A state school allegedly infiltrated by Muslim fundamentalists had on its staff an extremist who was jailed for his involvement in a terror cell which planned to behead a British soldier, it emerged yesterday.
Zahoor Iqbal, 36, was arrested while working for Saltley School, Birmingham, as an attendance officer and ‘achievement mentor’.
Saltley is one of several schools allegedly targeted for takeover by Islamic fanatics.
A leaked letter, seemingly from one plotter to another, has revealed an extraordinary operation in Birmingham to oust head teachers who did not comply with ‘Islamic principles’.
Yesterday, it was also claimed that Saltley’s head, Bulwant Bains, was forced to quit by bullying governors when he opposed the introduction of halal-only school dinners.
A teaching assistant, who worked at Saltley School for ten years, also told yesterday that terrorism convict Iqbal was just one of several extremists at the school.
She said a group of male teachers and governors who called themselves The Brotherhood sought to make Saltley ‘an Islamic school’.
The woman, who worked there until 2012, said: ‘Everyone was intimidated by The Brotherhood. They were the ones really running the school. They excluded moderate Muslims from their group and would talk in Urdu to each other and to the children.
‘More non-Muslims left every year until there were hardly any left. The Brotherhood would criticise anyone who wasn’t as strict as them.
‘I heard one Muslim teacher call another “a Bounty” because they were supposedly brown on the outside and white on the inside. Even how staff dressed was moderated to fit their beliefs.’
The source said she suspected Iqbal and other teachers took older pupils on ‘school trips’ to radicalise them.
She said: ‘One teacher was suspended because he never kept records of where he was taking children. He would just take them away for weekends on his own.’
Iqbal was jailed for seven years in 2008 for supplying equipment for terrorist acts and supplying money or property for use in terrorism.
He was one of five men in a terrorist cell, led by Parviz Khan. Khan was outraged that Muslims were serving in the British Army and wanted to kidnap and behead one.
Khan admitted the execution plot, although there was no suggestion that Iqbal was aware of it.
Saltley’s head Mr Bains was ousted after opposing plans by governors to scrap sex education and allow only halal food. Friends said he faced ‘bullying and intimidation’.
The respected head, who is of Sikh origin, was also allegedly undermined when governors overturned his decision to expel a Muslim pupil found with a knife.
The author of the leaked letter even admits targeting Mr Bains, writing: ‘At Saltley School we had a Sikh Head running a Muslim school.
‘This was perfect as we have been able to play the religion and India/Pakistan card and stirred up a real fuss about a Pakistani boy who had been excluded whilst an English boy had not.’
The undated letter, which is believed to have been written sometime last year, continues: ‘Balwant Bains will soon be sacked and we will move in. This is all about causing the maximum amount of organized (sic) chaos and we have fine tuned this as part of Trojan Horse.’
Birmingham City Council has launched an investigation which is being monitored by police and the Department for Education.