Campaign group defends arrested Moazzam Begg

Campaign group CAGE, which is against Western action in the Middle East, has spoken out about today's counter-terrorism arrests - saying it is "outraged".

Four people - including CAGE's outreach director Moazzan Begg - were arrested from the West Midlands today on suspicion of attending a terrorist training camp and facilitating terrorism overseas.

In a statement published on its website, CAGE said Begg - a former Guantanamo Bay detainee - had been campaigning for human rights, and accused the British and Amercian governments of making the arrests to "vilify" his well-meaning actions.

This latest action is designed to ensure that any travel to Syria is deemed suspicious....

Moazzam Begg is just the latest individual drawn by the humanitarian catastrophe in Syria who has been labelled a terrorist.

We are disgusted that Moazzam Begg is being retraumatised with the same guilt-by-association accusations that resulted in his unlawful incarceration in Guantanamo Bay.

We fully support our colleague and see his arrest as politically motivated and as part of a campaign to criminalise legitimate activism.