Manwar Ali tells Dominic Lawson why he changed from violent Islamist fighter pursuing global jihad, to become a leading campaigner in Britain against violence and extremism.

Manwar Ali fought in many wars around the globe to achieve the victory of radical Islam. He backed armed conflict to right what he saw as fundamental injustice done to him and fellow Muslims. He fought in Afghanistan, Kashmir and Burma, and helped recruit and radicalise hundreds of others for this cause. But witnessing specific horrors on the battlefield led him to change his mind about jihad. He became convinced that the very means he had embraced to liberate his people were actually destroying individuals and their community. He tells his story of how he realised that violence would not serve the aims he sought, and how he overcame suspicion and intimidation from within his own community to campaign for anti-radicalisation measures against the extremists he sees as destroying Muslim communities around the globe.

Producer: Jonathan Brunert. Show less