee on tackling terrorism, said his signature had been forged on the mosque’s trust declaration, which was sent to the Charity Commission in March 2008 to demonstrate that it was operating on a legal basis.
At the time he became a trustee, Mahmood was seen as a vital conduit between the government and Muslims in the period that followed the July 2005 suicide bombings in London.
The mosque has been embroiled in a so far unsuccessful libel action against Policy Exchange, a centre-right think tank, which named it in its 2007 report about extremist literature available in UK mosques. Last November the six trustees who had advanced the claim were ordered to pay the think tank’s legal costs. The High Court made a further order that £75,000 of those costs be paid by the mosque. The mosque is appealing.
In his complaint to the commission, Mahmood said neither he nor Sarwar had been consulted on the legal action. But a mosque spokesman said: “Mahmood’s been consulted and sent all the minutes. He’s invited to meetings but if he doesn’t come it’s his issue.”
In his letter, Mahmood suggests Sarwar’s signature was also forged on the trust document. Sarwar said: “It’s a very messy business but I’d rather not comment as it is a very sensitive matter.”
Mohamad Kozbar, one of the mosque’s nine trustees, said he could not comment.