A member of the hardline Islamist group that staged a demonstration against British troops works as a baggage handler at Luton Airport, it has emerged.Jalal Ahmed was among the 20-strong group of extremists protesting when the Royal Anglian Regiment returned home from Iraq earlier this week.
During their homecoming parade, he was spotted clutching a banner proclaiming: 'Anglian soldiers: Butchers of Basra'.
Ahmed, who is in his twenties and lives in Luton, works on a casual basis for Menzies Aviation, which provides baggage handling at the airport for easyJet and other airlines.
He is believed to have worked there during peak periods over the past two years and would have had access to secure areas of the site.The Muslim, who is in his early 20s, is said to have once joked he was the nephew of Osama bin Laden and was also allegedly questioned over pictures of passenger jets.
He told officers he was interested in planes and no further action was taken.
John Menzies plc said he had passed all criminal and security checks but that his job would now be reviewed in light of his involvement in the protest on Tuesday.
'All employees are subject to a five year criminal record check and airport authority checks before they can be given an airside pass to work on the airport, ' a spokesman said.
'Jalal Ahmed passed these checks. We are now working with the airport authority to review the current position.'
The company insisted Ahmed would have been supervised at all times as he worked at the airport, where he is not a full-time employee.
Luton Borough Council, which owns the airport, said: 'The Council has been assured that all employees at the Airport receive criminal record and security checks. We are unable to comment on individuals.
'The issue of security is taken very seriously by the Council and the Airport Company.'
Budget airline easyJet, which is the main operator at Luton, made it clear Ahmed was not employed directly by them.
A spokesman said: 'We are obviously working with his employers. We are working with Special Branch and we are aware his airside pass has been temporarily suspended.'
The Royal Anglian soldiers' return home from Iraq on Tuesday was ruined by the Muslim protest, which ended in clashes with people who had turned out to support the troops.
Islamic extremists waved offensive placards branding the soldiers 'killers' as they marched through the streets of Luton, provoking shock and condemnation.
Firebrand preacher Anjem Choudary added insult to injury yesterday by taunting the grieving families of three Royal Anglian regiment members killed by 'friendly fire'.
He said troops in Iraq and Afghanistan were 'not heroes but closer to cowards who cannot fight, as their uncanny knack for death by friendly fire illustrates'.
The three soldiers to whom he was referring - Privates Robert Foster, 19, John Thrumble, 21, and Aaron McClure, 19 - were killed in Afghanistan in August 2007 when an American F-15 jet dropped a 500lb bomb on their position.
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