The 80 year old father of British detainee Babar Ahmed has been hospitalised after suffering a brain haemorrhage.
Ashfaq Ahmed has become a well-known and much-loved figure on the British Muslim scene after leading a 11-year campaign for his son to be freed.
Ahmed’s condition is said to be rapidly deteriorating and he will require surgery. His family are requesting that duas be made that he recovers so that he will be able to see his son return home later this summer.
In July 2014 Babar Ahmad was sentenced to 12 and a half years in prison by a US court.
The British computer expert had admitted supporting terrorism through the internet in an apparent plea bargain. He also admitted conspiracy and providing material to support the Taliban.
Ahmad had already spent almost 10 years in prison in the UK and US (most of it without charge or trial) so is due for release in the next few months.
Sentencing Ahmad, the judge said she had to weigh the seriousness of the crime with his good character, after reading thousands of letters of support and hearing from British prison officials who described him as an exemplary prisoner.
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She said Ahmad was not an operational terrorist, posed no threat to the public and exhibited remorse for setting up websites that promoted jihad.
