“Did you know that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of Isis, was trained by Mossad and the CIA?” asks Mehdi Hasan sarcastically in his HuffPo column this afternoon. It’s a good piece and worth reading, in it Mehdi argues that many Muslims around the world too often fall for loony conspiracy theories. He asks:

“Why are so many of my fellow Muslims so gullible and so quick to believe bonkers conspiracy theories? How have the pedlars of paranoia amassed such influence within Muslim communities?”

Who would peddle such nonsense? HuffPo UK, of which Mehdi is Political Director, ran this as their splash just three weeks ago:

What next @HuffPostUK? Mossad-backed Illuminati lizards did 9/11? pic.twitter.com/k6N062Y45A

— Alex Wickham (@alexwickham) August 14, 2014

‘Password 360’ is one of the main ISIS conspiracy theories, alleging that the latest great threat to civilisation is all a big CIA plot. Three weeks ago HuffPo thought it was worth running as their lead story. Where do people get their crazy ideas, eh?

UPDATE: Guido has been reminded that Mehdi once peddled his own conspiracy theory that 535 people controlled by the “American Israel lobby” were “blocking peace in the Middle East“? Why, indeed, is the Muslim world in thrall to conspiracy theories?