Rochdale-born Al-Qaeda terrorist to appear at parole hearing next year

Convicted terrorist Rangzieb Ahmed

Al-Qaeda terrorist Rangzieb Ahmed, 43, will appear before a parole board in January, just over a decade after he received life imprisonment.

Rochdale-born Ahmed was the first UK citizen to be convicted for directing terrorism and was also found guilty of directing and plotting with Al-Qaeda in December 2008. He was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of ten years, having also been found guilty of possessing diaries containing leading terrorists' phone numbers.

• rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/17828/caged-for-life-rochdale-terror-plotter-brought-to-justice

Ahmed appealed after his lawyers alleged that British intelligence authorities were complicit with torture he suffered at the hands of their Pakistani counterparts, claiming that he was repeatedly beaten and his fingernails ripped out over a period of three weeks in captivity.

The appeal was dismissed in 2011.

• rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/53304/appeal-by-convicted-terrorist-dismissed

A spokesman for the Parole Board said: "An oral hearing has been listed for the parole review of Rangzieb Ahmed and is scheduled to take place in January 2020.

“The job of the Parole Board is to determine if someone would represent a significant risk to the public after release.

“The panel will carefully look at a whole range of evidence, including details of the original evidence and any evidence of behaviour change. We do that with great care and public safety is our number one priority.”