Radical Islamist who posed for pictures beside George Galloway has been jailed for 12 years for child sex offences

• Al Said Qasim Hashem, 59, molested two girls over the course of 13 years
• One of the girls was just five years old when the abuse started
• He has been linked to Bahraini dissident network the '14 Feb Coalition'

A radical Islamist who posed for photographs with MP George Galloway has been jailed for 12 years after he sexually abused two young girls. 

Businessman Al Said Qasim Hashem, 59, from Stanmore, Middlesex, molested the girls over the course of 13 years, and one of them was just five when the abuse started.

He was jailed at  Harrow Crown Court last week after being convicted of four counts of indecent assault, four counts of assaulting a child under 13, three sexual assaults and one count of assault by beating. 

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Radical Islamist Al Said Qasim Hashem, 59, (right) who posed for photographs with MP George Galloway (left) has been jailed for 12 years after he sexually abused two young girls

Hashem had been linked to the '14 Feb Coalition', a dissident network which originated in his Bahraini homeland after 'human rights activists' protested against the country's government in 2011.

It is the second time in just seven months that a prominent member of the group has been handed a lengthy jail term.

Hashem's compatriot Abdul Raoof Al Shayeb, 51, was locked up for five years last December for possessing information likely to be useful to terrorists.

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Hashem's compatriot Abdul Raoof Al Shayeb, 51, (pictured left, with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn) was locked up for five years last December for possessing information likely to be useful to terrorists 

Al Shayeb, who met Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn a number of times and attended human rights conferences at the UN and Houses of Parliament, was found with sniper rifle and rocket launcher manuals.

Backed by former opposition MP Jawad Fairooz, he claimed he was also a leading activist and was in possession of the material in order to understand how to protect fellow protesters who were targeted by them.

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Both Al Shayeb (pictured) and Hashem were granted asylum in the UK

However, a jury saw through the sham and the judge sentencing him highlighted the 'death and destruction' which could have been caused had the information fallen into the wrong hands.

Both Al Shayeb and Hashem were granted asylum in the UK and questions will be asked of the Home Office as to why the pair were able to commit such serious offences while posing as human rights activists.

Bob Stewart, Conservative MP for Beckenham and member of the Defence Select Committee, pledged to raise the issue with Home Office and Foreign Office ministers as the UK

He stated that the UK 'must not become a haven for terrorists and child abusers from Bahrain, or from anywhere else for that matter, masquerading as human rights activists'.