The Jihad Fighter On Scots Housing Benefit

A TALIBAN fighter who admits waging war against British troops is battling to win asylum in Scotland.

Only last year, Muhammad Hanif Hanifi was taking part in jihad - holy war - against Scottish soldiers in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

But now he is appealing to stay in Scotland, where he has lived on state benefits for six months.

He says he fled the frontline after rejecting the Taliban's fundamentalist cause and is now a target for their death squads.

As an asylum seeker, Hanifi gets housing, benefits and legal aid to cover his claim, appeal and any subsequent judicial review.

Many Afghans have been granted asylum in Britain over the years. They have largely been opponents of the Taliban who say their lives are in danger because of that.

Hanifi's case is highly unusual because he admits to having sworn his life to the Taliban and fought against the allied occupation of his country.

The 33-year-old, from a family of peasant farmers, says he was among thousands of Afghans recruited as foot soldiers after being brainwashed and bullied by powerful religious and military leaders.

He fought with the Taliban for seven years but says he deserted after he saw a teenage boy being beheaded as a punishment for collusion with British troops.

He claims to have witnessed seven other men killed in similar fashion.

He says that after he left the Taliban, gunmen sent to hunt him down killed his brother by mistake.

The Taliban rebels in Afghanistan have been responsible for the death of 78 British servicemen since the fighting began in 2001, including 34 this year.

The death toll includes men from 45 Commando, based in Arbroath, who were posted to Kandahar during Hanifi's time on the Taliban's frontline.

Men and women from RAF 51 Squadron, based at RAF Lossiemouth in Moray, have also been in the thick of the battle in Kandahar.

Hanifi, who left his wife and five children in their village of Chakari, near Kabul, when he fled in February, has already been refused asylum by a tribunal and faces deportation if his appeal fails.

But speaking in his flat in Glasgow yesterday, he said he was confident he would be successful after another brother travelled to Pakistan to post vital documents to back up his case.

In testimony given to the Home Office through his lawyer, Hanifi openly admits to his involvement in the war of terror against UK troops.

Speaking through an interpreter yesterday, Hanifi, who was smuggled to Britain in the back of a lorry, revealed details of his case.

He tells how he was issued with a Kalashnikov rifle and instructed in desert warfare, joining thousands of his countrymen.

He said: "I was involved with the Taliban 15 years ago through religion and I would pray, as I am a very religious man, and cook food, which was my main job.

"I was not involved in jihad until seven years ago, which came after much pressure from the imam.

"He was a very powerful and persuasive man and he told me and other men like me we must take part in jihad and make war against non-believers.

"He said the soldiers who came to our country would force people to abandon Islam.

"He and other religious leaders preached of a heaven and hell and said we would be in heaven if we supported the Taliban.

"There were also very serious problems in Afghanistan caused by warlords, who would rob anyone who crossed their checkpoints.

"The Taliban took war against these very evil people, which I thought was the right thing to do.

"My early days had nothing to do with violence because I'm not a violent person. But once I was issued with my gun, it was clear that this would change.

"I had a Kalashnikov rifle that was Russian-made and I was involved in battles with it. I got involved in fighting twice.

"The first time was in Mazari Sharif, in northern Afghanistan, around six or seven years ago.

"We were fighting against British and American forces and against our government.

"The other main occasion when I was involved in fighting was in Kandahar in 2006, against British and American troops.

"I fired the gun many times but the fighting was done over a distance. It's possible I killed someone but I don't know.

"I was too busy trying to make sure no one shot me."

Hanifi has been living in a flat in Govan with three other Muslim asylum seekers.

He insists that he enjoys the life in Scotland, where he has made many friends, but misses his wife, three daughters and two sons.

He said: "I love Glasgow because the people I have met have been very kind and I like the green parks and trees.

"I have met many friends through the mosques and life here is good. My family are very important to me and I miss them terribly. But, for now, I can only concentrate on my own situation.

"It is important to know that I did not come to Scotland through choice, that I had to flee or be killed.

"I rejected the Taliban after witnessing some terrible crimes they committed. I realised this was not true jihad.

"They were torturing and murdering people and their conduct was nothing to do with religion.

"I heard of the Twin Towers atrocity in America and this was something I could never support. I have never supported anything to do with Bin Laden.

"It is true that I was brainwashed and I regret the things that happened.

"If I am sent back to Afghanistan, the Taliban will hunt me down and kill me. It will also put my family at great risk."

Hanifi now insists he supports the allied forces in Afghanistan.

He said: "Since the United Nations troops have been involved in my country, I can now see improvements.

"There are now new schools and hospitals and there is democracy.

"Women have rights and I believe this is good. I believed the Taliban to be something other than what I now see."

The Home Office, who shipped Hanifi to Glasgow as the London asylum system is too congested, refused his initial bid to stay here last month.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith ruled Hanifi had not supplied enough proof he was an active member of the Taliban. She also rejects his claim that his brother was killed by the Taliban.

But Hanifi says he now has documents and photographs to verify both assertions.

The Home Office also say that if he was a member of a terrorist organisation such as the Taliban, he would not be entitled to asylum under the terms of the Geneva Convention.

Members of identified terror groups lose their rights under the Convention.

The Home Secretary also claims Hanifi's case fails under the terms of the European Convention on Human Rights, saying there is no proof he would be killed or tortured if sent back to Afghanistan.

Mohammad Asif, of the Scottish Afghan Society, said last night: "I have never heard of such a case in Scotland, where the grounds of the case for asylum involve former membership of the Taliban.

"But anyone who has fallen foul of the Taliban, for whatever reason, would be in grave danger if forced to return to Afghanistan."

A spokeswoman for the Border and Immigration Agency, who are part of the Home Office, said: "We cannot comment on individual cases.

"We only return those who the asylum decision-making and independent appeals processes have found do not need international protection and who can therefore return safely."