Gun-wielding former spy pledges to “go to war” with British Muslim activists

A former cocaine addict, police informant, and convicted criminal has pledged to “go to war” with British Muslim activists.

Former undercover agent Mubin Shaikh, who was once convicted of threatening to chop the legs off two 12-year-old girls, made the controversial comments on social media yesterday.

During a heated Facebook discussion which has now been deleted, Shaikh said he was “ready to go to war” with numerous British Muslim activists, including CAGE, for disclosing that he was exposed as a government spy against the Muslim community in Canada.

His comment was supported by pro-Prevent women’s rights activist Sara Khan of Inspire, who said: “Now you’re talking… Bring it on.”

The former undercover agent, who was paid $300,000 by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to infiltrate what they believed to be a terrorist cell, then took to his own Facebook page to vent his anger at those who criticised him.

On the thread, Shaikh quickly labelled a number of British citizens as “terrorist sympathisers” for criticising his views on radicalisation, and threatened to report them to the Metropolitan Police, who he claims to be working with.

In addition to making violent threats and labelling people as terrorist sympathisers, Shaikh went on to post numerous images of himself holding automatic assault rifles and other firearms, stating on two occasions: “does this look like Call of Duty?” in reference to a video game in which players undertake armed military missions – after he was asked how he intends to “go to war.”

Ghulam Esposito Haydar of Manchester New Muslim Network told 5Pillars: “At first it was just a case of heated exchanges on areas of disagreements.

“The Facebook thread then snowballed into Mubin threatening me that he will ‘come see me next time he’s in London.’

“Initially I thought he was joking but then he started posting images of him holding guns.”

Mr Haydar added: “What is even more concerning is that Shaikh is linked to the University of Liverpool and claims to be working with the police and the Home Office. How is someone who’s admitted to threatening young girls being trusted to carry out counter-terrorism work?”

Shaikh then private-messaged Mr Haydar on Facebook last night telling him that: “You take your shit ass post off your page, I’ll take you off my list. ONE AND ONLY CHANCE.”

In 2007 Shaikh threatened two 12-year-old Muslim schoolgirls that he would chop their legs off, and was given a one-year conditional discharge in 2008 after he admitted to one count of threatening to cause bodily harm.

The Canadian, who is a PhD student at the University of Liverpool, is also a guest speaker at JIMAS – the organisation run by the pro-Prevent Manwar “Abu Muntasir” Ali.

Mubin Shaikh

Shaikh has recently come to the attention of British activists after he began searching for Muslims to interview for a documentary on radicalisation.

After a widespread boycott by various British Muslims of the documentary, Shaikh again took to Facebook to voice his frustration at the lack of engagement he received.

He has also been advised by prominent American Muslim figures like Dr Yasir Qadhi and Professor Jonathan Brown to change his behaviour due to its destructive nature to the Muslim community.

Shaikh has previously admitted to being addicted to cocaine, and said he was using the Class A drug before and after the “Toronto 18” terrorism raid, when he was paid $300,000 as a police informant.

After the Toronto 18 case and overcoming his drug addiction, Shaikh pitched himself as a “Tablighi Salafi-Jihadi” born-again counter-terrorism expert, only to admit later that he was neither.

Serious questions

In light of all this information, serious questions will be asked as to why Shaikh has been given a free reign to roam the UK, lecture at universities, and allegedly work alongside authorities to carry out counter-terrorism work.

He has been welcomed on various platforms – both academic and national security – as a credible expert despite his questionable past.

Mr Shaikh told 5Pillars that his Facebook comments were in response to an abusive status posted by a British activist last Thursday.

He also claimed that another British activist had called him an apostate, a hypocrite, and his marriage was illegitimate – claims which he could not substantiate with any screen shots.

Regarding the images of him holding assault rifles which have now been deleted, Mr Shaikh said: “That picture is from a gun range in the US and Osama Bin Laden was the target.”

When asked about the reference to the computer game Call of Duty which accompanied the pictures of him wielding firearms, he added: “It’s about Call of Duty. It’s repudiating the idea that I play video games.”

In light of the serious nature of the threats involving violence that were aimed at Mr Haydar, the incident and comments have been reported to Greater Manchester Police who have begun an investigation into the matter.

5Pillars contacted Sara Khan and asked her why she had responded, “Now you’re talking….bring it on!” after Shaikh had said he was “ready to go to war” with advocacy group CAGE and their supporters.

We made her aware that after she had posted her comment, numerous comments thereafter referred to “war” and images of Mr Shaikh holding firearms were posted by him on the thread.

So we asked her:

• If she continued to support Mr Mubin’s “war” against British Muslim activists who support CAGE and may disagree with her.
• As a women’s rights activist, was she aware that Mr Shaikh had pleaded guilty to threatening two 12-year-old girls that he’d chop their legs off.
• If she was aware that Mr Shaikh is a confessed cocaine addict?
• If she wasn’t aware of the above information, would she like to retract her Facebook comment.

Ms Khan has not replied to our request for information.

The University of Liverpool told 5Pillars: “We can confirm we are looking into this matter. The University of Liverpool does not condone threats or violence. Students are responsible for their own social media accounts and we expect our students to conform to behaviours outlined in our Code of Conduct.”

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