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Petronas

04-05-2005, 07:07 PM

UK fears Madrid-style election terrorism attack
Wednesday, April 06, 2005

GROUPS linked to Al Qaeda may try to take advantage of the run-up to a May 5 general election to stage an attack in Britain, terrorism experts say. There is a genuine risk of an atrocity similar to the Madrid train bombings, which had a direct result on the Spanish election last year, many believe. “We must be aware that Al Qaeda will see the opportunity this year for a worldwide statement,” said Britain’s most senior policeman Sir Ian Blair. “There is a threat, a very serious potential threat.”

The morning rush-hour bombings on commuter trains in Madrid killed 191 people in the most devastating attack in modern Spanish history, just three days before a general election. The attackers claimed to represent Al Qaeda in Europe. Analysts say Al Qaeda may view the bombings - which contributed to the defeat of centre-right Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar who had backed the war in Iraq and sent Spanish troops there - as a template for action in Britain. “They undoubtedly saw it as a great victory,” Paul Wilkinson, terrorism expert from St Andrew’s University, told Reuters. “The Al Qaeda network might want to achieve some sort of influence on the UK in that way.”

Dr Shane Brighton, from Britain’s Royal United Services Institute, added: “If there is a group that is disposed to attack, and they have a current capability, this is the time they would do it.” Critics have accused Prime Minister Tony Blair of using the fear of terrorism to scare voters into backing him for a third term in power, mirroring similar accusations levelled at George W Bush during last year’s US presidential election.

As he battled to get tough new security laws through parliament last month, Blair repeatedly issued grave warnings about the threat Britain faced. “I think these people would kill thousands of our citizens if they could,” he said. “They will cause death and destruction on an unlimited scale and they will, and are, trying to organise such terrorist activity in our own country.” Homegrown extremists:

Britain says the main threat is posed by around 200 people based here who have been trained by Al Qaeda in Afghan camps for conflict in places such as Chechnya, Bosnia and Kosovo. But Brighton said many of these actually had no inclination or little means of targeting Britain, and that it was “home-grown” Muslim extremists who were much more dangerous. “The good news with them is it’s likely you are going to be fairly unsophisticated, you are not going to be well-trained,” he said. “The bad news is you may be able to do something before you come to the attention of the security services.” Wilkinson said a threat of violence from Northern Ireland could not be ruled out either. The 30-year sectarian conflict in the province ended with a peace agreement in 1998, but a power sharing deal between Catholics and Protestants has been frozen for more than two years.

Since the Sept 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, more than 700 people have been arrested in Britain under security laws. Police say they have thwarted potentially serious attacks and over 200 have been charged in connection with such plots. “The optimistic view is they have been sufficiently disrupted and deterred to make it difficult for them,” Wilkinson said. “The less optimistic prognosis is they may become more determined to succeed in carrying out some kind of attack.”

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_6-4-2005_pg4_8

Petronas

04-10-2005, 01:28 PM

Terror alert over Briton's flying lessons
Sunday April 10, 2005

The FBI has issued a terrorism alert over a Briton who took flying lessons at the American school where two of the 9/11 pilots trained. Zayead Christopher Hajaig fled the US, where he was living illegally, after he came to the attention of the Atlanta Joint Terrorism Task Force in the southern state of Georgia.

Staff at the Gwinnett County airport flying school, at Lawrenceville, became concerned when Haijag demanded to upgrade his pilot status before he was qualified. According to the task force 'he became aggressive and attempted to have the flight school accelerate his training schedule'. The same school has been connected to two of the suicide pilots who carried out the attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York in September 2001. Mohamed Atta, the man thought to be the leader of the 9/11 attackers and Marwan al-Shehhi, who flew the plane that hit the south tower of the centre, rented a single-engine airplane at Gwinnett County airport about eight months before the attacks.

The 9/11 Commission report confirmed the training flight took place but could not explain why the two key hijackers had hired the plane in Georgia. The report also failed to explain why a number of the hijackers travelled regularly between Georgia and Florida in the months before the attacks.

A Whitehall security source confirmed last night that 35-year-old Hajaig is now known to be in the UK. The case is being dealt with by Scotland Yard anti-terrorism officers. He is not viewed as a threat to Britain. The alert was issued to police and aviation authorities in the US. Hajaig has been placed on the no-fly list and is not allowed to hire aircraft, fly from or take lessons at any airport in the United States.

The authorities confirmed Hajaig was in the US illegally with no means of income. He also used several aliases, including David Haijag and Alex Haiag. FBI special agent Steve Emmett said Haijag 'has been located in the UK and remains a person of interest'.

Haijag is described as a white British national who was born in Nigeria. His name would suggest he is a member of west Africa's large Lebanese community. A similarly named Ziad Christopher Hajaig is registered as a member of an exclusive polo club in Nigeria's largest second city, Ibadan. If he is wealthy enough to play polo, it might explain how he lived without obvious means of support in the US.

British security forces will be keen not to repeat mistakes made in the case of Lotfi Raissi, an Algerian pilot arrested on the instructions of the FBI in London immediately after the 2001 suicide attacks in the US. Raissi was accused of training four of the hijackers, including Hani Hanjour, who flew the plane that hit the Pentagon. The 27-year-old Algerian denied all connection to terrorism and was released without charge after five months in detention to the embarrassment of the UK and US authorities. ...

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1456339,00.html

Casey

04-19-2005, 01:26 PM

Islamists denounce Blair as 'Satan'
By Gideon Long
April 20, 2005

RADICAL British Islamists broke into a news conference held by moderate Muslims, denounced Prime Minister Tony Blair as Satan and urged Muslims to boycott next month's election.

Around 20 protesters, many wearing scarves to hide their faces, ripped a locked door off its hinges at one of London's main mosques and burst into the event organised by Britain's main Islamic lobby group the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB).

They pushed their way to the front of the room, stood on chairs and shouted slogans against the MCB, Blair, Jews, Christians, apostates and the entire British political system.

"Tony Blair can go to hell! Tony Blair can go to hell!," they chanted as television cameras turned on them.

"There is no God but Allah!"

The protest laid bare tensions within Britain's 1.6 million-strong Islamic community, where a minority of hardliners often garners publicity for radical opinions including praise of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Those tensions are mirrored elsewhere in Europe, notably in France which is home to the continent's largest Islamic community as well as its biggest Jewish community.

After about 20 minutes, the protesters - young, male, mostly bearded and wearing traditional Muslim dress including headcaps and flowing robes - left of their own accord.

In leaflets handed to reporters, they identified themselves as belonging to a group called "The Saviour Sect."

The protesters said the MCB, a respected collection of some 400 Muslim organisations throughout Britain, was a mouthpiece of the British government.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,15027174%255E23109,00.html

Petronas

05-04-2005, 02:26 AM

Al-Qaeda 'has 200 on UK streets'
06/03/2005

London - Britain's former top policeman strongly defended on Sunday the government's new anti-terrorism law and criticised opponents of the measure for not comprehending "the true horror" of the terrorist threat. "The main opposition to the bill is from people who simply haven't understood the true horror of the terrorism we face," Sir John Stevens, former commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police, wrote in the News of the World tabloid.

He said that at least 100 "Osama bin Laden-trained terrorists" were certainly walking free in Britain, and that the number could be as high as 200. The law he was defending, which would allow terrorism suspects to be put under limited house arrest, narrowly passed through parliament's lower House of Commons and is being reviewed in the upper House of Lords. It initially gave the home secretary the right to introduce "control orders" for suspects including curfews, electronic tagging, bans on telephone and internet use. But in the face of political resistance, including from its own Labour members, the government has now offered to give judges rather than the minister the final say.

In an article entitled "Forget human rights... kick out the fanatics," Stevens said terrorism plots he had become aware of in his job were terrifying. "Some of the reports that crossed my desk in the last few months alone made my hair stand on end," he wrote.

Like Prime Minister Tony Blair did last week, Stevens dismissed human rights arguments, saying judges and the government had a greater duty to law-abiding citizens than to "hardcore fanatics". "For the safety of the vast majority, occasionally we will have to accept the infringement of the human rights of high-risk individuals," he said. "Intelligence proves these fanatics must not walk our streets. They must be locked up - or kicked out of our country," he wrote, referring to foreign detainees being held without charge in Britain.

Stevens, 62, who retired on February 1, spoke of the "inevitability" of an al-Qaeda attack on London shortly after the Madrid commuter train bombings in March last year in which 191 people died. The Metropolitan Police, whose 30 000 officers are now led by Sir Ian Blair, is responsible not only for day-to-day policing in Greater London, but also anti-terrorist investigations nationwide.

http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1672062,00.html

Petronas

05-10-2005, 09:25 PM

One of those stories that make me go hmmm... Reconnaissance? Or a harmless nut?

STOWAWAY BOARDED US CARRIER
15 April 2005

A NEWPORT man who boarded an American nuclear-powered aircraft carrier anchored in The Solent has been made subject to an anti-social behaviour order and banned from named sensitive areas.

Abdoul Masmoud Yessoufou, 37, whose address was given at Portsmouth Magistrates' Court on Wednesday as East Street, Newport, admitted entering a prohibited area at Portsmouth Docks. The court was told that Yessoufou was found on the USS Harry S. Truman at the weekend after he strolled past guards and hitched a ride out to the carrier on a boat used by sailors on runs ashore.

Yessoufou had previously appeared before Uxbridge Magistrates three times this year for entering restricted zones at Heathrow. He also reached the side of an aircraft at Southampton Airport in January.

http://www.iwcp.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=1252&ArticleID=1000085

Ono

05-10-2005, 09:43 PM

Geeeezzzz!

Petronas

05-28-2005, 01:13 AM

City trio face terrorist charges at Old Bailey
26/5/2005

A HOUSEWIFE and two city men look set to stand trial next year on charges of providing weapons and funds to a terrorist group. Frzana Khan, a 41-year-old housewife from Anthony Way, Stoke, Mohammed Ajmal Khan, 30, of Broad Street, Foleshill, and Palvinder Singh, 29, of Freeman Street, Foleshill, face charges of conspiring to provide money and firearms to Kashmiri separatist group Lashkar-e-Tayyiba. Mohammed Khan was further charged with being a member of a proscribed organisation. The trio appeared before the Old Bailey on Monday via video link. All three were remanded in custody until the next hearing on June 17. A trial date has been provisionally set for January.

http://www.coventryobserver.co.uk/news/default1.asp?id=875

Petronas

05-28-2005, 01:36 AM

Britain 'is haven for terrorists'
May 21, 2005

CENTRAL ASIAN governments have accused Britain of providing a haven for members of Islamic organisations alleged to incite violence in their homelands. Diplomats claim that intelligence services have evidence that the groups raise funds and run propaganda websites from their homes and high street offices in British cities. They have handed over lists of suspect addresses, leaflets and tape recordings of what they claim are ringleaders stirring up hatred against their regimes.

While insurgent groups in the region have proliferated over the past two years, only one, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, is on the Home Office list of 25 outlawed international terrorist organisations. There is growing pressure for Britain to add to that list Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is held responsible for triggering bomb attacks. One Uzbek diplomat said: “This organisation is proscribed by scores of countries yet in Britain they are allowed to operate”.

Hizb ut-Tahrir campaigns for a single Islamic state, a caliphate, which aims to unite all Muslim countries by peaceful means, then embrace the entire world. Imran Waheed, its spokesman in Britain, said: “We are a political organisation who condemn violence.” The group is banned in almost all Muslim countries. Turkey and Pakistan have outlawed its members, as has Germany. Dr Waheed said that the ban was being challenged through the courts. In Britain the National Union of Students has barred it from colleges and universities for its anti-Semitism and homophobia.

The Home Office says militant groups are kept under surveillance but that the group has not broken anti-terrorism laws here. Its supporters daubed slogans in red paint over the Uzbek Embassy during a protest in West London last week. Police arrested 37 men for criminal damage but all were released on bail to return for questioning at the end of June.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1621516,00.html

Petronas

05-30-2005, 11:35 AM

Borough kids first to get Muslim lessons
25-05-2005

STOCKPORT schoolchildren will be the first in the country to take part in a project to breed multi-racial harmony. Council education bosses have teamed up with the Muslim Council of Britain to use new resource packs supporting the teaching of Islam in primary schools. The initiative was launched at Cheadle Muslim association Community Centre and Mosque, Wilmslow Road, Heald Green, yesterday (Tuesday) and will now be rolled out across the borough. Although it is a nationwide project Stockport was chosen for the launch after becoming the first area to use the resource packs.

Councillor John Pantall, executive member for diversity strategy, said: "If we can get to pupils at an early age we hope they can grow up understanding other cultures and religions and without prejudice. There is a great deal of ignorance about major faiths, resulting in dangerous and destructive myths. The use of the new materials will help develop understanding and encourage community cohesion throughout Stockport. This is part of having a forward thinking education department and prevention of a problem rather than cure.”

The resource packs were developed by the Muslim Council for Key Stage 1 (seven-year-olds) and Key Stage Two (11-year-olds). They contain books, CDs, videos and Islamic artefacts, which cover Muslim beliefs and practices. The project will go across all primary schools following a successful trial at North Reddish Juniors. And there are plans for a similar project at secondary schools in the autumn. It is estimated that currently there are 5,000 Muslims in the borough.

Iqbal Sacranie, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, attended this week's launch. He said: “We believe education is the key to creating a vibrant and understanding. We want to ensure every school child in Stockport has access to high quality Islamic resources.”

http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/news/news.php?article=9230

When will we see mandatory instruction in the Christian faith in all Saudi schools, to promote "multi-racial harmony" and "help develop understanding"? Or is the United Kingdom joining the march on the road to Dhimmitude?

Petronas

05-30-2005, 11:45 AM

Muslim Protestors Burn Cross on Streets of London
27 May 2005

More than 300 Muslim protestors set fire to a wooden cross outside the American Embassy in London last Friday 20th May. The crowd, led by Omar Bakri Muhammad and Yassar al-Siri, were protesting against the alleged desecration of a Qur’an by American military interrogators at Guantanamo Bay. This followed claims by Newsweek magazine that a copy of the Qur’an had been put down a toilet. American and British flags were also burnt, and the protestors chanted calls for violence against the US and UK. Amongst the protestors were about 50 women, some of whom had brought their children.

At the time this protest took place, Newsweek had retracted their story about the alleged incident in Guantanamo Bay. Yet the cross-burning still took place, and has caused little interest in the British media. ...

More than 300 Muslim protestors set fire to a wooden cross outside the American Embassy in London last Friday 20th May.

The crowd, led by Omar Bakri Muhammad and Yassar al-Siri, were protesting against the alleged desecration of a Qur’an by American military interrogators at Guantanamo Bay. This followed claims by Newsweek magazine that a copy of the Qur’an had been put down a toilet. American and British flags were also burnt, and the protestors chanted calls for violence against the US and UK. Amongst the protestors were about 50 women, some of whom had brought their children.

At the time this protest took place, Newsweek had retracted their story about the alleged incident in Guantanamo Bay. Yet the cross-burning still took place, and has caused little interest in the British media.

http://www.barnabasfund.org/News/Archive/United%20Kingdom/UK-20050527.htm

Petronas

06-16-2005, 12:24 PM

Britain gives knighthood to Muslim leader
June 13, 2005

You may remember Sacranie's more infamous quote: "There is no such thing as an Islamic terrorist. This is deeply offensive." And Sacranie "...welcomed plans to make inciting religious hatred an offence." But of course he does, because Sacranie says "Saying Muslims are terrorists would be covered by this provision'." There you have it. According to Sacranie if you call bin Laden a terrorist you could be locked up under the proposed legislation.

http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/006620.php

Petronas

06-21-2005, 01:19 AM

Muslim anger at bid to serve drink outside

MUSLIM charities have tried to stop an Italian restaurant serving drink on a terrace, claiming it is offensive to Glasgow's Asian community. Gambrino Pizzeria in Kelvinbridge wants to use the pavement outside its premises as an eating and drinking area and has applied to Glasgow City Council for permission.

However, the proposals for eight tables and 16 seats has infuriated the local Asian community who say drinking alcohol outdoors is "offensive". Two Muslim charities, UK Islamic Mission, based at the Islamic Mosque in Carrington Street, and Noah's Ark/ Radio Ramadhan in Arlington Street, formally objected to the Great Western Road restaurant's seating plans. Javeed Gill, secretary of the UK Islamic Mission, said: "This area is the second largest area for Muslims in the city and we look after 1500 young people and provide activities for them. We've no objection if it is being done inside but selling alcohol on the footpath is a temptation to our young people." Mr Gill said concerns about the increasing number of outside drinking premises had been raised in the mosque.

Today, despite the protest, council officials are recommending the application be passed.

The restaurant has street tables but as yet it has no permission to sell alcohol or provide a table service. A number of city bars and restaurants serve alcohol outside and more are set to apply to as the ban on smoking in public places is due to begin next April. Gambrino owner Ken Graham said: "You do get objections to this sort of application, quite often from church groups or charities. "However, it seems strange to us as we don't have a mosque on our doorstep, but everybody is entitled to their opinion."

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/hi/news/5039699.html

Petronas

06-21-2005, 01:32 AM

Four held in London anti-terror swoop
June 17, 2005

Police arrested four men for suspected terrorism offences in a series of co-ordinated armed raids in north London early today. Detectives, acting on intelligence, raided two houses in Barnet and another in Finchley in the early hours and arrested two men. Anti-terrorist officers ambushed a vehicle in Barnet High Road and arrested the driver and a passenger. The road was closed off this morning while officers checked the car, and searches were continuing at the three addresses. The men were held in the early hours of this morning under Section 41 of the Terrorism Act. They are being questioned at a central London police station over suspected links to Islamic terrorism.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1658311,00.html

Petronas

07-07-2005, 11:03 AM

Terrorists Strike London With Series of Blasts
Thursday, July 07, 2005

LONDON — A series of four explosions struck London's public transportation system Thursday in what Prime Minister Tony Blair (search) called a coordinated series of "barbaric" terrorist attacks, most likely to coincide with the opening of the G-8 summit in nearby Scotland. At least 33 people were reported dead and at least 300 others were wounded. In unofficial reports, at least 40 people were said to be dead and 1,000 others were injured.

Brian Paddick of the London Police said in a press conference that there are seven confirmed fatalities in the first blast, 21 in the second and five in the third, which may have affected three trains in the Edgware Road train station. And in the fourth explosion, which involved a double-decker bus, there are fatalities but officials cannot yet confirm numbers. "This cleartly was a callous attack on purely innocent members of the public deliberately designed to kill and injure innocent members of the public," Paddick said.

Sir Ian Blair, London's police chief, said he was concerned the explosions were a coordinated attack but said he wouldn't speculate on who was responsible. He said officials had found indications of explosives at one of the sites. After several hours during which public officials cautioned against reaching conclusions about what caused at least seven blasts on subways and buses, Blair gave a brief televised address where he concluded it was a terrorist action. "It's important, however, that those engaged in terrorism realize that our determination to defend our values and our way of life is greater than their determination to cause death and destruction to innocent people and a desire to impose extremism on the world," an emotional Blair told the world. "Whatever they do, it is our determination that they will never succeed destroying what we hold dear in this country and in other civilizations in the world."

G-8 leaders later condemned the attacks. The U.S. State Department said there are no reports yet of Americans hurt in the blasts, but officials cautioned that information is very preliminary and hard to come by with communication outages. The State Department has set up a task force and call center to deal with concerns of those with relatives and friends in London. The number is 1-888-407-4747.

Unknown Terror Group Claims Responsibility

A previously unknown group, "Secret Group of Al Qaeda's Jihad in Europe," claimed responsibility in the name of Al Qaeda for the blasts, saying they were in retaliation for Britain's involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. The group claimed the attack in a Web site posting and warned Italy and Denmark to withdraw troops from those two countries. Arabic satellite station Al Jazeera also reported that it had received a phone call from the group claiming responsibility. The claim could not be verified.

A statement from the group was published on a Web site popular with Islamic militants, according to Elaph, a secular Arabic-language news Web site, and Der Spiegel magazine in Berlin, which published the text on their Web sites. "Rejoice, Islamic nation. Rejoice, Arab world. The time has come for vengeance against the Zionist crusader government of Britain in response to the massacres Britain committed in Iraq and Afghanistan," said the statement, which was translated by The Associated Press in Cairo. "The heroic mujahedeen carried out a blessed attack in London, and now Britain is burning with fear and terror, from north to south, east to west."

FBI and Justice Department officials say that it is still too early to determine that the London attacks were the work of Al Qaeda. One U.S. counterterrorism official emphasized to FOX News that in previous Al Qaeda attacks, such as Sept. 11, 2001, and the embassy bombings in Africa in 1998, there was not an immediate claim of responsibility. The group making the London terror attack claims has not been heard of before. While many are drawing comparisons to the terrorist bombings on four commuter trains in Madrid on March 11, 2004, that killed 191 people. But the official noted that the Madrid attacks were carried out by a group that was inspired by Al Qaeda and not one in which Usama bin Laden himself ordered the attack.

What is of interest in Thursday's attacks in London is the extreme coordination, the rush-hour hit for maximum casualties and that the attacks targeted the transit system, counterterrorism officials told FOX News. In London's case, the sites hit provided opportunity for maximum casualties since some, but not all, of the stations involved were both commuter train and subway hubs. One Sky News reporter covering Scotland Yard said sources told him there are indications that one bus explosion was caused by a homicide bomber. "It was chaos," said Gary Lewis, 32, who was evacuated from a subway train at King's Cross station. "The one haunting image was someone whose face was totally black and pouring with blood." Officials shut down the entire underground network after the explosions. Initial reports blamed a power surge.

The attacks came a day after London was awarded the 2012 Olympics (search) and as the G-8 summit (search) was getting underway in Scotland. A spokesman for the Olympic committee said it still has full "full confidence" in London as the host of the 2012 Games.

London Mayor Ken Livingstone said: "I want to say one thing, specifically to the world today — this was not a terrorist attack against the mighty and the powerful, it was not aimed at presidents or prime ministers, it was aimed at ordinary, working-class Londoners, black and white, Muslim and Christian ... young and old … that isn't an ideology, it isn't even a perverted fate, it is an indiscriminate attempt at mass murder. They seek to divide London, they seek Londoners to turn against each other ... this city of London is the greatest in the world because everybody lives side by side in harmony. Londoners will not be divided by this cowardly attack." Livingstone also had words specifically for the terrorists: "I know that you personally do not fear to give your own life in exchange to taking others ... but I know you do fear you may fail in your long-term objective to destroy our free society ... in the days that follow, look at our airports, look at our seaports and look at our railway stations ... you will see that people from the rest of Britain, people from around the world, will arrive in London to become Londoners, to fulfill their dream and achieve their potential … whatever you do, however many you kill, you will fail."

G-8 Leaders Stand United Against Terrorism

Blair, who was hosting the world's most powerful industrial leaders at Gleneagles, Scotland, left the G-8 summit to meet with police and other officials but said the rest of the leaders would remain. The G-8 gathering is focusing on climate change and aid for Africa — but Iraq has largely been left off the agenda. "Each of the countries around that [G-8] table have experience with the effects of terrorism and all of the leaders ... share our complete resolution to defeat this terrorism," Blair said in his address Thursday. "It's particularly barbaric this has happened on a day when people are meeting to try to help the problems of poverty in Africa, the long-term problems of climate change and the environment."

The G-8 leaders later issued a statement of their own. Blair, flanked by President George Bush on one side and French President Jacques Chirac on the other, read the statement on a stage full of the other G-8 leaders in a sign of solidarity. "Those responsible have no respect for human life. We are united in our resolve to confront and defeat this terrorism that is not an attack on one nation but on all nations and on civilized people everywhere. We will not allow violence to change our societies or our values, nor will we allow it to stop the work of this summit," the statement read. "The terrorists will not succeed. Today's bombings will not weaken in any way our resolve to uphold the most deeply held principles of our societies and to defeat those who would impose their fanaticism and extremism on all of us. We shall prevail and they shall not."

Bush later told reporters that the people of London have America's "heartfelt condolences" and said he appreciates Blair's steadfast determination and strength. "He'll carry a message of solidarity with him" as he leaves the G-8 summit for London, Bush added. "I was most impressed by the resolve of all the [G-8] leaders in the room and that their resolve is as strong as my resolve. ... We will not yield to the terrorists. We will find them; we will bring them to justice." Bush said there's a clear contrast between the work being done at the G-8 summit and the goals of the terrorists responsible, "those who've got such evil in their heart that they will take the lives of innocent folks." "The War on Terror goes on," he added.

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer called the attacks "appalling." "I know I speak on behalf of all NATO allies when I express our sympathy for and solidarity with the British people. There can be no justification for such heinous crimes," he said in a statement. "I condemn in the strongest terms these attacks, which underline the need for the international community and members of the alliance to remain united in the fight against terrorism."

Jamie Rubin, a former foreign affairs specialist under former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, told FOX News from London that the attack may recreate some of the unity of world leaders that was seen right after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. "For now, some of that sense of solidarity that is in the War on Terror ... is restored," Rubin said. "The political sense of solidarity has been lost a bit and I think, ironically, this tragedy may restore it."

Blasts Hit Buses, Subway System

Police said incidents were reported at the Aldgate station near the Liverpool Street railway terminal, Edgware Road and King's Cross in north London, Old Street in the financial district, Russell Square in central London, near the British Museum, Aldgate Station and Leicester Square, which is the equivalent of New York City's Times Square. A police official also told reporters there was an incident on a bus in Tavistock Place.

The first explosion on a tube train in a tunnel on the east side of London's financial district occurred at 8:49 a.m. local time. The second blast went off on a train sitting in the Edgware Road station at 9:33 a.m. The third occurred at 9:40 a.m. on a tube train between Russell Square and Kings Cross stations. The fourth blast happened at 9:50 a.m. on a double-decker bus in Tavistock Square near Russell Square in central London. A witness said the entire top deck of the bus was destroyed.

Bradley Anderson, a subway passenger, told Sky News that "there was some kind of explosion or something" as his train reached the Edgware Road station in northeast London. "Everything went black and we collided into some kind of oncoming train," Anderson said.

Simon Corvett, 26, who was on an eastbound train from Edgware Road station, said: "All of the sudden there was this massive, huge bang. It was absolutely deafening and all the windows shattered. ... There were just loads of people screaming and the carriages filled with smoke. You could see the carriage opposite was completely gutted. ... There were some people in real trouble."

Jay Kumar, a business owner near the site of the blast that destroyed the bus, said he ran out of his shop when he heard a loud explosion. He said the top deck of the bus had collapsed, sending people tumbling to the floor. Many appeared badly injured, and bloodied people ran from the scene. "A big blast, a big bomb," he told The Associated Press. "People were running this way panicked. They knew it was a bomb. Debris flying all over, mostly glass. I was on the bus in front and heard an incredible bang, I turned round and half the double-decker bus was in the air," Belinda Seabrook told Press Association, the British news agency.

Home Secretary Charles Clarke (search), Britain's top law enforcement officer, said there were "terrible injuries." Clarke, in a later address before English lawmakers, said above-ground train service is subject to "substantial delays," but airports are operating normally. "People are strongly advised not to travel into central London as the emergency services must be allowed to work as effectively as they can," Clarke said, adding that there were three explosions in the subway and one on a bus.

Pope Benedict XVI deplored the "terrorist attacks," calling them "barbaric acts against humanity," and said he was praying for the families of the victims.

Americans Urged to be Vigilant

Secret Service spokesman Tom Mazur said that Bush's presence had agents monitoring the situation in London, but that the investigation was being left to British authorities. U.S. officials said they had no intelligence that suggests similar attacks are planned for the United States; there are no plans currently to raise the terror alert system. There also are no plans now for the president to return to Washington.

The Homeland Security Department asked authorities in major cities as well as passengers for "continued vigilance" for any suspicious activities, particularly in the transportation systems. The U.S. Capitol tightened up security there. Bomb-sniffing dogs and armed police officers were sent to patrol Washington's subways and buses Thursday. About 1.2 million people a day ride Washington's buses and trains.

A senior U.S. counterterrorism official said recent intelligence indicated that London was considered a prime target for Islamic extremists in part because Al Qaeda was having difficulty getting people into the United States. "We have been closely monitoring the bombings in London. Our sympathies and condolences go to the victims of this incident and the people of London," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said in a statement. "We do not have any specific intelligence indicating this type of attack is planned in the U.S. but we are constantly evaluating both intelligence and protective measures and will take whatever actions are necessary. We will continue to work closely with British officials as they investigate this incident."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,161768,00.html

Petronas

07-07-2005, 11:08 AM

Timeline: London Attacks
Thursday, July 07, 2005

08.50 - Police called to Aldgate station, east London.

09.22 - King's Cross, Liverpool Street and Aldgate stations cleared.

09.31 - The incident caused major disruption to the entire network with stations across the capital being closed.

09.33 - London Underground said that there has been "another incident at Edgware Road" station in north west London.

09.53 - Mainline train company First Great Western said its services into London's Paddington station were terminating at Reading in Berkshire because of the Underground crisis.

10.00 - The National Grid, which supplies power to the Underground, said there had been no problems with its system this morning which could have contributed to the incidents.

10.13 - Union officials said their sources had told them there had been at least one explosive device on the Underground. One explosion happened at Edgware Road and there were suggestions of two other explosions at King's Cross and Aldgate.

10.14 - Reports of a bus being ripped apart in an explosion in central London.

10.19 - Mainline services were being halted short of London. The Silverlink company, which normally operates into Euston station, was terminating trains at Watford Junction in Hertfordshire.

10.32 - Mainline London to Scotland train company GNER said it did not expect its East Coast Main Line services to run as far as London at any time today.

11.02 - Home Secretary Charles Clarke confirmed that there had been "terrible injuries" in the explosions across London.

11.24 - Mobile networks report delays for people trying to get through to friends and relatives, after a surge in the volume of calls.

11.30 - Met Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair said: "We are not aware of any warning at the moment. We have concluded that this is a co-ordinated attack."

11.51 - St Mary's Hospital said it had received four critically injured patients, eight seriously hurt and 14 with minor injuries so far. It could confirm no deaths and had treated no children.

12.00 - Tony Blair says: "It is reasonably clear that there have been a series of terrorist attacks in London."

12.01 - A spokeswoman for University College Hospital in central London, near the scene of the Russell Square bus blast, said: "We have started to receive casualties but we cannot say how many."

12.05 - Reports that the Stansted Express rail service is suspended, although flights are operating normally at Stansted airport in Essex.

12.16 - Emergency services called to Leicester Square underground station, a spokesman for the London Ambulance Service said.

12.21 - More than 100 casualties and one of the dead were taken to the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel. Three double-decker buses loaded with casualties had brought the injured to the hospital.

12.30 - 54 patients have been taken to the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, north London.Two of those were taken into theatre, said a hospital spokeswoman. Six are described as major injuries, two more are in high dependency and one is in X-ray. Two of the 54 were children but their condition is not thought to be serious.

12.36 - A British Transport Police spokeswoman said it had no knowledge of any reports of an explosion at Leicester Square.

12.45 - Superintendent Jon Morgan of the Metropolitan Police said there had been a number of fatalities as well as serious casualties at Edgware Road station. All the dead and injured have been moved from the scene, which is now being examined forensically.

12.51 - A spokeswoman for Guy's and St Thomas' hospital said eight casualties, some critically injured, were being cared for so far.

12.51 - Scotland Yard confirmed that seven explosions have been reported in four sites. The first site is around Russell Square and Kings Cross Underground stations. The second is the area including Moorgate, Aldgate, and Liverpool Street Underground station. The third is Edgware Road Underground and the fourth is Tavistock Square, where a bus was ripped apart by a blast.

13.01 - Al Qaeda terrorists claimed responsibility for the London blasts on an Islamic website and said: "Britain is now burning with fear, terror and panic in its northern, southern, eastern, and western quarters."

13.03 - Metropolitan Police deputy assistant commissioner Brian Paddick said initial reports were that 150 people had been seriously injured in the blasts. "It does appear from the information we have at the moment that these were caused by explosives but we are awaiting forensic confirmation of that."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,161791,00.html

Petronas

07-07-2005, 11:14 AM

This site is almost always inactive, and is only activated during suspected or actual major terrorist incidents or natural disasters. Expect it to return to inactive status soon if there no more attacks. While active, though, it provides frequently updated and thorough information.

Current as of: Thursday - 7 July 2005 GMT
The Current Time is: 15:07 GMT
WORLD WATCH MONITOR:

ALL TIMES ARE CDT (UTC - 5)

MONITOR STATUS: ACTIVE

1000: Casualty Update: 33 Confirmed Fatalities. Seven people are confirmed dead at Liverpool Street Station. At King's Cross, 21 confirmed fatalities are reported, and five confirmed fatalities at Edgware Road. There are a number of fatalities at the scene of the bus explosion, but there is no confirmed number as of yet.

0939: Limited Underground and bus services are expected to resume later on 7 July (AP)

0933: A police official states that at least 33 people have been killed in the London Attacks (AP)

0927: Victoria Tube station remains closed due to bomb threat. (CNN)

0925: Press conference states that four devices were involved in attacks (CNN)

0915: Scotland Yard releases casualty hotline number +011 44 870 1566 344 (BBC)

0911: The Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain has condemned the attacks on the London Underground (BBC)

0907: Security sources state that people have been killed at all four explosion sites (Reuters)

0906: Sky News reports that at least 45 people were killed and 1,000 wounded in the four blasts (Sky news)

0902: Security has been increased though out Europe. France has raised it's terror alert level to red (the second highest rating). Berlin transportation officials has raised its security alert level from green to yellow. German officials in North Rhine and Westphalia has increased security near British and U.S. installations. Officials in Moscow have also raised their security level in the wake of these attacks.

0849: Paris, Washington, and other cities have increased security in response to the London Terrorist Attacks (Bloomberg: Germany)

0844: Police identify bombed bus as number 30 traveling from Hackney to Marble Arch (BBC)

0842: Commanders in charge of policing the G8 summit are considering how many officers with specialist skills can be released to join the operation in London (BBC)

0841: The Netherlands has announced that they are increasing border checks and increasing security around British buildings in the country (Reuters)

0841: ITN reports that at least 45 people are dead (CNN)

0839: London hospital officials state that more than 300 people have been treated for injuries at various London Hospitals (AP)

0835: Transportation Update: Many London bound trains are stopping at stations outside the city. The entire Underground network has been closed indefinitely. Buses and rail stations in Zone one have been closed. Train service to Heathrow, Stansted and Gatwick airports have been suspended, however airports remain open and all flights are currently operating normally (BBC)

0834: Italy's civil aviation authority placed all Italian airports on maximum alert.

0830: Reports state that at least 40 people have been killed (MSNBC)

0812: Amtrak has raised its threat level (CNN)

0808: Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed his condolences over the attacks and calls on all countries to combat international terrorism (BBC)

0759: 13 bodies reported at King's Cross station

0757: Reports indicate that police have found explosive traces in at least one of the four confirmed blast locations (CNN)

0749: U.S. Terror Threat Level has remained unchanged (CNN)

0747: Hospital officials in London state that 190 people are being treated for injuries directly related to the explosion.

0744: President Bush has asked Americans to be extra vigilant as they head off to work (ABC news)

0742: Prime Minister Tony Blair has left Gleneagles and has returned to London (BBC)

0738: Heathrow arrivals / departures are being affected as security forces insist that routes do not overfly central London. Delays are likely through to 2000 UTC. Rail services into Heathrow have been suspended, arriving passengers will be stranded at Heathrow for the time being.

0719: Reports indicate that at least 10 people have been confirmed killed in the explosion at King's Cross station (CNN)

0717: Eurostar's Paris to London service is still running, but the Heathrow Express has been suspended and the Stansted Express is stopping before Liverpool Street

0716: Heathrow Airport is operating normally however some delays are expected. (BBC)

0714: The entire London Underground and all buses in Zone one have been shut indefinitely. (BBC)

0709: World leaders have resolved to carry on with the G8 summit business in the face of deadly explosions in London (AP)

0712: Ambulance service states that there are still people trapped at King's Cross. (BBC)

0706: Signs on all major roads into London advise travelers to "Avoid London, Area Closed. Turn on Radio" (BBC)

0705: Reports indicate that there were 10 bombs on 4 trains (CNN)

0701: Security at Public Transportation Systems in major U.S. cities has been increased. (CNN)

0659: The Metropolitan Police Commissioner stated that the blasts showed clear indications of explosives. (The Times)

0657: The U.K. Home Secretary has urged people to avoid travel in Central London

0656: A group calling itself "Secret Organization - al-Qaida in Europe" has posted a claim of responsibility for the series of blasts in London, a German magazine reported Thursday. (Der Spiegel Magazine)

0655: Tony Blair has stated that it is clear that the attacks were designed to coincide with the opening of the G-8 Summit in Gleneagles, Scotland (AP)

0652: An Islamist website has posted a statement - purportedly by al-Qaeda - claiming responsibility for the attacks (BBC)

0648: France raises security alert to "red" (BBC)

0642: Rescue operations have halted and now has turned to recovery (CNN)

0641: Reports state that a government spokesperson has said that 20 people are dead (ITV news)

0639: Scotland Yard reports that there were 4 total explosions. Three subway explosions and one bus explosion (CNN)

0636: The BBC has reported that hospitals are no longer accepting non-emergency cases (BBC Live Five)

0635: 185 people have been reported injured at two London hospitals (Sky News)

0632: There have been 7 confirmed explosions. Six were underground. (CNN)

0632: All of Europe placed on high alert (CNN)

0622: There are unconfirmed reports of additional bus attacks (CNN)

0621: London's communications network has ground to a halt (CNN)

0618: Israeli Embassies world wide have been placed on high alert (HAARETZ)

0617: Washington DC has increased security following London blasts (ABC NEWS)

0613: 40 casualties reported at Edgware road. 14 critical. (CNN)

0613: Reports state that London Emergency Plan is in effect (CNN)

0602: Tony Blair confirms that blasts are linked to terrorism (CNN)

0559: London Underground and Public Bus network shut down (CNN)

0553: 2 fatalities 90 casualties reported (CNN)

0552: Reports indicate that mobile and landline communications are disrupted (CNN)

0551: London transportation brought to a standstill (CNN)

0550: U.S. Embassy cordoned off (CNN)

0548: Police confirm two fatalities at Aldgate East (BBC)

0546: 7 explosions seem to be coordinated (CNN)

0451: United Kingdom (Country threat level - 3): The entire London Underground system has been shut down following a series of explosions at approximately 0945 local time (0845 UTC) on 7 July 2005. Explosions have been also reported on at least one bus and possibly as many as three buses. Authorities initially stated that the explosions resulted from power surges, but there are now reports that at least one explosive device was located in the subway. Explosions were reported at the following subway stations: Liverpool Street, Aldgate, Edgware Road, King's Cross, Old Street and Russell Square. There are reports of casualties, but figures are not available at present. This is an ongoing situation, and details continue to emerge.

http://monitor.airsecurity.com/

NYer

07-12-2005, 08:09 AM

BBC becomes the PC BC ...

BBC edits out the word terrorist
By Tom Leonard
(Filed: 12/07/2005)

The BBC has re-edited some of its coverage of the London Underground and bus bombings to avoid labelling the perpetrators as "terrorists", it was disclosed yesterday.

Early reporting of the attacks on the BBC's website spoke of terrorists but the same coverage was changed to describe the attackers simply as "bombers".

The BBC's guidelines state that its credibility is undermined by the "careless use of words which carry emotional or value judgments".

Consequently, "the word 'terrorist' itself can be a barrier rather than an aid to understanding" and its use should be "avoided", the guidelines say.

Rod Liddle, a former editor of the Today programme, has accused the BBC of "institutionalised political correctness" in its coverage of British Muslims.

A BBC spokesman said last night: "The word terrorist is not banned from the BBC."

http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/07/12/nbbc12.xml

medicvet

07-21-2005, 10:52 AM

Where's the info on what happened today???

Petronas

07-21-2005, 12:31 PM

WORLD WATCH MONITOR
Current as of: Thursday - 21 July 2005 GMT
The Current Time is: 16:23 GMT

0952: British Prime Minister Tony Blair speaks out on bombings. Urges Londoners to stay calm. (CNN)

0926: Reports indicate that there were four "attempts at explosions" occured in the London Underground today. Sky News also reports that police are searching for a man wearing a blue shirt with wires protruding from a hole in the back.

0912: Transportation Update: Oval, Warren Street, and Shepherd's Bush stations are closed. Temporary suspensions are in force on the Northern, Hammersmith & City, and Victoria lines. Contrary to previously stated reports, the entire subway network has not been shut down. All buses are running normally. Docklands Light Railway services were suspended for 10 minutes at 1330 local time but trains are checked and are now running normally. Mainline rail services are unaffected. Airport services also remain unaffected.

0907: U.K. Government's emergency -response team Cobra meets at Downing Street, with Prime Minister Tony Blair and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw attending. (BBC)

0905: Witnesses state that police entered University College Hospital with flak jackets and police dogs. (CNN)

0903: Police characterize blasts as small explosions. (CNN)

0859: A bus company spokesperson told ITN that the driver of the no. 26 bus heard a "bang" from the top of the bus and that the windows were blown out of the bus. No injuries were reported in that incident.

0854: Metropolitan Police Chief Sir Ian Blair has asked Londoners to stay where they are as the transportation system was being effectively shut down. (BBC)

0851: Reports state that police officers have entered University College Hospital near Warren Street following a man - possibly the bomber - after a chase down Tottenham Court Road. (Times of London)

0849: Armed police enter hospital one of the affected London Underground stations. (Reuters)

0847: Sky TV reports that all London Underground Stations have been closed (Reuters)

0845: Reports state that Great Portland Street, Westminster, Waterloo, King's Cross Thameslink, St. Paul's and Oxford Circus have closed. (BBC)

0841: Metropolitan Police chief states that Underground and bus blasts are very serious and tells londoners to stay where you are. (BBC)

0840: Transport Police told ITN that there has one injury at Warren Underground station. There are no other reports of casualties. (CNN)

0838: London police confirm that there have been four explosions and that they have occurred in the Underground and on a bus. (AP)

0833: British transport police state that all of the affected tube station were being evacuated. Transport for London confirmed that four lines - the Hammersmith & City, Northern, Bakerloo, and Victoria lines have been suspended. A spokesperson stated that there as a code amber which means that trains are being taken to the next station and passengers are being evacuated to above ground. Police are present at all three stations affected. (The Guardian)

0826: Reports state that London's entire underground network was reported to be closed down and streets were cordoned off near the incidents. A source at the underground transport company said that one nail bomb exploded at Warren Street underground station and that there were also unconfirmed reports of a shooting. (AP)

0814: Minor explosions using detonators have using detonators have sparked the evacuation of three Tube stations and the closure of three Underground lines. Reports also indicate that a route 26 bus in Hackney Road in Bethnal Green had its windows blown out by a blast. No injuries were reported (BBC)

0756: British police say they are not treating the London Underground evacuations as a "major incident." (AP)

0754: U.K. police report incident on a bus in east London. (MSNBC)

0748: Reports state that three London Underground stations have been evacuated due to several incidents. According to a Scotland Yard spokesperson, Warren Street, Shepherds Bush, and Oval stations have all been evacuated and London Underground confirmed that services on the Victoria, Northern, and Hammersmith & City lines have all been suspended following the incidents.

http://monitor.airsecurity.com/

Petronas

07-21-2005, 12:35 PM

London blasts latest
Thursday, 21 July, 2005, 16:20 GMT 17:20 UK

Shepherd's Bush: Reports of small explosion. Eyewitnesses reportedly see man run from scene. Large area cordoned off.
Oval: Man runs off train after a small bang as train reaches station, eyewitnesses reportedly say. Large area cordoned off.
Warren Street: Witnesses report hearing bang at front of train, passengers running to back of train and evacuating at station. Large area cordoned off.
Hackney Road: Explosion on the top deck of number 26 bus travelling from Waterloo to Hackney. Large area cordoned off.
University College Hospital: Armed police officers deployed for "incident", thought to be search for suspect. Large area cordoned off. Incident later "stood down".
Injuries: One.
Arrests: Police sources tell BBC two people detained, both in Whitehall area, officers looking for unknown number of fugitives.
Chemical and other agents: None found after initial checks at all three Tube stations and on bus.
Tube closures: Hammersmith & City, Victoria and Northern lines suspended. Trains also not running on Piccadilly, Bakerloo and Circle lines. Police advise London workers to stagger their journeys home.

1730: London Mayor Ken Livingstone and Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair are expected to hold press conference.

1620: Two people are detained, police say. A police source says officers are looking for an unknown number of fugitives.

1610: No traces of chemical agents found at any of the incident sites, police say.

1559: Incident at University College Hospital is "stood down", Scotland Yard announces.

1547: Prime Minister Tony Blair says incidents such as Thursday's are designed to frighten people, adding: "We've just got to react calmly and continue with our business - as much as possible - as normal."

1545: Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair says the situation is "fully under control". He says there is no indication of chemical or other attack, and that there has been only one casualty - not a fatality. He adds that the blasts appear to have been nearly simultaneous.

1525: Armed police arrest a man outside the gates of Prime Minister Tony Blair's 10 Downing Street offices.

1522: Police say no trace of chemical agents is found at Warren Street station following tests.

1503: Police appeal for anyone with photos or mobile phone images from the incident scenes to send them to www.police.uk.

1443: Police ask people to remain at work or at home.

1430: UK Government's emergency-response team Cobra meets at Downing Street, with Prime Minister Tony Blair, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair attending.

1428: Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair says Thursday's incidents are "clearly very serious" but that the explosions were smaller than those which killed at least 56 people two weeks ago. He says the transport system will close down "for a short while".

1426: Police in protective gear deployed to Warren Street station.

1413: Prime Minister Tony Blair postpones a visit to a school in east London and a photocall with visiting Prime Minister John Howard of Australia, a spokesman says.

1411: Police cordon off a large area around University College Hospital, which is near Warren Street station.

1401: A White House spokesman says the US is "monitoring the situation closely".

1354: Police say they are not treating the evacuations as a "major incident yet".

1345: Transport for London imposes a Code Amber on all affected Tube lines - meaning all passengers are immediately taken off trains at stations and moved above ground.

1340: Ken Livingstone, the mayor of London, cancels an engagement because of the incident on the Underground, a spokeswoman says.

1330: Police respond to reports of an explosion on a Number 26 bus in Bethnal Green, east London. There are no injuries.

1325: London Underground announces services suspended on three lines: Victoria, Northern and Hammersmith & City.

1321: Fire service says smoke seen coming from Warren Street Tube station.

1320: The pound sterling falls against other currencies as word of the incidents hits the markets. The index of leading shares on London's stock exchange also falls.

1245: Ambulance services are called to the Warren Street station on the Northern and Victoria lines. The station is evacuated.

1230: Ambulance services are called to the Oval Underground station on the Northern Line. The station is evacuated.

1225: Shepherd's Bush station on the Hammersmith and City line is evacuated.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4703853.stm

NYer

07-23-2005, 03:27 PM

The enemy within ...

Radical cleric attacks Muslim 'hypocrites'

RHIANNON EDWARD

THE radical cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed inflamed tensions further yesterday with an attack on Muslims who took part in inter-faith services after the bombings.

He branded any Muslims who attended the Trafalgar Square vigil last week as "hypocrites and apostates".

In an interview, Bakri said: "God forbids us from praying with Jews and Christians side by side. These are part-time Muslims or chocolate Muslims.

"I cannot be British. I cannot be English. Even if I change my colour, like Michael Jackson, I could not be English."

Furthermore, Bakri claimed that he and fellow radicals have helped to protect Britain from Islamic extremism for two decades.

He has already caused anger earlier this week by suggesting the British government and the public share some of the blame for the bomb attacks on London on 7 July.

The Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, has said that he will making greater use of powers to exclude from Britain people already here who encourage violence.

And he suggested that such powers might be used against Bakri and other radical clerics who have made outspoken comments.

Bakri told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I don't believe deportation will solve the problem and can be in any way a cure for what happened. I believe that my presence and the presence of many radical Muslims, as you like to call us, we are part of the solution and not part of the problem."

Asked whether he would leave if he did face a deportation order, he said: "Of course, I would never challenge the legal system. I would prefer to be in prison or to be deported.

"Unfortunately, after we have been banned from any activities, we become completely isolated from the youth," he added. "And the youth start to go forward to somebody else abroad.

"I was able, with many radical Muslims, to control the youth for the last 20 years and hold them back from doing anything foolish or anything which is completely wrong.

"If nobody is there to guide them, who is going to give the youth direction?"

He was asked whether he would go to the police if he knew about another attack.

He said: "If I know anybody who want to take any action in this country I will stop him."

But he acknowledged: "No, I will never go to the police."

Asked whether he would condone suicide bombers coming into this country from abroad, Sheikh Omar said: "This is a way of life in Iraq and in Palestine. The self-sacrifice operation, it is the Islamic way of life for those who resist.

"Self-sacrifice operations in Muslim countries, it is part of the Islamic culture.

"The only way to change is to look to the cause ... Don't occupy Muslim land."

The radical cleric was asked whether he was delivering an ultimatum to Tony Blair to withdraw from Iraq.

He said: "It is not an ultimatum. I believe that the British public, Muslim and non-Muslims, should have civil disobedience, or demonstrations, all political means, to make the British government see that they create enemies for themselves, whether abroad or within at home, because of the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan."

Bakri was pressed on whether he condoned suicide bombers coming from outside the UK to carry out attacks.

He said: "I believe Muslims are obliged to defend themselves. As a Muslim scholar, Islam does not permit you to live among people and fight them.

"That is why you need yourself to leave them and live very far away from them, and then fight them. That is what I believe."

http://www.scotsman.com/?id=1664052005

NYer

07-25-2005, 04:41 PM

U.K. cops want to attack terrorism Web sites
By Dan Ilett, Silicon.com

Published on ZDNet News: July 25, 2005, 10:50 AM PT

British chief police officers are asking the U.K. government for new powers that would allow them to attack terrorist Web sites.

A list of antiterror recommendations from the Association of Chief Police Officers has been handed to Members of Parliament in the wake of the London bombings this month, as the government reviews laws on how to tackle terrorism.

Under the proposals, it would become an offense to fail to disclose encryption keys and to use the Internet to facilitate acts of terrorism.

In a press statement last week, Ken Jones, chairman of the ACPO Terrorism and Allied Matters Committee, said: "(The) evolving nature of the current threat from international terrorism demands that those charged with countering the threat have the tools they need to do the job. Often there is a need to intervene and disrupt at an early stage those who are intent on terrorist activity in order to protect the public. Clearly our legislation must reflect the importance of such disruptive action."

The list of recommendations does not detail how police would attack Web sites, but in many cases remotely disabling a Web server involves a denial-of-service attack, in which floods of data are sent to the server to overwhelm it.

The organization said that the measure would help police stop the spread of child abuse images on the Web. "This power has significant benefits for counter terrorism and overlaps with other police priorities namely domestic extremism and paedophilia," ACPO said in its proposals. "This issue goes beyond national borders and requires significant international co-operation. The need for appropriate authority and warranty is implicit."

One former policeman who now works in computer forensics was concerned about the international implications of making cyberattacks legitimate. Simon Janes, international operations manager at Ibas, said: "It's no different to parachuting officers into another country to investigate something. There would have to be some international consent, but I can't see a way around it. It does pose the question, what if that (target) is another government Web site?"

A representative for Spy.org.uk, a civil-liberties advocacy Web site, also warned that attacks on foreign Web sites could backfire.

In an e-mail to CNET News.com sister site Silicon.com, the representative wrote: "Who exactly is going to define what a 'terrorist Web site' is? There are none of these hosted in the U.K., so the targets must be abroad. Will a blog or discussion forum be attacked because one or more of the posters puts up a message gleefully praising some terrorist atrocity or other?"

"The only people who seem to have a legal hacking law at the moment are the Australians, but it does not appear that they have dared to use it against overseas targets," the representative continued. "Hackers will delight in faking their IP addresses, or using U.K. government systems which they have compromised to launch 'legal' cyberattacks on their victims--how is anybody going to tell the difference?"

While the police have admitted that the time it takes to break some encryption standards has slowed investigations, moves to stop people hiding encryption keys have already been included in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act. However, this has yet to be approved by the Home Office, the U.K. government agency that oversees law enforcement, and the police have asked for further updates on its progress.

ACPO said: "Recent investigations have been made more complex by difficulties for investigating officers in ascertaining whereabouts of encryption keys to access computers etc. An amendment to part three of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act to make it an offence to fail to disclose such items would provide some sanction against suspects failing to co-operate with investigations."

But Ibas' Janes said this law could overlook cases where people forget their passwords. "It only works if you make the penalty the same for that which you are being investigated. Why would you be compelled to hand over an encryption key unless you were performing acts of terrorism? But people do forget their passwords, of course," he said.

Spy.org.uk challenged this point. The representative wrote: "Presumably what ACPO are trying to do is to remove the existing defence of 'I have genuinely forgotten my PGP pass-phrase', which is simply unfair, and it still does not acknowledge the existing weaknesses of the part three regulations with regard to opportunistic encryption keys."

Dan Ilett of Silicon.com reported from London.

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5803380.html

NYer

07-27-2005, 01:30 PM

Hizb ut-Tahrir: Muslim MP leads call for ban in Britain
by Vanessa Mock, 25 July 2005

In the wake of the terrorist attacks in London on 7 July and last week’s attempted attacks, some politicians in the UK are calling on the government to ban the organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir (‘Party of Liberation’).

Hizb ut-Tahrir was founded in 1953 by Taqiuddin al-Nabhani, and has a stated aim of establishing a Caliphate or Kilafah state in Muslim countries and removing what it sees as imperialist, non-Muslim control in those states.

Criminal
It is considered a criminal organisation in a number of countries, including Russia and Germany. As Denmark considers a ban, there are increasing moves in the UK to outlaw the group. These calls are being led by Khalid Mahmood, a British Muslim MP for theLabour Party in the country’s second city, Birmingham. “ I think it’s about time this issue was tackled,” he said.

http://www2.rnw.nl/rnw/en/currentaffairs/region/westerneurope/uk050725?view=Standard

NYer

08-05-2005, 08:36 AM

U.K. to Institute New Deportation Measures

The Associated Press
Friday, August 5, 2005; 8:06 AM

LONDON -- Prime Minister Tony Blair on Friday announced new deportation measures against people who foster hatred and advocate violence following last month's transportation attacks that killed 52 people and four suspected suicide bombers.

Clerics who preach hate and Web sites or book shops that sponsor violence would be targeted. Foreign nationals could be deported under the new measures.

Blair said his government was prepared to amend human rights legislation if necessary if legal challenges arose from the new deportation measures.

Britain's ability to deport foreign nationals has been hampered by human rights legislation. As a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights, Britain is not allowed to deport people to a country where they may face torture or death.

"Let no one be in any doubt that the rules of the games are changing," Blair said, promising to crack down on extremists blamed for radicalizing pockets of Muslim youth.

By the year's end, Blair wants to pass legislation that would outlaw "indirect incitement" of terrorism _ targeting extremist Islamic clerics who glorify acts of terrorism and seduce impressionable Muslim youth.

The law would ban receiving training in terrorist techniques in Britain or abroad. A new offense of "acts preparatory to terrorism" would outlaw planning an attack and activities such as acquiring bomb-making instructions on the Internet.

Blair said his government would hold a short, one-month consultation on new grounds for excluding and deporting people from the United Kingdom.

"The Muslim community have been and are our partners in this endeavor," said Blair, who has appealed to community leaders to help roots out extremists in their midst.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/05/AR2005080500204.html

NYer

08-10-2005, 12:47 PM

"My hypocrisy knows no bounds"
Doc Holliday ( Val Kilmer)
Tombstone

Bakri to get NHS heart op

By SUN ONLINE REPORTER

EXTREMIST preacher Omar Bakri Mohammed may undergo heart surgery in an NHS hospital if he returns to the UK.

Bakri, who says he has a congenital heart problem, has already missed several appointments or had them postponed, friends said, but another one is likely to be scheduled before the end of the year.

The so-called "Tottenham Ayatollah" is currently in Lebanon but says he plans to return to the UK in a month's time.

That would allow him to have a free operation which would otherwise cost thousands of pounds privately.

Bakri's health problem is understood to involve the narrowing of arteries in his heart and the likeliest operation is an angioplasty.

More than 20,000 of the operations are carried out by doctors in the UK every year.

His condition is believed to be made worse by his weight.

Friends say that, because he is missing a bone in his ankle, he is unable to exercise and that has contributed to the narrowing of his coronary arteries.

Earlier this year the father-of-seven, who uses a walking stick, took delivery of a £30,000 people carrier paid for under the Motability scheme.

He is estimated to have received several hundred thousand pounds in benefits during his two decades in the UK.

It is not clear where Bakri would have his treatment and hospitals refused to discuss confidential patient details.

But Anjem Choudary, another leading figure in the al-Muhajiroun movement, said: "He had an appointment for a heart operation at some point. I'm not sure exactly when.

"He had appointments before but he missed them - he doesn't like to take medicine, he likes to recover naturally.

"He has a congenital problem he has had the whole of his life. It's a problem with his arteries but I'm not a doctor so I don't know exactly."

Bakri, who had his mobile phone turned off today, sparked outrage last week by saying he would not inform police if he knew Muslim extremists were planning a bomb attack in Britain.

He left for Beirut amid suggestions that he could be tried for treason but the Government has since made clear there is no prospect of that.

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott admitted there was nothing to stop the firebrand cleric coming and going at the moment from the UK.

But a review of the Home Secretary's powers to exclude people who promote terrorism could be complete by the time Bakri heads home, allowing him to be barred.

Tory leader Michael Howard argued that present powers were already sufficient to keep Bakri out and he called on the Government to use those powers "without delay".

"The Home Secretary has the power to exclude from this country people whose presence here is not conducive to the public good," he said.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2005370020,00.html

NYer

08-11-2005, 03:14 PM

Salman Rushdie tries for anothe fatwa ...

Edit Koran for the World: Rushdie
RASHMEE ROSHAN LALL

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ THURSDAY, AUGUST 11, 2005 09:55:28 PM ]

LONDON: Salman Rushdie, whose Satanic Verses first revealed and exemplified to a shocked world the massed rage of a globally-vocal, possibly violent, fearsomely-networked, resurgent Islamist extremism, has led the West's call for an Islamic reformation that brings the planet's youngest, fastest-growing religion into the 21st century.

Rushdie's new novel set in Kashmir details the transformation of a young Muslim boy from shy adolescent to Islamist terrorist under the tutelage of a bearded radical mullah.

He launched his appeal for a "move beyond tradition...(for) the Koran to be seen as a historical document...not supernaturally above (history)" even as his book, 'Shalimar the Clown', was shortlisted for the prestigious, intensely profitable Man Booker prize.

Rushdie's new novel, his first big-ideas exploration for years, is to be published on September 29, book trade experts told TOI on Thursday.

Rushdie, who has long been held up by leading European scholars of resurgent Islam, such as Stefano Allievil, as the first example of radical Islamist mobilization, said on Thursday that a broader interpretation of the Koran – other than its categorization as "the infallible, uncreated word of God" - would lead to better relations between Muslims and other faiths everywhere in the world.

More ...
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1198442.cms

NYer

08-16-2005, 03:31 PM

Full text: joint statement from Muslim groups

Tuesday August 16, 2005

As members of the Muslim community the undersigned individuals and organisations feel the need to communicate our view regarding some of the recently proposed antiterrorism measures in the aftermath of the London bombings, and address statements made by the prime minister in the past few weeks. The British Muslim community has always been a law-abiding community and all its endeavours to create a more just society have been entirely peaceful. We fear that recent events are being exploited by some sections in society to demonise legitimate Islamic values and beliefs and hence consider it appropriate to make the following observations:

Read the whole thing - especially sections 4 and 5 ( below) ...

4. The proposal to ban the non-violent organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir is, in our view, unwarranted, unjust and unwise, and runs counter to all the principles which Western democracies are currently trying to promote abroad. Any disagreement with a political organisation must be expressed through debate not censorship. Whatever objections one may have to someone else's point of view, we must uphold their right to hold and articulate those views. If it is suggested that any laws have been broken by any individuals or groups then this must be proven by due legal process. Criminalising the mere possession of certain opinions is the hallmark of dictatorships, not democracies.

5. The same reasoning applies to the proposal to close mosques if they are arbitrarily defined as being "extremist" or to try and politically influence what may or may not be said during a religious talk. This would amount to a collective punishment of the community and will be likely to create fear and prevent legitimate political discussion within mosques. This repression could lead to the very radical subculture which we all seek to prevent.

Maybe they can enlist the services of the ACLU ...

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,15935,1550073,00.html

NYer

08-19-2005, 09:33 AM

Calls grow to deport Saudi who backs jihad
By Daniel McGrory

PRESSURE was intensifying on ministers last night to live up to their promised crackdown on Islamic fanatics by charging or deporting a Saudi radical who backs the killing of British soldiers in Iraq.

MPs from all parties and several foreign governments have demanded action against Muhammad al-Massari, who has asylum in Britain . His radio station, al-Tajdeed, backs suicide attacks and his website shows the beheadings of Western hostages.

This month Dr al-Massari named four Italian cities that are targets for terror strikes.

Britain has previously tried to deport him but the courts intervened to prevent him being sent back to Saudi Arabia.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,22989-1741480,00.html

NYer

08-21-2005, 09:44 AM

Police foil gas attack on Commons
David Leppard and Robert Winnett

SCOTLAND YARD believes it has thwarted an Al-Qaeda gas attack aimed at ministers and MPs in parliament. The plot, hatched last year, is understood to have been discovered in coded e-mails on computers seized from terror suspects in Britain and Pakistan.

Police and MI5 then identified an Al-Qaeda cell that had carried out extensive research and video-recorded reconnaissance missions in preparation for the attack.

The encrypted e-mails are said to have been decoded with the help of an Al-Qaeda “supergrass”. By revealing the terrorists’ code he was also able to help MI5 and GCHQ, the government’s eavesdropping centre at Cheltenham, to crack several more plots.

The discovery of the suspected Commons nerve gas plot was behind the decision to increase security around parliament this summer.

A senior officer said that the scheme had led to the intervention of Eliza Manningham-Buller, head of MI5, to assess parliament’s security.

The operation to deter the sarin gas attack is referred to in an internal police document obtained by The Sunday Times.

It is a minute of a meeting of senior police officers held last month at Specialist Operations 17 (SO17), the unit responsible for protecting parliament, and reveals that the team were waiting to be briefed on the plot.

This weekend a senior officer disclosed that the thwarted plot mentioned in the document involved a gas or chemical “dirty bomb” attack against parliament. “The House of Commons was one of their targets as well as the Tube,” he said.

“They were planning to use chemicals, a dirty bomb and sarin gas. They looked at all sorts of ways of delivering it.”

But despite the successful police operation and upgraded security measures, senior officers are worried that security at the houses of parliament remains “unacceptable”.

The police security memo, drawn up after the July 7 attacks, reveals high-level fears that suicide terrorists could use a black cab or a visit to an exhibition to mark the 400th anniversary of the gunpowder plot.

It discloses that a military unit — said to have been special forces — recently carried out a secret examination of security at the House of Commons. It is believed that the exercise highlighted the ease with which terrorists could kill dozens of MPs in the debating chamber.

“(It was) felt all SO17 contingency plans should be reviewed against the new threat — a plan for a Kratos (suicide bomber) incident was required,” the minutes record. A senior officer said that he “felt particular attention should be paid to cabs entering the (parliamentary) estate”.

The memo records: “(A senior official) expressed grave concern at the shortage of security officers. He was worried that commitments such as the forthcoming exhibition on the gunpowder plot just could not be covered. He felt that an unacceptable number of posts were being closed down.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1743818,00.html

NYer

08-26-2005, 08:20 AM

British Intelligence Bares Link Between Detainees, Al-Qaeda
Mushtak Parker, Arab News

LONDON, 26 August 2005 — As British police prepare the first deportations of so-called “preachers of hate and intolerance”, which Home Secretary Charles Clarke yesterday confirmed could happen “very quickly — in the next few days”, new evidence has emerged about the direct terror links of the ten men detained on Aug. 12, including radical Jordanian cleric Abu Qatada, pending deportation.

Evidence presented to the Home Office by British intelligence agency MI5 and Scotland Yard’s Anti-Terrorist Branch, according to the London Evening Standard yesterday, pointed to direct links between some of the detainees and Al-Qaeda and its financing.

Eight of the ten detainees are Algerians who have been granted asylum in the UK over the last few years.

There are believed to belong to a cell operated by Abu Doha, who is in British custody pending extradition proceedings to the US over an alleged plot in 1999 to attack Los Angeles International Airport.

The Abu Doha cell is also accused of planning a ricin poison attack on the London tube system and plans to attack popular tourist sites in the West End.

According to the report, the evidence against some of the detainees is clear and overwhelming. One Algerian was an explosives expert who taught at an Al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan.

Another sponsored young British Muslims to travel to Afghanistan for training.

A third Algerian supplied satellite telephony to militants in Chechnya who are fighting for independence from Russia.

Another of the detainees pleaded guilty in 2002 in a fraud conspiracy, which police said funded international terrorism.

Police also found a credit card cloning machine and over 300 card numbers in his home.

The ten detainees have already started appeals proceedings against the detention and deportations.

Legal sources say that the eventual cost to the taxpayer of expelling then detainees could exceed 5 million pounds.

This would depend on how long the appeal process takes.

Gareth Peirce, the lawyer who represents most of the detainees, said that the appeals could be drawn out to up to three years.

However, Clarke’s measures includes ways of speeding up the legal process for deportations.

Despite the “strong” evidence and the sweeping measures announced on Wednesday by Home Secretary Charles Clarke including a list of ‘unacceptable behaviors’ by foreigners which Britian would not tolerate anymore, some of the radicals are effectively challenging the might of the British state.

One Yasser Al-Siri, an Egyptian convicted for the murder of a six-year-old girl who died in a bomb blast in Cairo, yesterday mocked Clarke’s measures saying that the British courts would never allow detainees to be deported to Middle East countries where they would be certainly tortured and abused.

“I am not worried about expulsion,” boasted Al-Siri yesterday in an interview in the Evening Standard, “My legal team thinks it is impossible. I don’t think any British judge can accept any agreement between the UK and any Middle Eastern country like Egypt. Any judge here can take this agreement and throw it in the rubbish basket. I still trust the UK with human rights, while Tony Blair may want to change the laws, there is still the Magna Carta.”

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4&section=0&article=69052&d=26&m=8&y=2005

Petronas

09-16-2005, 12:54 AM

Algerians jailed in British terror sweep
Sep. 15, 2005 at 7:59AM

In coordinated raids, police in London and Manchester Thursday detained seven Algerian nationals under the country's immigration laws. "We can confirm that early today the Immigration Service detained seven individuals in accordance with the home secretary's powers to deport individuals whose presence in (Britain) is not conducive to the public good for reasons of national security," a Home Office statement said.

The men were not arrested, but were being held in "secure prison service accommodation," the statement said. Sources told the BBC some of those held were among eight men cleared in April of involvement in a plot to place the poison ricin on urban British streets. Four of the accused were found not guilty and the others were acquitted after the prosecution offered no evidence against them.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi/20050915-074345-4255r.htm

Petronas

09-16-2005, 12:41 PM

Extremist groups active inside UK universities, report claims
Friday September 16, 2005

Extremist organisations are operating on university campuses across the country and pose a serious threat to national security, according to a new report. Yesterday the education secretary, Ruth Kelly, ordered vice-chancellors to clamp down on student extremists in the wake of the July terror attacks in London.

But a report due to be published next week by Anthony Glees, the director of Brunel University's centre for intelligence and security studies, lists more than 30 institutions - including some of the most high-profile universities in the country - where "extremist and/or terror groups" have been detected. "This is a serious threat," Professor Glees told the Guardian. "We have discovered a number of universities where subversive activities are taking place, often without the knowledge of the university authorities."

The study states that the Islamist groups Hizb ut-Tahrir and al-Muhajiroun, which are subject to a "no-platform policy" by the National Union of Students, are active on many campuses and often operate under different names. The report catalogues the activities of far-right organisations and animal rights extremists.

Among the universities named are Cambridge, where the BNP were detected; Oxford, where the report said animal rights extremists had been active; and the London School of Economics and Manchester University, which both had active Islamist extremist groups.

Prof Glees said personal tutors often had no idea about their students' views and that many undergraduates spent very little time in lectures or tutorials."It is in this environment that these groups can flourish without being detected." But Wakkas Khan, from the Federation of Student Islamic Societies, said although there were individual members of Hizb ut-Tahrir at many British universities they were not organised as a group and did not pose a threat.

British universities where extremist or terror groups have been detected:

Birmingham (Islamist); Brunel (BNP, Islamist); Cambridge (BNP); City (Islamist); Coventry (Islamist); Cranford Community College (Islamist); Derby (Islamist); Dundee (Islamist); Durham (Islamist); Greenwich (BNP); Imperial College (Islamist); Kingston (Islamist); Leeds (BNP, Islamist); Leicester (Islamist); LSE (Islamist); Luton (Islamist); Manchester (BNP, Islamist); Manchester Metropolitan (BNP); Newcastle (Islamist); Nottingham (Islamist); Oxford (Animal rights extremists); Reading (Islamist); Salford (BNP); South Bank (Islamist); SOAS (Islamist); Sussex (BNP); Sunderland (BNP, Islamist); Swansea (Islamist); Wolverhampton (Islamist); York (BNP)

http://education.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,5287194-108229,00.html

Petronas

10-04-2005, 01:09 PM

New groups planning London attacks, warns anti-terror chief
Police speak of frustration at limited cooperation from Muslim communities

Thursday September 29, 2005

The police officer in overall charge of London's anti-terrorist operation has told the Guardian that Scotland Yard is tracking a number of potential terrorist suspects who may be planning further attacks. In his first full interview since the July 7 atrocities, Assistant Commissioner Andy Hayman said none of the individuals was linked to the blasts on July 7, or the attempted bombings two weeks later. No master plot had been discovered, but Mr Hayman said that the force, and Londoners, would have to accept that the city was now a prime target. He anticipated other terrorist cells, which may well be British, would launch attacks.

"I don't want to scaremonger but it has to be said, when you look around the world and at the prominence of London, that the threat is real," said Mr Hayman. He said detectives were actively pursuing "other lines of investigation". "We always remain active in covert operations. We have a number of people who are of interest." He added: "London is an iconic site as a location for another terrorist attack. We have to be vigilant but you can't predict where or how or when they will try."

Mr Hayman also admitted that getting the Muslim community to trust the police was proving a long and difficult process. "There has been progress but starting from a regrettably low baseline. We have close links with the Muslim community but the next step is getting them to share information. I fully understand how difficult that is, the repercussions of arrests and so on, but that has to be weighed against the mass loss of life that could result from further atrocities."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,12780,1580603,00.html

Petronas

10-30-2005, 01:14 AM

United Kingdom (Country threat level - 3): Rioting erupted in the Lozells area of Birmingham on the evening of 22 October 2005 following a public meeting over the alleged rape of a 14-year-old girl. Groups of youths vandalized shops, hurled Molotov cocktails and set at least one vehicle on fire. One person was stabbed to death and at least 25 others, including a police officer, sustained serious injuries in the violence. Additional police officers were deployed to the area on 23 October, and there have been no further reports of violence. Tensions between the Afro-Caribbean and South Asian communities in the Lozells area rose sharply after reports emerged last week indicating that a girl was sexually assaulted.

AIR SECURITY International - HOT SPOTS 10/24/2005

Petronas

10-30-2005, 10:52 AM

Prince Charles to plead Islam's cause to Bush
By Andrew Alderson, Chief Reporter
(Filed: 29/10/2005)

The Prince of Wales will try to persuade George W Bush and Americans of the merits of Islam this week because he thinks the United States has been too intolerant of the religion since September 11. The Prince, who leaves on Tuesday for an eight-day tour of the US, has voiced private concerns over America's "confrontational" approach to Muslim countries and its failure to appreciate Islam's strengths. The Prince raised his concerns when he met senior Muslims in London in November 2001. The gathering took place just two months after the attacks on New York and Washington. "I find the language and rhetoric coming from America too confrontational," the Prince said, according to one leader at the meeting.

It is understood that Prince Charles did not - and does not - believe that the actions of 19 hijackers should tarnish the reputation of hundreds of millions of law-abiding Muslims around the world. Khalid Mahmood, the Labour MP for Birmingham Perry Bar, was also at the meeting at St James's Palace. "His criticism of America was a general one of the Americans not having the appreciation we have for Islam and its culture," he said. Mr Mahmood and other Muslims present stressed that Prince Charles did not go so far as to criticise the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001. More recently, he has been careful not to express his views on Iraq.

The Prince also spoke of his sympathy for America after the terrorist attacks that claimed the lives of almost 3,000 people. He said he wanted to promote better relations between the different religions of the world. Those present at the meeting in 2001 included Sir Iqbal Sacrani, the secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, and Hashir Faruqi, the chief editor of Impact International, an Islamic affairs magazine.

Prince Charles, who is about to embark on his first official foreign tour since his marriage to the Duchess of Cornwall, wants Americans - including Mr Bush - to share his fondness for Islam. He has agreed to attend a seminar on religions at Georgetown University, Washington, on Thursday: the only event where he will not be accompanied by the Duchess. "The seminar will look at how faith groups can alleviate social problems in their community," a royal aide said. The Prince and Duchess will attend a lunch and dinner with President Bush and his wife, Laura, at the White House on Wednesday.

Prince Charles has done more than any other member of the Royal Family in history to understand Islam. He said in 1994 that when he became Supreme Governor of the Church of England, he would rather be "defender of faiths" than "defender of the faith". A year earlier Prince Charles made a speech, acclaimed throughout the Arab world, on relations between Islam and the West. He urged the West to overcome its "unthinkable prejudices" about Islam and its customs and laws. He spoke warmly of the West's debt to the culture of Islam and distanced moderate Muslims from misguided militants. "Extremism is no more the monopoly of Islam than it is the monopoly of other religions, including Christianity," he said.

A senior aide to Prince Charles said yesterday: "The Prince has never promoted political messages around religion. He has simply said that he wants a greater tolerance and understanding of each other religions which will, in turn, promote better relations between faiths." A spokesman for Clarence House declined to discuss the Prince's comments four years ago. "We never discuss private conversations," he said. Prince Charles has been wooing the US media ahead of next week's tour when he will visit New York, Washington and San Francisco. It is considered a risky venture because Diana, Princess of Wales, who died eight years ago, was so revered in the US.

In an interview to be shown on CBS's 60 Minutes today, he speaks of his desire to enrich people's lives through his work. "I only hope that when I am dead and gone they might appreciate it a little more," he jokes.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/10/30/nchas30.xml&sSheet=/portal/2005/10/30/ixportaltop.html

Petronas

10-30-2005, 10:59 AM

I have not posted the entire article because it is 7 pages long. Go to the link and read it, you will find it to have been worth your time.

The Racial and Religious Hatred Bill: A Milestone on Britain’s Road to Dhimmitude
27 Oct 2005
by Srdja Trifkovic

The House of Lords is clashing with Tony Blair’s Labour government over its proposed Racial and Religious Hatred Bill. This is an Orwellian piece of legislation. Its real purpose of preventing any meaningful discussion of Islam. If passed it would enable authorities to charge people with “inciting religious hatred” even if they speak or write the truth about the Kuran, the hadith, the historical practice of jihad, or the long-term aspirations of the Muslim diaspora in the West.

The proposed measure has been denounced by human rights groups and prominent individuals as a new blasphemy law in a dangerous new guise. Stephen Fry, the actor, said the plans were unworkable: “Religion, surely, if it is worth anything, doesn’t need protection against anything I can say.” Rowan Atkinson, one of Britain’s best known comedians, has warned that the prime motivating energy for the Bill did not come from communities seeking protection from bullying,

but from individuals with a more aggressive, fundamentalist agenda, those who have sought, from the very day of the publication in 1989 of Salman Rushdie’s book The Satanic Verses, to immunise religions against criticism and ridicule—or at least to promote legislation that is so sinister and intimidating, it can provide that immunity without even the need to prosecute anyone. In other words, to impose self-censorship.

Somewhat unsurprisingly, the intended criminalization of “threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour” was hailed by Iqbal Sacranie, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, as a “long overdue” measure. Sher Khan, chairman of the group’s public affairs committee, criticized opponents of the bill, and particularly Mr. Atkinson, for having created “a media frenzy by claiming that the proposed law will ban criticism of religious beliefs; it certainly will not.”

The bill was rejected by the Lords just before last spring’s general election when the government tried to get it through as part of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act. Prime Minister Tony Blair subsequently included the passage of the Bill into his party’s election manifesto, and that was used by Labour’s candidates as a means of attracting Muslim votes during the campaign. The Tories and the Liberal Democrats, along with many Labour peers, believe the proposed law would undermine freedom of speech. A broad coalition led by Lord Lester, the Lib-Dem peer, has introduced a number of amendments to the bill aimed at protecting freedom of speech. “It would lead to the worst possible result if this defective legislation were pushed through,” he said, “so we need to present amendments which would protect groups like the Muslims, but also safeguard freedom of expression.” ...

http://www.chroniclesmagazine.org/cgi-bin/newsviews.cgi/Islam/The_Racial_and_Reli.printer

Petronas

10-31-2005, 08:29 PM

Banned in the U.K.
By Rachel Ehrenfeld
FrontPageMagazine.com | October 26, 2005

I was prevented from attending a meeting last weekend that I organized in the U.K. on "How to Combat Terror Financing." Had I gone, I would have been in jeopardy due to British libel laws. I have been sued for libel in London by the Saudi billionaire Sheikh Khalid bin Mahfouz because my book, Funding Evil, documents how his charity, the Muwafaq Foundation, “transferred at least $3 million, on behalf of Khalid bin Mahfouz, to Usama bin Laden, and assisted al Qaeda fighters in Bosnia,” according to testimony of former National Security advisor Richard Clarke. Bin Mahfouz sued in London, because British libel laws guarantee that he could win without challenging the facts.

The British libel laws are so destructive that they affect writers and publications who never set foot in Britain and never published there. They are used effectively by Saudi billionaires who can afford the steep legal fees to silence successfully writers and publishers around the world who attempt to expose how the Saudis have funded and continue to fund the spread of Wahhabism, Islamist radicalism, and indoctrination that leads to global terrorism.

British libel laws are not the only tools that the Islamists use to silence their opponents. They exploit the laws that are designed to ensure freedom to subvert democracies throughout the world. And what they cannot achieve by exploiting the laws, they often achieve through intimidation and invoking political correctness.

Their success is demonstrated by Britain’s submission to Islamic will. These include the Dudley Council’s ban on all representations of pigs - “in the name of tolerance” - and the Tate Gallery’s cancellation of John Latham's “God Is Great," portraying Christian, Muslim, and Jewish holy-books, “because it could upset Muslims.” This submission is surprising in a people who stood up to the Nazis and did not bend under the Blitz. But now, the Queen knights a Muslim "community leader," Iqbal Sacranie, after he praises former Hamas leader Ahmed Yassin at his memorial service. In fact, Sacraine has also stated publicly, that "death is perhaps too easy" for Salman Rushdie.

This British submission did not help stop the July 7 bombings or the later bombing attempts. But even after the attacks, the Prime Minister appointed to the new anti–terror task force, which they call “the working group on tackling extremism,” Muslim advisers who are known to support Radical Islam, including Tariq Ramadan. Ramadan's U.S. visa was revoked last year, and he is believed to have connections to al Qaeda. Furthermore, last August, to enable Ramadan to speak at a gathering of Muslim youth in London, Scotland Yard contributed $15,000 of taxpayers money. Ramadan, who is also believed to have organized a meeting between Ayman al Zawahiri and Sheik Abdel Rahman currently teaches at St. Antony College, in Oxford. Another advisor to the Prime Minister’s task force, Inayat Bunglawala, was appointed despite his public praise of bin Laden as a “freedom fighter.”

This submissive attitude also leads the British to turn a blind eye to the sale of books like Mein Kampf and The Protocol of The Elders of Zion, which are printed in Egypt and Lebanon in Arabic and distributed in and from London to the rest of Europe. Clearly, the British legal system that banned my book seems to see nothing wrong with this anti-Semitic propaganda, even though this propaganda helps to create the climate that encourages Jihadist recruits from all over Europe to come to Britain to join the international brigade of Jihadis. From Britain, the Jihadis go on to fight British and American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Statements, new laws and banning terrorist organizations are important, but they are useless as long as Islamo-Fascism is allowed to flourish. As President Bush emphasized earlier this month, Islamo-Fascism cannot be eliminated by appeasement, or by dialogue, or negotiated solutions, as many falsely believe, especially in Europe. Indeed, without the political will to stop the direct and indirect financing of terrorism, no law or convention will stop it.

We should have tried to stop the spread of Wahhabism and Islamo–Fascism two decades ago. Our inaction, as much as their efforts, facilitated the funding of terrorism that has killed and maimed many thousands. In addition, Islamo-Facism has already infected tens of millions around the world with a hatred of democracy and freedom.

Although prevented from doing my job in the U.K., I’m challenging the funders of terrorism in the U.S. so as to defend my First Amendment rights. I have sued Khalid bin Mahfouz in the Southern District of New York.

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=19950

Petronas

11-05-2005, 07:33 PM

Family guilty of 'honour killing'
Friday, 4 November 2005, 16:29 GMT

A father and his two sons have been found guilty of murdering his daughter's boyfriend in an "honour killing" after she became pregnant. Arash Ghorbani-Zarin, 19, was found stabbed 46 times in a car in Rosehill, Oxford, on 20 November last year. The Iranian Muslim had been studying at Oxford Brookes University.

Chomir Ali, 44, was found guilty of ordering sons Mohammed Mujibar Rahman, 19, and Mamnoor Rahman, 16, to kill Mr Ghorbani-Zarin, at Oxford Crown Court. During the trial, the court heard the two sons killed Mr Ghorbani-Zarin due to the "shame and dishonour" brought on the family by his relationship with Manna Begum.

The pair met in 2003 through school friends, who described them as devoted to each other, with Miss Begum becoming pregnant in August 2004. But Miss Begum's father, a Bangladeshi-born waiter, had planned for her to have an arranged marriage. Her brother, Mujibar Rahman, was also furious at his sister's "blatant" defiance and had previously slapped her for refusing to end the relationship.

After the killing, the DNA of Mamnoor Rahman was found on a knife. The Rahman brothers' blood-stained clothing was also found in a plastic bag, which street sweepers saw being thrown into an Oxford allotment by their father, three days after the murder. In summing up the trial, which lasted four weeks, Mr Justice Gross said the Western-style relationship caused a "battle of wills" in Miss Begum's family, as she resisted pressure to conform.

The jury took four-and-a-half days to reach a decision and there were loud cheers in the court as the verdicts were read out.

Mr Justice Gross adjourned sentencing of all three defendants, while pre-sentence reports on the youngest defendant were prepared. Following the verdicts, Mr Ghorbani-Zarin's family said in a statement: "Our son was intelligent and loving and had a wonderful lifetime ahead of him. We miss him every second, every minute and every hour of every day. His death has crushed our family."

Det Ch Insp Steve Tolmie, of Thames Valley Police, said the murder was "a horrific, violent attack on an innocent young man with a lot to live for. No-one has the right to take away someone's life for whatever reason and people who choose to do this will be punished, as shown today."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/4407728.stm

Petronas

11-16-2005, 01:43 PM

Babar 'set to fight extradition'
Wednesday, 16 November 2005, 18:17 GMT

Babar Ahmad will appeal against his extradition to the US to face terror charges, say his family. Mr Ahmad, 31, a computer expert from Tooting, south London, is accused of running websites supporting terror and of urging Muslims to fight a holy war. His wife Maryam said her husband would be appealing in the High Court. Charles Clarke ordered his extradition after giving "full consideration" to representations made on behalf of UK-born Mr Ahmad, the Home Office said. But Mrs Ahmad said he would be appealing both against the home secretary's decision and the original decision in favour of extradition made by a District Court judge in May. She told BBC News 24 her husband should be tried in Britain, if at all.

"If the Americans were to provide the evidence and if he was to have a trial in this country it would be very easy for us to mount a defence in support of Babar to show that he isn't the individual they are pointing him out to be," she said. "We've seen where the Americans have put forward allegations against an individual and eventually when it's come to court the case has been thrown out." Mr Ahmad is being held in Woodhill Prison, Milton Keynes.

On a posting on his website he said: "This decision should only come as a surprise to those who thought that there was still justice for Muslims in Britain. I entrust my affairs to Allah and His Words from the Quran."

The Muslim Council of Britain said it was "very disappointed" in the extradition ruling and feared it could contribute to "further alienation" among Muslim youths. It questioned the fairness of the Extradition Treaty 2003 under which the US government does not have to prove to the UK that there is a prima facie case to answer. "If our government has any evidence of wrongdoing on the part of Babar Ahmad then he should be charged in this country and put on trial here," spokesman Inayat Bunglawala said.

But the Home Office said: "The government is fully committed to completing extradition cases relating to terrorist offences as quickly as possible." A spokesperson said the "positive effects of strict time limits" under the act had already been seen. "Furthermore, we have begun a consultation on how it may be possible to expedite future extradition cases involving terrorism."

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Mr Ahmad's family said: "In effect, this sends a message to British Muslims that there is no legal and democratic means to air your concerns. We held protests, wrote letters, lobbied MPs and compiled petitions of over 15,000 signatures... If the floodgates for extradition are allowed to be opened, it will be British Muslims that will be targeted - the very people the British government was hoping to win support from in the fight against terrorism."

In May, District Judge Timothy Workman, sitting at Bow Street magistrates' court, ruled Mr Ahmad could be extradited, and the case was sent to the home secretary for final approval. A Home Office spokesman said: "The home secretary has given full consideration to complex representations that have been made on Mr Ahmad's behalf, but is satisfied that the conditions for his extradition have been met."

In claims dating back to 1997, the US government has accused Mr Ahmad of "conspiring to support terrorism", saying he "sought, invited and solicited contributions" via websites and e-mails. The US Department of State has claimed that websites run by Mr Ahmad urged Muslims to use "every means at their disposal" to train for jihad, or holy war. The websites are said to call for support for terrorist causes in Afghanistan and Chechnya, as well as encouraging the transfer of money and useful equipment via the sites.

It is also alleged Mr Ahmad tried to set up a terrorist training camp in Arizona. His lawyers have said Mr Ahmad would be at risk of the death penalty if he was sent to the US and transferred to military jurisdiction.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4441448.stm

Petronas

11-18-2005, 01:02 AM

Algerian to be extradited from UK
Last Updated: Thursday, 17 November 2005, 10:51 GMT

An Algerian man, wanted in connection with a bombing on the Paris Metro in 1995, has lost a legal attempt to block extradition to France. Two High Court judges rejected Rachid Ramda's claim that moves to deport him were legally flawed. The 35-year-old is the UK's longest serving extradition prisoner. Mr Ramda is accused of helping to finance the Metro bombing, which killed eight people, and of organising and financing several other bombings. The Algerian has fought off deportation for 10 years. The legal battle has caused anger in France.

Mr Ramda faces 23 charges of financing and organising a bombing campaign in France between August and November 1995. On a separate extradition request, he is accused of being a conspirator in the bombing of the Saint Michel Metro station on 25 July 1995, in which eight people were killed and 87 injured. He is also alleged to be a financier of Algeria's outlawed Armed Islamic Group (GIA). The GIA, which fights the government in Algeria, is thought to be responsible for the 1995 bombing campaign.

In April, Home Secretary Charles Clarke made a fresh extradition order on the basis that Mr Ramda, who is being held at London's Belmarsh prison, would receive a fair trial. That was challenged by Mr Ramda's QC Edward Fitzgerald, who told the High Court the decision was "legally flawed". The High Court hearing in October, which led to Thursday's ruling by Lord Justice Keene and Mr Justice Poole, was told there was "a real risk of a flagrant denial of justice" in deporting Mr Ramda.

Upholding the home secretary's decision that extradition should go ahead, Lord Justice Keene said: "This court is not persuaded that the secretary of state failed in his decision of April 5, 2005 to exercise properly his powers to order the claimant's return to France." Mr Ramda's lawyers are now considering taking the case to the House of Lords.

In 2002, two High Court judges quashed an extradition order, signed by the then Home Secretary David Blunkett, and ordered the case be reconsidered. The judges had expressed concern that evidence against Mr Ramda came from co-defendant Boualem Bensaid, said by his lawyers to have been tortured during interrogation while in French custody. Altogether, there have been nine separate legal proceedings to extradite Mr Ramda.

Supporters of a campaign to block the Algerian's extradition say he could eventually deported from France to Algeria where, they claim, he could face execution.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4445222.stm

Petronas

11-18-2005, 08:48 PM

New Islamist group to launch this week in London
17/11/2005
By Mohammad Al-Shafey

Asharq al-Awsat, London- The founding of a new militant Islamist group will be announced at a press conference in Walthamstow, East London on Friday. Anjam Choudry a lawyer and the former leader of al Muhahjiroun, an extremist organization which disbanded itself in October 2004, told Asharq al Awsat on Wednesday he had invited the group’s 700 ex- members to unite under the banner of “Ahl al Sunnah and al Jamaa” (the community following the teachings of the Prophet.) Arab and foreign journalists are expected to attend the conference.

Choudry also expected several students of Omar Bakri Mohammad, the spiritual guide of the banned al Ghurabaa who currently lives in Beirut, to attend the launch. The new group “will concentrate on preaching and not jihad” (armed struggle), the lawyer indicated. It aims to unite British Muslims under one roof, away from more secular organizations. Bakri will be one of the religious figures consulted for their fatwas (religious edicts) but will not hold any other responsibilities.

Choudry, who was sent back by the Lebanese authorities with three other Islamists after he visited Bakri in Beirut earlier this month, indicated, “We will be part of the group Ahl al Sunna and al Jamaa which exists worldwide. Amongst our sheikhs are Omar Bakri, Abu Mohammed al Maqdisi [detained in Jordan], the Palestinian Islamist Abu Qatadah, [real name Omar Mahmoud Othman, currently in a London jail accused by the British authorities of being al Qaeda’s spiritual leader in Europe].”

Meanwhile, in a telephone conversation with Asharq al Awsat on Wednesday, Bakri revealed internal divisions amongst his students as Abd al Muid, a Pakistani Islamist and the former Amir (leader) of al Ghurabaa had refused to join the new organization. “Ahl al Sunna and the Jamaa are the victorious sect”, he said.

http://www.asharqalawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=2698

Petronas

11-26-2005, 01:41 AM

'Fifth 7/7 bomber' jailed
25/11/2005 19:36 - (SA)

London - A man who told a British newspaper that he was a fifth July 7 London bomber was jailed for four months on Friday for wasting police time. Imran Patel, 27, pleaded guilty at Leeds magistrate's court in northern England to making a false report to a weekly newspaper that he had information relevant to the investigation into the blasts, which killed 56 people, the four presumed bombers included.

The court heard that Patel's actions had wasted 4 070 hours of police time at a cost of about £60 000. He was arrested by anti-terrorist officers at his home in Dewsbury, south of Leeds, after the News of the World tabloid handed information over to the police. Three of the four men identified by police as the bombers hailed from the Leeds area.

http://www.news24.com/News24/World/Londonattacks/0,,2-10-1854_1840767,00.html

Petronas

11-27-2005, 07:17 PM

Man in court on terrorist charges
Saturday, 26 November 2005, 12:05 GMT

An Iraqi man has appeared in court charged under the Terrorism Act. Rauf Abdullah Mohammed, from Forest Gate, east London, is accused of recording information likely to be of use to people planning terrorist acts. The charge relates to an unknown date before 26 January and is understood not to be linked to the 7 July bombings or the alleged attempts on 21 July. The 25-year-old was remanded in custody at Belmarsh prison to appear before Bow Street Magistrates on 1 December. He was arrested in south-east London on Wednesday and will appear before Bow Street magistrates on Saturday. Police said he was charged on Friday afternoon with making "a record of information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism". Mr Mohammed was arrested in south-east London on Wednesday by officers from Scotland Yard's Anti Terrorist Branch.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4472158.stm

Petronas

11-28-2005, 11:43 AM

Giant mosque for 40,000 may be built at London Olympics
November 27, 2005

A MASSIVE mosque that will hold 40,000 worshippers is being proposed beside the Olympic complex in London to be opened in time for the 2012 Games. The project’s backers hope the mosque and its surrounding buildings would hold a total of 70,000 people, only 10,000 fewer than the Olympic stadium. Its futuristic design features wind turbines instead of the traditional minarets, while a translucent latticed roof would replace the domes seen on most mosques. The complex is designed to become the “Muslim quarter” for the Games, acting as a hub for Islamic competitors and spectators.

“It will be something never seen before in this country. It is a mosque for the future as part of the British landscape,” said Abdul Khalique, a senior member of Tablighi Jamaat, a worldwide Islamic missionary group that is proposing the mosque as its new UK headquarters.

Tablighi Jamaat has come under scrutiny from western security agencies since 9/11. Two years ago, according to The New York Times, a senior FBI anti-terrorism official claimed it was a recruiting ground for Al-Qaeda. British police investigated a report that Mohammad Sidique Khan, leader of the July 7 London bombers, had attended its present headquarters in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. In August, Bavaria expelled three members of the organisation on the grounds that it promoted Islamic extremism. ...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1892780,00.html

Petronas

12-01-2005, 10:44 AM

British police arrest man in probe into suspected terrorist plots
30 November 2005

LONDON - British police said on Wednesday they have arrested a man as part of an investigation into suspected plans to buy weapons for international terrorist attacks. The 28-year-old was detained on Tuesday morning near a service station off the M25 motorway in South Mimms, Hertfordshire, north west of London.

“The man has been arrested in connection with an ongoing enquiry into the suspected attempted procurement of weapons linked to international terrorism,” London’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement. “The arrest was made following an intelligence-led investigation involving police and the security service,” it added.

Armed officers challenged the man as he climbed out of a parked car on a road near to the South Mimms service station. No shots were fired, police said. The suspect was arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000 and taken to a central London police station for questioning. Officers are also searching residential addresses in the Waltham Forest and Newham areas of east London but have so far not found any weapons.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2005/November/theworld_November790.xml&section=theworld

Petronas

12-01-2005, 12:21 PM

I would have thought that on 7/7 the British had enough experience with radicalism being expressed on the underground. During WWII Sir Oswald Mosley was imprisoned and his British Union of Fascists dissolved, even though they had not engaged in any overt treasonous acts. Constable Beckley does not seem to know what being at war entails.

Worship closure plan criticised
Thursday, 1 December 2005, 08:27 GMT

Top police officers have criticised plans to allow the shutting down of places of worship such as mosques suspected of inciting extremism. In their response to proposals to give courts the power to close such premises, police warned there were better ways to deal with the problem. Assistant Chief Constable Rob Beckley of the Association of Chief Police Officers said it was a "blunt tool". "This proposal might be seen as an attack on religion," he said.

A consultation period on the plans, first mooted by Prime Minister Tony Blair in August, ended three weeks ago. In response ACC Beckley, who is responsible for Acpo's community relations, said the plan could be seen as specifically targeting Islam. "Being radical, being extreme in itself is not an offence," he said.

He said that if police had their suspicions about a particular mosque they would want to identify those responsible rather than close it down. Mr Beckley told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We would want to find out what was happening. "We would use different techniques to do that, policing techniques that are pretty tried and tested, because what we want to do is identify those who might be perpetrating terrorism and prevent them. "We would not just want to close the place." Under the plans, police could seek a court order for the temporary closure of a place of worship if extremist behaviour or terrorist activity was believed to be taking place.

The government is also considering banning the radical Muslim group Hizb-ut-Tahrir. ACC Beckley told Today: "They proclaim themselves to be against violence - what we need to do is test that but not just automatically ban them because there are some radicals within their organisation. There are individuals who we might be wanting to take action against or to look at very closely." He added: "Extremism and radicalism, where it is not an offence - we don't want to drive that underground."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4487108.stm

Petronas

12-11-2005, 01:06 PM

No indication of terrorism at this point. If it could be heard in France and the netherlands, it must have been quite a bang!

Images of smoke and blasts
Sunday, 11 December 2005, 17:29 GMT

A fire is continuing to blaze at a fuel depot in Hertfordshire after a series of large explosions sent black smoke drifting across south-east England. Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has visited the scene of the blasts which injured 43 people, two seriously.

A fire chief described the incident at the Buncefield fuel depot near Hemel Hempstead, after 0600 GMT, as possibly the largest in peacetime Europe. The fire, which police believe was an accident, could burn for another day. About 2,000 people living near the site have been evacuated, while police have advised others to keep their windows and doors closed because of fumes. Thick clouds of smoke are continuing to spread to the south-east and south-west of the site. One person is in Watford General Hospital in intensive care with respiratory problems. Another person is in Hemel Hempstead Hospital being kept under observation. The other 41 people were treated for minor injuries and discharged. Witnesses said another two explosions followed the first at 0626 GMT and 0627 GMT at the site near junction 8 of the M1. In total, 20 petrol tanks were involved, each said to hold three million gallons of fuel.

A police investigation into the incident has begun, including investigations by anti-terrorist police. But Chief Con Whiteley said there was "nothing to suggest anything other than an accident". On his visit to the site Mr Prescott praised the response and offered government help but was told the emergency services were able to cope. Hertfordshire's Chief Fire Officer Roy Wilsher said: "This is possibly the largest incident of its kind in peacetime Europe."

Fire chiefs are consulting oil industry experts about using millions of litres of foam to quell the blaze. But Mr Wilsher said they needed to know they had enough foam before they began.

Meanwhile samples of smoke are being taken to determine the long term effects of exposure, if any, according to Dr Jane Halpin, director of Hertfordshire Public Health. She said: "However, what I would restate is that those people who are most at risk are those people who have inhaled the smoke."

Tanker driver Paul Turner said he ran for his life after the explosion lifted him off his feet. "I just saw this great big ball of fire come up from behind the building. It was about 50 metres wide," he told the BBC. "Then there was the loudest explosion I have ever heard in my life. I got up, turned around and ran to my car and sped out of there as fast as I could." Many houses have been damaged, with some reporting feeling effects from the explosion as far away as Oxfordshire - while it was heard in a number of counties and even France and the Netherlands. Eye witnesses reported buckled front doors, cracked walls and blown-out windows.

Of the 2,000 people evacuated 290 people have gone to a leisure centre while 50 others have been offered bed and breakfast accommodation. The M1 is closed both ways between junctions 6a and 12 and may remain shut on Monday. Schools in and around Hemel Hempstead are likely to be closed on Monday, said police. The M10 motorway is closed in both directions between junction 1 and junction 7 as well as some arterial roads in Hemel Hempstead. Motorists have been told not to go "anywhere near the M1 from the M25 upwards". At Heathrow airport some flights were forced to delay landing because of smoke, but Luton airport was operating as usual.

The Buncefield depot is a major distribution terminal operated by Total and part-owned by Texaco, storing oil, petrol as well as kerosene which supplies airports across the region, including Heathrow and Luton. The country's fifth largest fuel distribution depot, it is also used by BP, Shell and British Pipeline. Police said there was no indication the explosion would cause fuel shortages and warned against panic-buying. A spokesman for Total said: "We are doing everything we can to support the emergency services and to bring the situation under control." A spokesman for the Department for Trade and Industry said it was too early to say what the effect would be on fuel supply but oil companies were getting oil from other parts of the south east and across the UK. A spokesman for the Health and Safety Executive said it would be investigating the incident.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4517962.stm

Petronas

12-16-2005, 11:55 PM

Britain Won't Target Extremist Mosques
Thursday, December 15, 2005; 2:32 PM

LONDON -- The British government Thursday dropped a key part of the anti-terrorism legislation proposed after the deadly July 7 suicide bombings on London's transit system, abandoning its effort to let police shut down extremist mosques. The plan, introduced a month after four suspected suicide bombers killed 52 bus and Underground passengers, had been criticized by police and religious organizations. Home Secretary Charles Clarke said in a written statement to the House of Commons that he was dropping the proposal "although we will keep the matter under review."

The proposal would have given police powers to temporarily close places of worship being used by extremists. The trustee or owner would then be served with an order to halt radical activity. The Home Office spokesman said 66 people and organizations had responded to a consultation on the proposal, and most were opposed.

The Association of Chief Police Officers also opposed the idea, saying it risked alienating ordinary Muslims and driving extremism underground. The Rev. Graham Sparkes of the Baptist Union of Great Britain said Baptists had suffered persecution and imprisonment in the past in their efforts to "secure control over what was preached, where it could be preached, and who could preach." "We would be very sensitive toward any proposals that put these hard won freedoms under threat," Sparkes said in a statement to the government.

Sir Iqbal Sacranie, general secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain, said mosques were being branded wrongly "as incubators of violent extremism, while the social reality is that they serve as centers of moderation." "The bombers were indoctrinated by a subculture outside the mosque," Sacranie said.

The proposal had been part of the government's anti-terrorist proposals introduced after the July 7 transit attacks in London, in which four suspected suicide bombers killed 52 bus and Underground passengers.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/15/AR2005121500905.html

Petronas

12-17-2005, 12:55 AM

British intelligence ruled London bombers were not a threat: report
17 December 2005

LONDON - Two of the four presumed suicide bombers who killed 52 commuters in the July 7 London attacks were scrutinized by British intelligence last year but were not considered a threat, a newspaper reported on Saturday. Shahzad Tanweer, 22, assumed to have detonated a rucksack bomb on a subway train, is believed to have been indirectly linked to an alleged plot to build a bomb in 2004, the Independent said, without identifying sources. Tanweer is thought to have been the subject of a routine assessment by MI5, Britain’s domestic intelligence agency, the paper said. No further action was taken after it was decided that he was on the periphery of any plotting and that there were far more significant suspects to investigate, it added.

The paper noted that previous reports had also named the suspected mastermind of the attacks, Mohammad Sidique Khan, 30, as being known to security services.

The newspaper said the decision by MI5 to disregard two of the men who would later become bombers was based on the assessment that they were not on the intelligence “radar” and only had an indirect link -- via an associate of the gang under investigation -- to the main targets. Tanweer and Khan, along with Jermaine Lindsay and Hasib Hussain, all Muslim British nationals, were named by police as being behind near-simultaneous suicide attacks on three subway trains and a bus in London on July 7.

In the immediate aftermath of bombings it was thought that the four men were so-called “clean skins”, with no previously known links to terrorism. Tanweer and Khan spent three months in Pakistan before returning to Britain in February this year. It is thought they could have been given terrorist training in religious schools in Pakistan, the newspaper said.

The disclosure that a second of the four bombers had come to the attention of MI5 is likely to increase pressure for a public inquiry into the London attacks and any failures in intelligence, the newspaper added. The Independent said it learned that there were so many new terrorist suspects coming to the attention of the security agencies and anti-terrorist police that there are not enough officers to investigate them all.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2005/December/theworld_December480.xml&section=theworld

Petronas

12-20-2005, 11:25 AM

British police arrest a 23-year old man at Gatwick airport on his return from Ethiopia
December 19, 2005, 11:06 AM (GMT+02:00)

He is suspected of providing logistical support for the failed July 21 bombings of London transport.

http://www.debka.com/

Petronas

12-20-2005, 12:47 PM

'Britishness test' for imams is abandoned
December 20, 2005

PLANS to force foreign-born imams to take a “Britishness test” were scrapped yesterday in the second climbdown in less than a week on proposals to tighten scrutiny of mosques. The Home Office dropped the idea after opposition from Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs. Five days ago Tony Blair’s plan to give police the power to close mosques suspected of having extremist links was ditched after opposition from Muslim leaders and the police.

The latest retreat came after protests from Muslim leaders and other faiths who objected to a Britishness test being made part of immigration laws. An estimated 85 per cent of the 2,000 imams working in the UK are foreign-born. The climbdown comes despite longstanding concern from senior ministers and the security services that radical imams entering the country from Pakistan and the Middle East are driving young British Muslims to extremists.

Under the proposal all foreign-born ministers of religion would have had to sit a test on Britishness after being in the country for two years. The aim was to ensure that they understood the multicultural society in which they preached and provided pastoral care to their communities. It was also intended to answer concern within the Muslim community that some foreign-born imams had little concept of the world in which young British-born Muslims had grown up or the problems they faced.

But yesterday Tony McNulty, the Immigration Minister, announced that the idea first put forward by David Blunkett when he was Home Secretary had been ditched. Mr McNulty told a press conference at the Home Office that he had bowed to fears from all faith communities over the proposed test on life in Britain. He said they had all expressed concern that foreign-born preachers would face tougher immigration requirements than other migrants if they were tested on life in Britain after living in the UK for two years. “There was concern that somehow ministers of religion were being treated differently,” he said. “We have listened to that.” He said there was no compelling reason to treat foreign- born ministers of religion differently from others seeking to stay in the UK. Instead foreign-born ministers of religion will only take a test on life in Britain, including its constitution, legal system, customs and religious life, if they apply to settle after four years or seek citizenship after being in the country for five years.

The original proposals were put forward before the July 7 terror attacks but amid concern in the Government that some imams could speak little English and had hardly any knowledge of Western societies. A Home Office consultation document put forward the testing regime because of the “potential influence which ministers of religion can — because of the respected position which they occupy and through the preaching and pastoral functions they may fulfil — exert among their congregation”. Government ministers wanted imams to show an understanding of the religious needs of those from their own faith who have been brought up in the UK. It was also proposed that foreign-born preachers would have to produce evidence that they had taken part in the civic life of the commun-ity including mixing with other faiths as part of a drive to improve community cohesion and end ghettoisation.

The Home Office said it hoped that a tougher English language test for foreign-born religious leaders would automatically mean they had a knowledge of British life. An official said: “If someone has to take a test showing showing they are a confident user of English, both written and spoken, they will have inevitably learnt about life in Britain. They will have read newspapers and listened to the BBC.” Inayat Bunglawala, a spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain, said last night: “I do not understand why the Government has dropped this plan. “We welcomed the idea. We thought it made sense that people coming here to preach should have a good grasp of our country’s history.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,22989-1943887,00.html

Petronas

12-23-2005, 03:37 PM

Muslim planned revenge attack on hero soldier
23/12/2005

A Muslim man who planned to "hunt down" and kill a soldier who had won the Military Cross in Iraq was yesterday found guilty of terrorism offences. Abu Bakr Mansha from Thamesmead, south London, was found with a balaclava and a blank-firing pistol which was being converted for live rounds when his flat was raided by police.

Alongside inflammatory videos of rebels attacking troops in Iraq was a newspaper article describing the exploits of Cpl Mark Byles, who was later decorated with the Military Cross. Police also found a piece of paper with Cpl Byles's former address on it and indentations on note paper requesting information on a rich Jewish man and the Hindu owner of a cash and carry business. David Cocks, QC, prosecuting, told the jury at Southwark Crown Court, south London: "In their case, it is nothing to do with harm they may have done to the Muslim community. It was because of their religious beliefs."

Cpl Byles, of 1 Bn, Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, led a bayonet charge after his comrades were ambushed in Al Amarah in May last year. A paragraph in the article had been circled which said Cpl Byles "reckons he killed between 15 and 20 insurgents". The article went on to describe him rifle-butting, punching and kicking rebels in hand-to-hand combat. The court was told that the soldier was subsequently awarded the Military Cross for both "immense professionalism under fire" and bravery in leading an assault on an enemy position.

A number of DVDs were recovered from Mansha's flat which included Arabic chanting that called for Muslims to take part in jihad and martyrdom following the allied attack on the Iraqi city of Fallujah. Some featured the al-Qa'eda leader Osama bin Laden, while one depicted the beheading of the British hostage Ken Bigley.

Mr Cocks said the material was "extremely distasteful and virulent", and clearly indicated the "nature of the interests of this defendant and other people who used that flat". Mr Cocks said: "He had the piece of paper with Cpl Byles's information on in his possession either to kill him or to do him really serious injury to exact revenge for what the corporal had achieved in Iraq."

Mansha, 21, said most of the items found in his apartment were connected with research he was helping a journalist friend with. He told jurors he was neither a strict Muslim nor had any strong political views and said he had bought the pistol for £25 from a market stall as a souvenir.

But the jury at Southwark Crown Court convicted him on a majority of 10 to two under the Terrorism Act which said the information in his possession was "likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism". Judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith adjourned the case until Jan 26 for sentencing. Mansha could face up to 10 years in prison.

http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/12/23/nrevenge23.xml

Petronas

12-26-2005, 11:09 PM

Mayor: Terrorists Tried to Attack London
December 26, 2005 5:43 PM EST

LONDON - Terrorists tried to attack London eight times between the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States and last July 7, when suicide bombers killed dozens on the city's transport system, London's mayor said Monday. Ken Livingstone said there had been two attempted attacks since July 7, including a failed attack on the transport network on July 21.

Livingstone did not provide details of the attempted attacks, but said those who threaten London comprise small groups of disaffected people who are fairly disorganized. He dismissed suggestions by some government ministers and police chiefs that the city is the target of a "great organized international conspiracy."

"Largely what you're talking about is fairly disorganized and small groups of disaffected people," Livingstone said in an interview on British Broadcasting Corp. radio. "This not a great organized international conspiracy with orders flowing down the chain."

Authorities say the July 7 bombings were carried out by three British men of Pakistani descent and a Jamaican-born convert to Islam. Fifty-six were killed, including the suspected bombers. Sixteen people have been charged in connection with the July 21 plot to attack three subway trains and a double-decker bus, which failed when the bombs did not detonate.

http://enews.earthlink.net/article/int?guid=20051226/43af78d0_3ca6_1552620051226-1810337369

Petronas

12-29-2005, 03:06 PM

'Appalling' lapse leaves big airports unguarded
December 29, 2005

AN URGENT investigation has been ordered into security at Britain’s airports after the disclosure that many of the busiest passenger terminals are being left without any police protection. Some of the busiest regional airports in England and Wales have no 24-hour police cover in what security experts describe as “an appalling lapse”. Airports such as Bristol, Leeds/Bradford and Teesside are often left unguarded because they are not included in a high-priority list, which ministers admit is 40 years out of date and takes no account of passenger growth.

Senior security officials claim that the lapse is another example of police being left short of money and manpower at a time when terrorists are believed to be planning further attacks on Britain. Leading figures at the centre of the fight against terrorism have told The Times that the Government has reneged on pledges to pay for more frontline police officers.

Security at Britain’s airports was supposed to have been overhauled after the September 11 attacks in the United States. But a wide-ranging review, expected to change the way that police protect passenger airports, will not be announced by Alistair Darling, the Transport Secretary, until next month. This means that airports will face bigger bills and passengers are likely to be charged extra to pay for more round-the-clock patrols at all regional and provincial airports. The introduction of low-cost airlines has seen a massive rise in passenger numbers in and out of the UK. Under the present system, main airports are “designated” by the Government and have to have a policing plan formally drawn up between local police and airport managers. The bill is then split between the police authority and the airport.

Only nine are designated: Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Prestwick. Last night police admitted that there was no 24-hour coverage at Bristol, Leeds/Bradford and Teeside. Northumbria Police refused to comment on security at Newcastle. Avon and Somerset police said that Bristol, which handles 5 million passengers a year, relied on officers on call from the local division in North Somerset.

Yesterday a spokesman for the force said that coverage “would be staffed up in certain circumstances if there were a terrorist threat”. West Yorkshire said that the coverage at Leeds/Bradford airport, which now handles 2.6 million passengers a year, was also based on manpower from the local police division. Merseyside and Hampshire police did not provide The Times with details of cover for Liverpool John Lennon and Southampton. However, their entries in an official police guide mention no separate bases at the airports or for Bournemouth or Cardiff airports. A spokesman for Luton airport, which has 9 million passengers a year, said that there was a permanent police base and constant cover. The cost is put at £400,000 a year. It is hoped that the review, which will start next month, will be completed by Easter.

Patrick Mercer, the Conservative Homeland Security spokesman, condemned yesterday what he described as a shameful security lapse. “This demonstrates what a sham the Government’s security policy is,” he said. “Everything we have had so far is just gesture security without any real concrete measures to defend us at our most vulnerable points of entry.” Chris Yates, an aviation security analyst for Jane’s Information Group, said: “We do need to look at policing arrangements for some of these smaller airports because of the explosive growth they are having now.”

Intelligence services who shadow suspected militants say that they are just as likely to use regional airports as Heathrow.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1961904,00.html

Petronas

01-03-2006, 12:21 PM

London bombs cost just hundreds
Tuesday, 3 January 2006, 00:00 GMT

An investigation by the BBC World Service into the cost of the London bombings last July has revealed that they cost no more than a few hundred pounds to carry out. As soon as Scotland Yard established the identities of the four men responsible for the London bombings on 7 July, they began investigating the financing of the attacks. Officers now believe that Mohammad Sidique Khan, who worked as a teaching assistant, was the principal backer of the attacks and that he gave money to the other men to buy some of the materials. The attacks by four suicide bombers on three Tube trains and a bus killed 52 people and injured hundreds. Detectives also discovered that the men had prepared for their own deaths - they paid off some of their debts and at least one bomber is understood to have written a will.

Further investigations allowed police to put a price on the cost of executing the attacks - no more than several hundred pounds. Loretta Napoleoni, an economist and expert on terrorist financing, told Dirty Money on the BBC World Service that the figure was part of a pattern. "If you look at 9/11, which cost only $500,000 to execute, and then you look at all the subsequent attacks that have taken place - going from Bali to Istanbul to Madrid to London - we actually see that the cost of the attacks is decreasing exponentially."

Still, the figure now revealed for the cost of the London bombings is very low. The Madrid bombings - another attack on the transport infrastructure of a major European city - are estimated to have cost $10,000, approximately 10 times the cost of the London bombings.

Within days of the attacks, Chancellor Gordon Brown went to Brussels for a meeting of EU finance ministers to urge them to cooperate more closely to stop the financing of terrorism. But the fact that London was bombed for such a cheap figure - and that the money was raised legitimately - highlights the problems that the authorities have in tackling terrorist financing.

Douglas Greenburg, who studied the financing of attacks on New York and Washington as part of the 9/11 commission, told Dirty Money: "If you have someone who is working and depositing their pay cheques into the bank, and periodically withdrawing money and at night buying components for a bomb, constructing a bomb in their basement, what's the bank going to do about that?"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4576346.stm

Petronas

01-11-2006, 07:30 PM

This is a few months old, but I thought it was interesting enough to merit posting. Note the reference to the Global Islamic Media Front.

British Muslim group declares new jihad
10.19.05, 18:15

A declaration of war on Britain and the West is continuing to be issued by British Muslims in the United Kingdom, as the pro-jihad message of Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad, recently banned from Britain, is echoed by his followers who have remained behind. Bakri, who is now based in Beirut, once headed the al-Muhajiroun group, linked to the 2003 terror attack on the Mike’s Place Bar in Tel Aviv. The suicide bomber behind that attack was a British Muslim. Using internet sermons, recordings, videos and documents, followers of Bakri, who say they are in touch with the Lebanon-based preacher, call on British Muslims to join al-Qaeda and to carry out acts of terrorism.

Ynetnews has monitored late night chat room sessions on the Paltalk chat network, used by Bakri six months ago to declare war on Britain. “We’ve always had these two camps,” said the chat room’s administrator, “Mizaan,” in the early hours of Tuesday morning, in a room called “The Muslims in the UK.”

"9/11' was the best thing that happened to the Muslims" - message in the chat room

Mizaan, who told listeners “that is my real name,” said: “There is the camp of Islam and the camp of Kuffar (non-Muslim). Today we still have these two camps. And today there is the camp of Islam behind Sheikh Osama Bin Laden, the emir (leader) of jihad today, and we have the camp of kuffar led by George Bush with his cross. So yes we are two distinct groups, and we should never stand with the kuffar.”

“Islam is better than everything and it will rule over the whole world, whether the kuffar likes it or not,” declared Mizaan.

“We should, all of us, glorify the terrorism. And we should incite religious hatred. Don’t worry… it’s not illegal for us to say that mujahadin (jihad fighters) on 9/11, were the magnificent 19, and it’s not illegal for us to say that Mohammad Sidique Khan (the suicide bomber who blew himself up in London) and the four on 7/7 (London attacks), that they were the fantastic four – now we can say so without any worry.”

“We will always glorify killing the kuffar in the name of Allah. To raid the kuffar in the name of Allah. Even if some women and children are caught in the raid by accident. They are part of them, it is not your fault,” said Mizaan. “The kuffar wants to force their own homosexuality on the Muslims. The mujahadin have every right to hit back. So don’t be surprised if the mujahadin do another 7/7, and another 9/11,” he said.

“In fact, we should give them another magnificent day in history. Another fantastic four (the four London suicide bombers). We should hit them time after time, day after day, every single week, every single month, every single year, we should hit them from every side, from the left and the right. From the planes above them, and the trains below them, we should hit them every way we can. Even if it’s just a man kuffar, if your target kills him, even if 20 women among them are killed by accident on the way, it is no problem. And that is what happened with the shahada (martyrs) when they went to raid,” said Mizaan. “So don’t think what happened on 7/7 or 9/11 was something new, no, that’s the Sunnah (sayings and actions of Muhammad). There’s never been jihad without casualties.”

A user in the room, “veiled flower,” eerily asked what a fiancé of a “mujahadin” should do if he was preparing to martyr himself. She was told by the speaker to encourage him as much as possible in order to assure herself “a place in jenna (heaven).” Meanwhile, a recently reactivated website, al-Ghurabbaa, which has a UK domain web address, carries sermons given by Omar Bakri.

“The martyrdom operations in Palestine are so beautiful,” said Bakri in one recording available on the site. “Let your death occur in the battlefield, this is the best way to die,” he said. “If you make yourself really available in jihad… Allah will accept you as shaheed (martyr) inshalla (with God’s help). It is very important for us to remember, especially for those of us that are youth… whoever himself went to jihad, jenna (heaven) for him is inevitable.”

A document on the website entitled “the permissibility of self sacrifice operations” provides religious justification for suicide bomb attacks, stating that “for definite the one who wants to seek to be killed, must do an operation, to leave the mark - of the dead bodies, the defeated enemies. Whether your body is one piece or many, or the enemy's bodies are one piece or many. In a martyrdom operation, it is not possible that he should return unscathed, it is necessary that he will be harmed and will target to be killed in the operation,” reads the statement.

Another document tells readers that “terrorism is a part of Islam.” It declares that “There is no such thing as an ‘innocent’ kafir, innocence is only applicable for the Muslims; do not say ‘innocent’ for the kafir.”

A professionally prepared video from the website defines the term ‘ghurabbaa’ as “strangers” who left their societies to wage jihad, and says modern ghurabaa are al-Qaeda terrorists. “Go with them and join them as Allah has commanded,” says a message on the video, before showing images of the 9/11 terror attacks, and Osama Bin Laden, accompanied by sounds of machine gun fire and religious chanting.

Images of kidnapped hostages in Iraq who are later beheaded are also shown. “Oh Muslims, be with the terrorists!” exclaims the video, which ends with the question: “Will you be the ghurabbaa of the future?”

“I still study with Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad. He used to be in the UK with us, we used to study with him as much as we could. And inshalla (with God’s help) he’s my only sheikh,” said Mizaan. “He is doing very well in Lebanon,” he added.

Meanwhile, a new threat to European countries from the international jihad movement has also appeared on a website which frequently displays Islamist videos and declarations, infovlad.net.

One video, made by the "Global Islamic Media Front," which is al-Qaeda's propaganda wing, has recently appeared on the site displaying the British Isles engulfed in flames. "British citizens have to take the decision now," reads a message against the background of images of British forces in Iraq.

Infovlad.net, which previously posted threats by a jihad group to attack Sweden, has now put up posters by an unknown group, "The Glory Brigades in Northern Europe," which shows a bloodied map of Denmark and a caption that reads: "Death will visit Denmark." Images of men with machine guns and explosive devices are seen next to a map of Denmark. Another poster warns that "the Mujahadin have numerous targets in Denmark," and displays images of trains and buildings in the Scandinavian country, alongside a photograph of explosives devices.

"Very soon you will regret this," reads a caption, possibly referring to a Danish newspaper's request to readers to send in drawings of Islam's prophet, Muhammad, a move that has infuriated Danish Muslims and prompted large demonstrations. The 'Glory Brigades' also threatened the British capital in a jihad poster that reads: "New York, Madrid, London now it’s your turn. Target: London."

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/1,7340,L-3156809,00.html

Petronas

01-11-2006, 07:32 PM

Radical cleric faces terror trial
January 09, 2006

RADICAL cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri goes on trial in London today on 16 charges of stirring up racial hatred and urging the killing of non-Muslims. Hamza, who is also wanted by the US, will be the most high-profile figure to be tried in Britain charged with such offences since the September 11 attacks on Washington and New York. The Egyptian-born cleric faces 10 charges of using public meetings to incite his followers to kill non-Muslims. Four of the charges say he urged the killing of Jews. He is also accused of using threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour with intent to stir up racial hatred, one charge of possessing threatening, abusive or insulting sound recordings, and one charge under anti-terrorism laws. If found guilty, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Hamza, usually pictured with a steel hook on his right arm after losing both hands and an eye in Afghanistan fighting Soviet forces, has long been a target of Britain's tabloid newspapers. US authorities, who have requested the extradition of the former nightclub security guard on 11 charges, have had their case put on hold until the British trial at the Old Bailey in London is completed. It is expected to last three weeks.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,17767682-401,00.html

Petronas

01-11-2006, 07:46 PM

Sarwar: police too scared of Asian gangs
January 08, 2006

THE Macpherson report into the murder of Stephen Lawrence has led to a politically correct backlash with police afraid to investigate black and Asian crime for fear of being accused of racism, according to one of Britain’s most prominent Muslim MPs.

Mohammad Sarwar, the Labour MP for Glasgow Central, said some communities are being terrorised by black and Asian gangs, but, in many cases, police have failed to act. The reluctance of police to tackle ethnic criminals has allowed gangs to operate with impunity in areas of Scotland, the north of England and parts of London. ...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2090-1975682_1,00.html

NYer

01-13-2006, 07:51 AM

Captain Hook wows 'em at Old Bailey. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/01/13/nhamz13.xml)

NYer

01-22-2006, 01:01 PM

Abu Hamza's Defense: It's all right from the Koran (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,174-2001006,00.html)

COPIES of the Koran were handed to the jurors in the Abu Hamza trial yesterday as his defence argued that some of the cleric’s “offensive” statements were drawn directly from Islam’s holy book.

Edward Fitzgerald, QC, for the defence, said that Abu Hamza’s interpretation of the Koran was that it imposed an obligation on Muslims to do jihad and fight in the defence of their religion. He said that the Crown case against the former imam of Finsbury Park Mosque was “simplistic in the extreme”.

He added: “It is said he was preaching murder, but he was actually preaching from the Koran itself.”

Charles Johson terms this: The Absurd Dead End of Multiculturalism. (http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=18900&only)

NYer

02-07-2006, 08:27 AM

British Jury Convicts Abu Hamza. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060207/ap_on_re_eu/britain_radical_cleric;_ylt=AhkRogLYnlcV5rR0Yh6w4P 9vaA8F;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--)

A British jury convicted radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri on Tuesday of fomenting racial hatred and inciting his followers to kill non-Muslims.

Al-Masri, 47, the former imam at London's Finsbury Park mosque, also was convicted of possessing a terrorist document and threatening or abusive recordings. Al-Masri, Britain's best-known Islamist orator, could receive a maximum sentence of life in prison.

NYer

02-07-2006, 02:01 PM

Terrorist camps may exist in The UK. (http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/2/8/worldupdates/2006-02-07T211937Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_-235636-1&sec=Worldupdates)

Police say they uncovered evidence of terrorist training camps in Britain after raiding Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri's north London mosque, which they believe was a global magnet for Islamic militants.

Police said they have had evidence of the camps for years, but it could not be disclosed until Tuesday after the end of a trial at which the cleric was convicted of 11 charges, including soliciting murder and possessing a terrorist training manual.

Petronas

02-20-2006, 01:22 PM

Fanatics tell Muslim singer: We'll kill you
19 February 2006

A Muslim pop singer has been forced to hire bodyguards to protect her during a visit to Britain next month after she received a string of death threats from religious extremists. US-based Deeyah is due in London next month to promote a new single and video, released tomorrow. But the track "What Will It Be?" has already outraged hardline Islamists here as it promotes women's rights. Her performances with a clutch of male dancers and revealing outfits have also deeply offended many Muslims. In one scene in her latest video, the singer drops a burqa covering her body to reveal a bikini.

That has attracted vitriol from some quarters. The 28-year-old singer claims that in the past she has been spat upon in the street and told that her family would be in danger if she did not tone down her work. The situation is now so bad that Deeyah feels she cannot visit Britain without protection. "I can no longer walk around without specially assigned bodyguards," she told The Independent on Sunday. "I would be lying if I said abuse from religious fanatics didn't upset or scare me."

Deeyah was originally a singer of classical Indian music and lived in the UK until just over a year ago. But she claims to have been shocked by the reaction to her shift to pop music accompanied by raunchy videos. "I had no plan to court controversy or anger people in my community. I wanted to make people think and confront my own fears as a Muslim woman," she said. Soon, though, she was dubbed "the Muslim Madonna". And then came hate mail and abuse from extremists. "I have been on the verge of a breakdown. Middle-aged men have spat at me in the street and I have had people phone me and tell me they were going to cut me up into pieces. I became this figure of hate simply because of what I do and wear."

Despite moving to Atlanta last year, a UK-based campaign against her has continued. Her website has been plagued by aggressive bloggers, and threatening calls pour in. Despite this, Deeyah, who was born in Norway of Iranian and Pakistani parentage, remains keen to return to Britain. "I miss London," she said, adding that she wanted to inspire British Muslim women. "I receive letters and emails from women saying I am doing a good job. Putting my life at risk no longer bothers me. That so many women - Muslim women included - are abused by people in their own religion and communities does." ...

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article346376.ece

NYer

02-21-2006, 09:00 AM

http://i1.tinypic.com/o5ap3c.gif

Petronas

02-27-2006, 10:58 PM

Muslims who want sharia law 'should leave'
Monday February 27, 2006

Muslims who wish to live under a system of sharia law should leave Britain, the chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality suggested yesterday. Speaking in the wake of demonstrations against Danish cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad, Sir Trevor Phillips said those living in the UK had to accept that British values include a commitment to freedom of speech, even if that means offending people.

"What some minorities have to accept is that there are certain central things we all agree about, which are about the way we treat each other - that we have an attachment to democracy, that we sort things out by voting not by violence and intimidation, that we tolerate things that we don't like," he told ITV1's Jonathan Dimbleby programme. "Short of people menacing and threatening each other, we have freedom of expression. We allow people to offend each other."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,,1718579,00.html

Petronas

03-05-2006, 10:36 AM

MP Short in banned group row
Mar 2 2006

Clare Short was under fire again yesterday after she invited an "extremist" Muslim group into the Commons. The Birmingham MP hosted a meeting for Hizb utTahrir, which Tony Blair has announced is to be banned under anti-terror laws.

Fellow Birmingham MP Khalid Mahmood (Lab Perry Barr), one of the few Muslims in Parliament, said her decision was "hugely hurtful" to ordinary Muslims. He said: "Mainstream Muslims find it very difficult to get their voices heard. The media focuses on extremists. Now Clare Short is highlighting this extreme group and inviting them into Parliament as if they are representative of Muslims as a whole."

The group is already banned in Germany, Holland and Russia, and has been banned from university campuses in Britain. Former Cabinet Minister Ms Short, MP for Ladywood in Birmingham, has written to colleagues inviting them to the meeting and claiming the organisation "explicitly rejects the use of violence". She said in a letter to MPs: "Hizb ut-Tahrir have been approaching parliamentarians to explain who they are and what they believe."

A spokeswoman for Ms Short said: "She has simply facilitated this meeting, so that parliamentarians can decide for themselves whether or not this organisation should be banned. She holds no brief for them at all. But she believes it is only right that parliamentarians are able to discuss such a serious decision and decide together."

Mr Mahmood said: "To say these people are now seen as representatives of the Muslim community in Parliament is hugely hurtful to the mainstream of the Muslim community. What we need to do is to invite some of the real representatives from the Muslim community, who are struggling to get their voices heard, to speak at this sort of level. What Clare is doing, by promoting people on the fringes, doesn't help. Furthermore, this group has never advocated voting - it tells people not to vote. So why is a group that opposes the democratic process invited to the centre of democracy? Some parents have seen their children taken in by this cult, which is what it is, and removed from their families. This has been an issue for ten years or so."

Ms Short was also criticised by gay rights campaigner and former Labour parliamentary candidate Peter Tatchell, who said Hizb ut-Tahrir had sent him death threats. In an open letter, he said he read with alarm "that you are hosting a meeting of the misogynistic, homophobic and anti-Semitic Muslim fundamentalist group, Hizb utTahrir, at the House of Commons." He went on: "If this is true, I am very surprised. Perhaps you are not aware of the true nature of this group, and its anti-democratic and anti-humanitarian goals?" Mr Tatchell said he had suffered death threats from members of the group in the early to mid 1990s.

Ms Short is known for her outspoken views. In one inter-view two years ago, she condemned terrorist violence as "profoundly, morally wrong" but said al Qaida's anger was justified. She resigned as International Development Secretary in 2003, following the Iraq war.

http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100localnews/tm_objectid=16763626&method=full&siteid=50002&headline=mp-short-in-banned-group-row-name_page.html

Petronas

03-06-2006, 11:15 AM

Four men held after terror raid
Monday, 6 March 2006, 13:41 GMT

Four men are being questioned on suspicion of committing terror offences after a police raid in West Yorkshire. Metropolitan Police anti-terror officers arrested the men following the operation at University of Bradford halls of residence on Friday. A police spokeswoman said three of the men - two aged 18 and one aged 19 - are being held in London. The fourth, aged 19, is being held in West Yorkshire. The arrests were not in connection with last July's London bombings, she said.

West Yorkshire Police assisted in the raid, which took place at 2300 GMT. The Scotland Yard spokeswoman said the four were arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism under the Terrorism Act 2000. A university spokesman said they were all thought to be students, but did not disclose their nationalities.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4777472.stm

Petronas

03-20-2006, 12:20 PM

'Al Qaeda' in Commons
Monday, March 20, 2006

A TERROR suspect allegedly linked to al Qaeda has visited the Houses of Parliament — as the guest of a Labour peer. Former detainee Mahmoud Suliman Ahmed Abu Rideh even sat in the Commons public gallery for a debate. He was invited to Westminster on Tuesday by Lord Ahmed, who met him at Regent’s Park mosque three weeks ago. The father of five — suspected of being a money man for terror groups — was given a SECURITY sticker for his Parliamentary visit. And he boasted yesterday of sitting in the Commons gallery, adding: “It was very interesting.”

Shadow Home Secretary David Davis last night said Abu Rideh had been able to “walk around one of the UK’s biggest terror targets”.

Lord Ahmed confirmed he invited Abu Rideh, 34, to see him — and said he QUIZZED him over the suspected al Qaeda link. He said: “I gave an appointment to see him this week. He came to see me as a Parliamentarian. It was my duty to hear what he had to say. “He came through the peers’ entrance. He went through the security check and I met him at security. He did not leave me for one second. “I did not take him into any public gallery. “I asked him, ‘Have you ever been linked with al Qaeda?’ and he denied it.” Lord Ahmed said he escorted Abu Rideh from the building after the interview in his office. ...

He was detained as a terror suspect in December 2001, accused of fundraising for groups linked to al Qaeda. David Blunkett directly accused him of the link to Osama bin Laden’s organisation when Home Secretary. Abu Rideh has admitted to officials in a statement that he “used to travel around Afghanistan, disguised as a beggar, with large sums of money hidden in a plaster cast on his leg”. Another document from the Special Immigration Appeals Commission said he admitted fundraising for a school which had “some of the world’s most wanted men” among its parents.

He was first held in London’s Belmarsh jail. But he was then moved to Broadmoor secure hospital in Berkshire after he slashed his arms and wrists. The SIAC bailed him in 2003 and gave him a Control Order, which places restrictions on his freedom outside. Abu Rideh returned to his three-bedroom council home in West London — but now wears a tag and must be there from 7pm until dawn.

Lord Ahmed, 48, comes from a working-class background in Rotherham, South Yorks, where he used to run a chip shop. He entered the House of Lords in 1998, becoming the first Muslim to receive a life peerage. In November he spoke out against parts of the the Government’s Terrorism Bill, which he said restricted political views. He has previously called for jailed cleric Abu Hamza to be stripped of his citizenship and deported.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006120839,00.html

Petronas

03-23-2006, 12:13 PM

Suspect Atom Bomb Link
Updated: 21:04, Wednesday March 22, 2006

One of the suspected terrorists on trial for allegedly plotting a nationwide bombing campaign has been linked to a nuclear weapon. An Old Bailey jury was told Salahuddin Amin had been involved in discussions to buy an atomic bomb. The prosecution said contact had been made with the Russian mafia in Belgium to buy the radio-isotope device.

Seven men - all British citizens - are on trial accused of conspiring to cause explosion. The prosecution claims the gang planned to blow up pubs, nightclubs, trains and also considered hitting the UK's power infrastructure. They wanted to blow up "the biggest nightclub" in central London, prosecutor David Waters QC said.

In February, 2004, they were allegedly overheard discussing bomb targets. Mr Waters said: "Jawad Akbar referred to attacks upon the utilities, gas, wa ter or electrical supplies. "Alternatively, a big nightclub in central London might be a target." All the accused deny conspiring to cause explosions between January 1, 2003 and March 31, 2004. Three of them also deny an additional charge of possessing an article for terrorism. Mohammed Babar, a US citizen who pleaded guilty in New York to a role in a "British bomb plot", is expected to give evidence against the defendants.

http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1216187,00.html

Petronas

03-25-2006, 12:03 PM

Church recalls 'Prophet' magazine
Tuesday, 21 March 2006, 11:36 GMT

The Church in Wales has recalled 500 copies of its magazine featuring a cartoon caricaturing the Prophet Muhammad. nThe editor has resigned after the image was published in the Church's Welsh-language magazine Y Llan. ... The Archbishop of Wales has apologised to the Muslim Council of Wales, which accepted the "unfortunate mistake". ...

The drawing - which was from the French magazine France Soir - shows the Prophet Muhammad sitting on a heavenly cloud with Buddha, and Christian and Jewish deities. He is being told "don't complain... we've all been caricatured here".

The Archbishop of Wales Dr Barry Morgan told the BBC: "The article was perfectly OK, but for some reason, the editor decided to print one of these cartoons which was a gross error of judgement. It no way reflects the policy of the church in Wales and when I saw it I was totally horrified. We recalled all the papers, I personally picked up some from some churches and they have all been pulped. I've unreservedly apologised to my Muslim colleagues and they've been very gracious and I've said to them this in no way reflects the policy or attitude in the Church in Wales." Dr Morgan also personally contacted Saleem Kidwai, the Muslim Council of Wales' general secretary, to apologise and to assure him that no offence had been intended. ...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4827294.stm

Petronas

03-25-2006, 12:20 PM

Bomb plot suspect sold poisoned burgers, says supergrass
March 25, 2006

AN ISLAMIST terrorist sold poisoned burgers from a street-corner van and planned to contaminate beer at a football stadium, the Old Bailey was told yesterday. The alleged extremist, one of seven on trial for plotting to blow up British targets, was also said to have suggested poisoning takeaway food and sabotaging BT.

The claim was made by an American supergrass said to have links to al-Qaeda, testifying against his alleged former accomplices. He said another defendant attended a talk given by Abu Hamza al-Masri, the jailed cleric, where “video wills” made by the September 11 attackers were praised.

In his second day of evidence, Mohammed Babar described his first meetings in Pakistan with three of the men, accused of conspiring to cause an explosion in Britain. He said his initial contact with Waheed Mahmood, 34, from Crawley, was via the internet. Babar’s e-mail address was pleasureofallah. yahoo.com. Babar, the key prosecution witness, then met Mr Mahmood at the latter’s house in Pakistan, with other British men including Salahuddin Amin, 31, of Luton, and Anthony Garcia, 24, of Ilford, East London, who are also on trial.

Fired up for jihad (holy war), the men were said to be keen to fight in Afghanistan but were told by Mr Mahmood that this was not possible — the country was closed to foreigners. Mr Mahmood, who worked for Transco National Grid, then allegedly gave examples of possible British targets to his accomplices. Some were intended to cause maximum financial damage by hitting utilities or telecommunication plants.

The court was told that other suggestions included taking a job as a beer-seller at a football stadium, smuggling in poison in a syringe. Babar said Mr Mahmood claimed that he had already sold toxic burgers from a mobile van. Another plan was to distribute leaflets for a fictional take-away restaurant, then deliver poisoned food to houses.

While in Britain with Omar Khyam, 24, from Crawley, West Sussex, Babar heard a talk by Abu Hamza, who he met the next year. Babar had been in Britain in an unsuccessful attempt to raise funds, during which he visited some of the defendants in Crawley.

While in Pakistan he said he buried a cache of weapons outside Punjab University in Lahore. This comprised AK47s, magazines, about 3,000 rounds of ammunition and grenades. He showed it to Mr Mahmood, who later contacted him asking about the weapons, but he ignored his e-mail. Mr Amin and Mr Mahmood also wanted Babar to create fake identification cards for them.

The witness told the court that there was conflict at that time between Muslims from Crawley and those from East London about who was working for whom. Both Mr Khyam and Mr Amin said that they were working for Abdul Hadi, the No 3 in al-Qaeda. The group also visited Malakand, a remote mountainous area of Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan, with the intention of setting up their own explosives training camp.

Mr Amin, Mr Mahmood, Mr Khyam, his brother Shujah Mahmood, 18, and Jawad Akbar, 22, all from Crawley, West Sussex, and Mr Garcia and Nabeel Hussain, 20, of Horley, Surrey, deny conspiring to cause an explosion likely to endanger life. Mr Khyam, Mr Garcia and Mr Hussain deny possessing 600kg of fertiliser for the purposes of terrorism. Mr Khyam and Shujah Mahmood deny possessing aluminium powder for the purposes of terrorism. The trial continues.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2102317,00.html

supergrass = large scale informer in British slang

Petronas

03-31-2006, 01:07 AM

Four men arrested at English hospital under anti-terrorism laws
Thu Mar 30, 4:24 AM ET

LONDON (AFP) - Four men have been arrested at a hospital in central England under Britain's anti-terrorism laws, police said. Police, including specialist firearms officers, arrested the men Wednesday evening at Stafford District General Hospital under the Terrorism Act 2000 as "a result of information received," a police spokeswoman said. They were taken to nearby police stations, while a fifth man being treated at the hospital was transferred to another hospital for similar care, she added. No other details about the circumstances surrounding the arrests of the four men or the injuries of the fifth man were immediately available. There was no immediate indication if the four were linked in any way to the wave of terrorist attacks on commuters in London in July last year, which left 56 people dead, including four bombers.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060330/wl_uk_afp/britainattackspolice

Petronas

03-31-2006, 09:04 PM

Rice visit to English mosque cancelled over security fears
Mar 30 10:22 AM US/Eastern

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her British counterpart Jack Straw have cancelled plans to visit a mosque in England, officials said, amid opposition from anti-war protesters. The mosque in Straw's constituency in Blackburn, withdrew its invitation for security reasons after opponents of Friday's planned visit threatened to "invade" the building, mosque official Ibrahim Master said.

"The visit wasn't cancelled because we don't like Condoleezza Rice," said Master, a member of the mosque's governing committee. "What these people had threatened to do was invade the mosque during dawn prayers." He said the Masjide Al Hidayah mosque's governing committee met Wednesday night with a group of Muslims which included members of the "Stop the War Coalition," which is sharply opposed to the US-led war in Iraq.

He said the group threatened to protest inside the mosque when the two top diplomats were inside. "It would have compromised the safety of the visiting dignitaries," he said. Master said because the group were Muslims, it would be impossible to prevent them from entering the mosque. ...

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/03/30/060330152154.3llnwj33.html

Petronas

04-03-2006, 12:40 PM

Airport scanners installed at rail stations
Mon 3 Apr 2006

SECURITY scanners are to be used at Scottish railway stations in an effort to identify passengers carrying dangerous weapons. The airport-style security system has already been tested on platforms in London stations and judged to be "extremely successful". Alistair Darling, the Transport Secretary, who made the announcement yesterday, said Glasgow and Edinburgh stations were in line for the new technology along with Manchester, Leeds and Cardiff. He said: "It won't be there all the time. Obviously local police have to use their judgment as to when they deploy officers on the scanning equipment. We want to make travelling by train as safe as we can." The trial at Tube and train stations in London - known as Operation Shield - has been running for two months.

British Transport Police officers with stop-and-search powers and sniffer dogs used mobile airport-style scanners to check passengers. Since it began, almost 10,000 people have been scanned, 100 arrested and 68 knives seized. However, train operators are sceptical about the practicality of setting up a nationwide system. A spokesman for the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) said: "To employ scanners over the railway as a whole would not be practical and would bring the network to a halt. Our view on this is that security scanners are not practical on a day-to-day basis. We are on record as saying that in an ideal world it would be nice to scan everyone, but frankly in a busy commuter area you would bring passenger movement to a standstill."

It is not clear whether certain platforms or lines will be specifically targeted for security checks at Edinburgh or Glasgow stations. A Network Rail spokesman said: "This year we, in association with the Department of Transport, tested this equipment at Paddington on the Heathrow Express platforms. It looks like the transport department has decided this is something they want to try further. The railway network is never going to be as 'closed' in terms of security as the airports, but the trial at Paddington showed you can have a degree of stricter security without restricting customer movement."

Train companies were concerned scanning passengers trying to catch trains could lead to additional delays. A GNER spokesman said: "We are keen to improve security where we can, but we do share ATOC's reservations about introducing it nationally. The primary difference between us and airlines is that most air tickets are booked in advance, whereas ours is a walk-up service. The amount of time to queue up and be scanned is less. It's a balancing act between providing security and not delaying trains."

The initiative is already running in Liverpool and is due to start in Birmingham this month before going UK-wide. Patrick Mercer, the Conservatives' homeland security spokesman, welcomed the move but said detecting potential bombers should be a top priority. A spokesman for BAA said: "The body scanners are really for detecting weapons like guns and knives not explosives, although in airports if there is metal you have to have a body search."

http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=509362006

Petronas

04-05-2006, 10:43 AM

Bomb investigator says UK threat still high
Tue Apr 4, 3:53 PM ET

BERLIN (Reuters) - Investigations into last July's London suicide bombings are proceeding with no let-up but the terrorist threat to Britain has not declined, the country's top anti-terrorism investigator said on Tuesday. "Since July, the pace of investigation, the scale of the threat has not diminished in any way whatsoever," Peter Clarke, the national coordinator of terrorism investigations, told a security conference in Germany. He added: "There are no terrorist-free zones in the United Kingdom. The footprint of international terrorism is in every part of the country."

Clarke declined to give a progress update on the London bomb probe, which he said involved more than 35,000 documents, 10,000 witness statements, 38,000 police exhibits and 90,000 pieces of computer evidence. Asked about the extent of foreign backing and support for the four young Muslim men who blew themselves up on the London transport network on July 7, 2005, killing 52 people, Clarke told Reuters: "That's something we're still looking at."

Three of the attackers who carried out Western Europe's first suicide bombing were British-born men of Pakistani origin, and the fourth was born in Jamaica. Several of the plotters had traveled to Pakistan before the bombings, but police have not said publicly if they believe they received training, support or instructions from there. Clarke said he had just returned from a trip to Pakistan but this was to discuss broader cooperation issues, not specifically the July 7 investigation.

Commenting on the wider threat from Islamist radicals, he told the conference he was concerned about the difficulty of getting sources inside the Muslim community to come forward with intelligence. "Most of the cases that we have in the United Kingdom are as a result of intelligence that has come from overseas, or from technical means. There is not the wealth of intelligence that I would like coming from within the communities," Clarke said. "We must do more to build our links into the Muslim communities, so that those who wish to reject extremism and expel the extremists and give information about them can have the confidence to do so."

Clarke said several "hugely important" terrorism trials in Britain this year would present a test for the courts and judicial system. "These are cases, the like of which have never come before the British courts before. The international dimension, the sources of evidence, the types of evidence ... will not have been tested before in our courts," he said. "It will be a real test to see whether our system, and the rules of evidence, are capable of dealing with these issues."

In one of the cases, described by police as Britain's biggest terrorism trial since the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001, seven Britons went on trial last month charged with plotting to carry out bomb attacks. Six of them were arrested in 2004 during raids in which police found 600 kg (1,320 lb) of ammonium nitrate, which can be used to make bombs.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060404/ts_nm/security_britain_dc

Petronas

04-09-2006, 01:55 PM

Bad manners? Definitely. But 6 months in jail? What about the Muslim demonstrators in the UK who call for more bombings in the subways and exhort their listeners to kill Jews? They are not prosecuted, because they are protected by freedom of speech...

Man, 49, jailed for racist slurs
Tuesday, 4 April 2006

A man who shouted racist insults at Muslim worshippers outside a Cumbria mosque has been jailed for six months. Bryan Cork shouted slurs including "proud to be British" and "go back to where you came from" outside Carlisle's Brook Street mosque. He pleaded guilty to racially aggravated harassment on 30 November at the city's Crown Court on Tuesday. Judge Paul Batty, QC, told Cork, of Thompson Street, Carlisle, that racism in any form would not be tolerated.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/cumbria/4877412.stm

Petronas

04-13-2006, 11:44 AM

New terror law comes into force
Thursday, 13 April 2006

New laws making it illegal to glorify terrorism and distribute terrorist publications have come into force. The Terrorism Act 2006 allows groups or organisations to be banned for those offences and covers anyone who gives or receives training. The act designates nuclear sites as areas where trespass can become a terrorist offence.

Human rights campaigners argue the law is drawn far too widely and it faced stiff opposition in the House of Lords. Peers were worried it would curb free speech and rejected the plans five times before voting them through in March. Liberal Democrat and Conservative MPs voted against the Terrorism Bill, saying existing legislation already covered the glorification offence.

The bill was introduced after 7 July bomb attacks in London, and Prime Minister Tony Blair said the new law would allow action to be taken against people glorifying those attacks. People had held placards praising the 7 July bombers during protests in London against cartoons satirising the Prophet Muhammad.

The act also creates new offences of undertaking terrorism training, preparation or planning of a terrorist act and disseminating terrorist publications. Plans to double the amount of time suspects can be held without charge to 28 days will come into force later after consultation with police chiefs. The government wanted police to be allowed to hold suspects for up to 90 days, although MPs rejected this proposal.

Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said the Tories welcomed the much of the new act, but said there were "concerns" over the rules on glorification. "During the passage of the bill we secured an assurance from the government that this would be revisited," he said. Doug Jewell, of the human rights group Liberty, told the BBC the rules on glorification were "too broad". He said: "Anyone supporting violence to remove a regime anywhere in the world now or in the past would theoretically get caught up."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4905304.stm

NYer

04-27-2006, 08:38 AM

MI6 is looking for a few good men. (http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1820040.html?menu=) Or women too, for that matter ...

Petronas

05-25-2006, 01:28 AM

British Police Arrest 9 in Terror Sweep
Wednesday, May 24, 2006

MANCHESTER, England — Police on Wednesday arrested nine people suspected of giving support to terrorism outside Britain, Greater Manchester Police said. Police served warrants at a number of addresses beginning at 3 a.m. local time, the force said. About 500 officers were involved in the operation, and searches were continuing at several locations, police said.

Greater Manchester Police said those arrested were "suspected of facilitating terrorism abroad," but gave no details of the suspected offenses. One suspect was released within hours. "We are not talking today about a direct threat to the U.K.," said Michael Todd, chief constable of Greater Manchester Police. "We are talking about the facilitation of terrorism overseas. That could include funding, providing support and encouragement to terrorists," he said. Police would not comment on a report by Press Association, the British news agency, that said the arrests were related to terrorism in Iraq.

Todd said police and security agencies had been gathering intelligence "for at least a year, looking at the funding and support of terrorist activities overseas." The Home Office indicated that at least five were not British citizens, and were detained under powers to deport people whose presence "is not conducive to the public good for reasons of national security." One suspect was arrested in Liverpool in a joint operation by police and immigration officers, Merseyside Police said. The other forces involved were London's Metropolitan Police, Birmingham's West Midlands Police and Cleveland Police in northeast England

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,196733,00.html

Petronas

05-25-2006, 11:28 PM

Galloway says murder of Blair would be 'justified'
26 May 2006

The Respect MP George Galloway has said it would be morally justified for a suicide bomber to murder Tony Blair. In an interview with GQ magazine, the reporter asked him: "Would the assassination of, say, Tony Blair by a suicide bomber - if there were no other casualties - be justified as revenge for the war on Iraq?"

Mr Galloway replied: "Yes, it would be morally justified. I am not calling for it - but if it happened it would be of a wholly different moral order to the events of 7/7. It would be entirely logical and explicable. And morally equivalent to ordering the deaths of thousands of innocent people in Iraq - as Blair did." ...

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article601356.ece

Petronas

05-30-2006, 01:43 AM

MI5 at full stretch as 20 Islamist terror plots revealed
May 28, 2006

TWENTY “major conspiracies” by Islamist terrorists in Britain have been uncovered by the security services, John Reid, the home secretary, has disclosed. Reid said that the existence of so many plots means that the police and MI5 are fully stretched and cannot divert their precious counter-terrorism resources to a lengthy public inquiry into last year’s London suicide bombings. Reid revealed the existence of the plots — far more than have previously been reported — at a meeting with some of the victims’ relatives and survivors of the attacks last week.

He failed to give further details but the claim appears to fit in with briefings by MI5 which suggest that as many as 1,200 potential terrorist suspects may now be in the UK.

One of the operations is thought to have been the target of raids by hundreds of police officers last week. Anti-terrorist police believe they may have thwarted a wave of suicide bomb attacks on British and US forces in Iraq. The police arrested eight men during the armed raids. The men, all from Libya, were being held on suspicion of encouraging and financing Al-Qaeda operations abroad.

Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan police commissioner, has said previously that security services have foiled three attacks by Al-Qaeda terrorists since the July 7 suicide bombings. Reid may also have been including at least three more alleged plots where charges are current. That still appears to leave a further 13 current Islamist plots which, on Reid’s account, are under investigation. Experts say that such a figure is far higher than Whitehall security officials have previously admitted.

Officials at the meeting also told relatives they had recovered CCTV footage of the bombers on the trains, as well as “post-explosion” images. However, a senior official from the Home Office’s counter-terrorism department said that it had decided not to disclose that footage because it was “disturbing”. ...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-2200246,00.html

Vancouver

06-02-2006, 07:09 AM

There has been a raid in East London, two arrested, one of whom was wounded in the shoulder by a police bullet.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5040022.stm
Many police participated. Those going in are wearing protective clothing. BBC says the local health authorities were consulted before this raid. Aircraft are barred from flying over this spot below 2500 feet for the next four days.

NYer

06-02-2006, 08:22 AM

Any relation to This? (http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006250451,00.html)

NYer

06-02-2006, 12:00 PM

Vancouver

06-02-2006, 03:25 PM

Chemical, biological or radiological (http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=2558) suspected?
Well, judging from the clothing the police wore, it looks something of the sort was anticipated. The police set up tents outside the apartment, probably containing showers or such. But there has been no evacuation.

About the fly-over ban, 2500 feet is not very high for a missile. A fanciful theory: maybe the suspects were communicating periodically with an aircraft. Another one, not so far-fetched: maybe the investigators are using some gear that would trouble an aircraft's radar or radio. But I'm just guessing about this odd fly-over ban. They don't just want to keep press helicopters away, in view of the many reporters near the site on the ground.

Any other reports about that missile at Calais? Thx.

NYer

06-02-2006, 04:06 PM

The missile was found without any explosives. Now if this missile were intended for the house of today's UK ROP miscreants, the UK just bit a full meal of bullets. There are doubtless details we'll not learn for quite some time.

Instapundit points to a full round-up of the UK raid Here. (http://hotair.com/archives/top-picks/2006/06/02/250-british-cops-raid-suspected-chemical-bomb-making-factory/)

NYer

06-03-2006, 10:55 AM

UK Police hunt for "dirty chemical bomb". (http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2006-06-03T125413Z_01_L03352884_RTRUKOC_0_US-SECURITY-BRITAIN-SHOT.xml&src=rss&rpc=22)

Some newspapers, citing unnamed security sources, said police believed suspected militants had made a "dirty" chemical device -- a conventional bomb surrounded by toxic material that could be set off by a bomber wearing a suicide jacket.

"We are absolutely certain this device exists and could be used either by a suicide bomber or in a remote-controlled explosion," one source told the Sun newspaper.

Newspapers quoted security chiefs who they said believed an attack was imminent, with possible targets including the underground train network or pubs crowded with fans watching the soccer World Cup tournament which starts next week.

NYer

06-04-2006, 09:46 AM

MI5 fear Secret Army of Terrorists. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=VSR15QZFPMXXHQFIQMGSFFOAVCBQ WIV0?xml=/news/2006/06/04/nterr104.xml)

"The terrorist threat facing Britain has developed into a "covert conspiracy" involving hundreds of men and women living ordinary lives in the nation's suburbs, security sources have revealed.

Unbeknown to their families and friends, they form a silent 1,200-strong "army" of terrorists. They are believed to be involved in at least 20 major plots that they hope will bring death and destruction to Britain."

NYer

06-04-2006, 05:19 PM

England afraid to fly its own flag? (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3258613,00.html)

Sheesh!

NYer

06-06-2006, 03:57 PM

Muslims seethe (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060606/wl_uk_afp/britainpolicesecurity_060606094605) over terror raid.

The Muslim Council of Britain's new leader Muhammed Abdul Bari said "trust could break down" if the police failed to explain why they launched last Friday's raid, which has turned up nothing of a reported chemical weapons plot.

Relaying the sentiment that he heard during a visit late Monday to the east London neighborhood which was raided, Abdul Bari said "the message is the confusion, it's the frustration and to some extent anger."

Police arrested Mohammed Abdul Kahar, 23, and his brother Abul Koyair, 20, during the raid on their home at dawn by 250 officers. Abdul Kahar, who was shot and wounded, and Koyair have vehemently denied involvement in terrorism.

Vancouver

06-27-2006, 07:08 AM

From Jang Press of Pakistan:
LONDON: Anti-terrorist police in Manchester, in the north of England, arrested two people on Tuesday during a series of early morning raids police said.
A spokeswoman for Greater Manchester Police said the raids, at a number of addresses, "were targeting individuals suspected of possession of information that could be used for a terrorism purpose".
Police said Tuesday's raids were not linked to any other recent anti-terrorism operation, and that no armed police officers were involved in the arrests.

also:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/5119916.stm

Petronas

07-18-2006, 08:18 PM

Train bombers 'funded by British businessmen'
July 17, 2006

SOME of the main fundraisers for the terror group suspected of masterminding the Bombay train bombings are operating from Britain, according to Indian intelligence officials. The officials accuse Britain of failing to act against a number of wealthy businessmen, who they claim are using bogus charities to funnel up to £8 million a year to Kashmiri militants groups, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, which remains the main suspect for orchestrating the synchronised bombings that killed 182 people.

Manmohan Singh, the Indian Prime Minister, raised the terror link with Tony Blair at the G8 summit in St Petersburg yesterday, reminding him that India handed over a detailed dossier three years ago identifying 14 men living in Britain and was assured the suspects would be investigated. “Since then nothing has been done, and the money still coming from Britain helps to pay for the terrorist camps where we believe the bombers were trained and this atrocity was planned,” a senior Indian security official said last night.

Gordon Brown pledged that the Treasury would use new laws to shut down terrorist fundraising and ordered that the bank accounts of 54 organisations be frozen, although records show that last year Whitehall only recovered £9,318. “Britain talks about the need for all nations to get tough together, but more money comes from the UK to Kashmiri terror groups than any other country,” the official added. One of those identified in the dossier is reported to be a Pakistan-born multimillionaire businessman who owns at least two luxury homes in London. ...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2273287,00.html

NYer

07-19-2006, 02:29 PM

Briton charged in Online Terrorism (http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-5961584,00.html) Case.

A British man was indicted Wednesday on charges he helped run terrorism fundraising Web sites, set up terrorists with temporary housing in England and possessed a classified U.S. Navy document revealing troop movements. Syed Talha Ahsan was arrested at his home in London on a federal indictment in Connecticut charging him with conspiracy to support terrorists and conspiracy to kill or injure people abroad.

Ahsan is accused in the same case as Babar Ahmad, a British computer specialist who was indicted in Connecticut in October 2004. Both are accused of running several Web sites including Azzam.com, which investigators say was used to recruit members for the al-Qaida network, Afghanistan's ousted Taliban regime and Chechen rebels. Prosecutors allege that from 1998 until at least 2002, Ahsan and Ahmad operated Web sites encouraging people to donate money or equipment. The sites allegedly operated in Connecticut, Nevada, Britain, Ireland and Malaysia. U.S. prosecutors said Ahsan helped terrorists find temporary residence in London and shuttled them into Afghanistan and Chechnya to participate in ``jihad.''

Klaus

07-24-2006, 11:13 PM

http://infowars.com/articles/ps/dirty_bomb_victims_may_be_shot.htm

Dirty bomb victims 'may be shot'

Scotsman.com | July 24, 2006
BY JOHN INNES

POLICE could be forced to shoot members of the public to maintain order in the event of a terrorist "dirty bomb" or biological attack on Britain, it was claimed yesterday. "The natural reaction from the public caught up in such an incident will be to get as far away from the scene as possible. This could, of course, only extend the problem."

The Police Federation annual conference in Blackpool was told that so few officers have been trained to deal with a chemical, biological, nuclear or radiological strike that they would have to resort to "very unsavoury but necessary" crowd control.

Bob Elder, the chairman of the constables’ central committee, did not refer specifically to officers firing on civilians, but sources within the organisation said it was clear police could have to resort to firearms to stop contamination being spread by fleeing victims.

The government had failed to explain how important it would be to keep the public inside a cordon after such an atrocity, Mr Elder said.

Yow.

Petronas

08-02-2006, 01:10 AM

Mockbul was a straightforward Islamist, loyal to something like the (Muslim) Brotherhood tradition Recall that this is the organization from which Ayman al-Zawahiri emerged.

Radical past of top Whitehall Islamic aide
July 30, 2006

DISTURBING details have emerged about the radical background of the chief adviser on Islamic affairs at the Foreign Office. Mockbul Ali, a 26-year-old civil servant, was involved in a Muslim student group that has published material supporting Palestinian female suicide bombers. The Union of Muslim Students (UMS), which has been repeatedly praised by ministers as a paragon of moderate Islam, also carried articles in its newspaper by Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a Qatar-based preacher banned from entering America.

Leaked documents show that since joining the Foreign Office Ali has argued for Qaradawi to be allowed into Britain and played a part in sending Sharif Hasan al-Banna, president of the UMS, to Islamic conferences in Indonesia and Nigeria at taxpayers’ expense.

MPs have voiced concern about Ali’s role at the heart of government. They accuse him of using his position as a senior member of the Foreign Office’s Engaging with the Islamic World Group (EIWG) to promote dialogue with Islamist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, which is outlawed in many Arab countries.

Ali also had a key role in co-ordinating seven Muslim taskforces set up by Tony Blair to tackle extremism in the wake of the July 7 bombings last year.

The son of Bangladeshi immigrants who grew up in Bradford, Ali’s rapid rise can be traced to his undergraduate years at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London, where the UMS had a strong following. However, it is unclear exactly how Ali was recruited by the government.

During Ali’s time as political editor of the UMS newspaper, it published an article that appears to celebrate the case of Aayat al-Akhras, an 18-year-old Palestinian girl who blew herself up, killing two Israeli civilians, in a Jerusalem supermarket in March 2002. Under the headline “A bride in the dress of martyrdom”, it described Akhras’s “heroic operation . . . in the heart of the Zionist entity”. It concluded: “Al-Akhras will remain an example for every Palestinian woman and man looking for security among the rubble of the massacres of murderer (then Israeli prime minister Ariel) Sharon, giving his blood and future as a price for this security.”

In another issue of the newspaper, published soon after the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington, Ali wrote: “If you are not white, you are most likely to be ‘liberated’ through bombings, massacres and chaos. Welcome to terrorism as a liberating force. Welcome to civilisation — western style.”

One Muslim contemporary at SOAS, who did not want to be named, said: “Mockbul was a straightforward Islamist, loyal to something like the (Muslim) Brotherhood tradition.”

Ali helped select Banna to speak at an Islamic conference in Jakarta in February 2004. A Foreign Office spokesman confirmed that it had paid for Banna’s travel and accommodation. The pair also travelled to Nigeria earlier this year as part of a British delegation seeking to forge closer ties with Muslims in that country.

Since the EIWG’s creation about three years ago, its budget has grown from £1.5m to £8.5m and it has a staff of 26. Despite opposition from some Home Office advisers, Ali has argued in favour of granting entry visas to two radical Muslim clerics.

One, who visited London this month, was Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, an MP from Bangladesh who has reportedly claimed that Britain and America “deserve all that is coming to them” for overthrowing the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Ali wrote: “Sayeedi is a very conservative Muslim, even ultra-orthodox figure, with a number of views we would not endorse in any way. But he is also someone who has a very big following in the mainstream Bangladeshi community.”

The other cleric was Qaradawi, the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, who has condoned suicide bombings in Palestine and Iraq. Ali has described Qaradawi as “a highly respected Islamic scholar”.

Last night, Michael Gove, the Tory frontbencher and author of the book Celsius 7/7, which addresses Islamist extremism, called for a review of Ali’s role. “His influence in the Foreign Office gives rise to serious questions,” he said.

Ali was unavailable for comment this weekend. The Foreign Office has refused to discuss the matter because of an ongoing criminal investigation on leaked e-mails. A spokesman added that it did not comment on individual members of staff.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2291753,00.html

NYer

08-08-2006, 10:41 AM

A Quarter of British Muslims Say: 7/7 Bombings Justified. (http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=1145782006)

ALMOST a quarter of British Muslims say the 7/7 bombings can be justified because of the Government's support for the war on terror, according to an opinion poll. And nearly half of those polled, or 45 per cent, believe the 9/11 attacks on New York were a conspiracy between the United States and Israel.

Petronas

08-08-2006, 10:03 PM

Anti-terror laws alienate Muslims, says top policeman
Monday August 7, 2006

One of Britain's top police officers will today warn that anti-terrorism laws are discriminating against Muslims and law enforcement agencies are running a "real risk" of criminalising ethnic minorities.

Tarique Ghaffur, assistant commissioner in the Metropolitan police, will also call for "an independent judicial review" of why some young British Muslims turn to extremism. He warns that more work is needed to stop the "flight, fright or separation" of British Muslim communities after the July 7 2005 bombings in London.

Mr Ghaffur, Britain's highest-ranking Muslim police officer, will today address a National Black Police Association conference in Manchester and tell how racism has blighted his own career. ...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/race/story/0,,1838773,00.html

Petronas

08-09-2006, 10:37 PM

British Jews warned of rise in hate crime
August 08, 2006

THE Jewish community in Britain is facing a wave of anti-Semitism as a result of the conflict in Lebanon, security experts said yesterday. The Community Security Trust (CST), which advises British Jews on safety issues, said that synagogues, schools and community centres should increase security as the risk of terrorist attacks and anti-Semitic incidents in Britain escalated in correlation with hostilities in the Middle East.

The warning came after a bomb scare at the Israeli Embassy forced police to cordon off a busy shopping area on Sunday afternoon. An area around Kensington Palace Gardens, West London, was closed and cars were searched before the all-clear was given.

The trust logged 60 antiSemitic incidents last month, compared with 31 for the same month last year. These included the daubing of racist slogans and references to Islam on windows at a Jewish doctor’s North London home, and the painting of the word “Hezbollah” on the pavement outside Garnethill Synagogue in Glasgow. Other incidents involved abusive phone messages and hate mail.

Mark Gardner, a CST spokesman, said: “We are in liaison with police at least once every day to discuss potential security threats nationwide and have issued guidelines urging the community to ensure that security measures are followed.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,251-2303025,00.html

Petronas

08-12-2006, 10:25 AM

Muslims criticise naming of plot suspects
Fri Aug 11, 2006 4:28 PM BST

Muslims criticised the government on Friday for publishing the names of 19 men who police sources say are under arrest for allegedly plotting to blow up passenger planes bound for the United States. The government instructed the Bank of England to publish the names on its Web site on Thursday, just hours after police arrested 24 people in connection with the suspected plot.

Police have not named the 24 but a police source confirmed they include the 19 named by the central bank. Although the bank did not give the addresses of the 19, it listed their dates of birth and the areas where they live.

The bank's action is unusual. Normally, authorities do not publish the names of suspects until they have been formally charged and identified by the police. But the government defended the move, saying it was essential to ensure the assets of the 19 were frozen.

"The Treasury has informed us that this is a normal procedure," Home Secretary John Reid told a news conference. "When people's assets are frozen, the names are published, and this, the Treasury tells us, is part of the obligation of ensuring that people cannot deal with such individuals in the transfer of assets."

Some Muslim groups said the move was unnecessary and could hamper the suspects' chance of a fair trial if they are eventually charged in connection with the plot. The Federation of Student Islamic Societies (FOSIS), an umbrella group representing Muslim students, said it was "extremely disappointed" by the government's action. "It is important to wait until a thorough investigation has taken place before pointing fingers and drawing conclusions," FOSIS spokesman Wakkas Khan said in a statement. It is important to maintain the legal principles we hold dear, namely the concept of innocent until proven guilty."

The government said that in publishing the names, it was not inferring guilt. Police are still questioning the 24 suspects and can hold them for up to 28 days before either charging or releasing them.

Hizb ut-Tahrir, a radical Islamist party which the government says it plans to ban, said it too was dismayed by the publication of the names. "It concerns us that there is already talk in the media about the ethnic identity of the suspects, and that suspects are presumed guilty before any due process," said Imran Waheed, spokesman for the British branch of the party. "We urge caution before jumping to conclusions."

Many Muslims accuse the police of unfairly targeting their community in their crackdown on terrorism. Since 2000, police have arrested over 700 people -- many of them Muslims -- under tough anti-terrorism laws, but have brought only a handful to court. The vast majority have been released without charge.

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2006-08-11T152753Z_01_L11571123_RTRUKOC_0_UK-SECURITY-BRITAIN-NAMES.xml&

Petronas

08-12-2006, 10:29 AM

British jihadists "had converted to devout form of Islam"
August 11, 2006

... from the TimesOnline ...

TWO men said to have been arrested changed their appearances after converting to a devout form of Islam, according to neighbours. One is said to be Ibrahim Savant, who became a devout Muslim about seven or eight years ago, according to a friend. He may have been a born Muslim who became more interested in his faith in later years.

Oliver Savant was a popular boy growing up in the terrace of Folkestone Road, Walthamstow. He played football and joined local soccer clubs. But around 1998, when he was a teenager, neighbours said, he began wearing Muslim white gowns and grew a long beard. It was then that Mr Savant, who has a brother, Adam, was understood to have changed his name to Ibrahim, neighbours said. According to the electoral register, a number of males named Savant occupy the home along with a woman called Marilyn Moseley. The family live in one of six 1960s terraced houses at the end of a street of Victorian homes. A number of mosques are in the area and a madrassa, an Islamic school, is run near by.

Paul Kleinman, 66, a retired fireman, said that the family moved into the house in about 1975. “I’ve known him since the day he was born. His dad invited me in for a drink when he was born. We’ve always got on with them very well. Adam and Oliver both went to university but I think Oliver dropped out.

“All of a sudden Oliver started to put the white robes on. He had friends who dressed in a similar way who would visit him. I think his dad’s an architect and is from Iran and his mother is an accountant. His mother’s English. He used to be a keen trumpet player and played to a high level. He’s a very nice and polite young man.”...

Similar accounts came from residents of Hepplewhite Close, High Wycombe. where the other man is said to have changed after converting to Islam. He grew a beard and made different friends. Friends and neighbours who watched him grow up were shocked over his apparent arrest.

A neighbour said that the man still lived with his widowed mother, who was believed to be on holiday. He added that the man and his sister had converted to Islam about a year ago. “He had grown a long beard and had shaved his head. The people he was hanging around with were different.”

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/012635.php

Petronas

08-21-2006, 04:22 PM

Cleric who urged jihad to be freed from prison
Sunday August 20, 2006

An Islamic cleric who influenced at least one of the 7 July bombers and whose videos may have been seen by several of the terror suspects arrested earlier this month, is to be freed from prison in weeks. Sheikh Abdullah el-Faisal encouraged Muslims to attend training camps so they could wage jihad on the West. He was jailed in February 2003 for nine years, reduced to seven on appeal, after being convicted of soliciting murder and inciting racial hatred. Hundreds of Muslims attended his lectures in mosques across Britain, including Birmingham, London and Dewsbury in West Yorkshire.

His trial heard recordings of el-Faisal, Jamaican by birth but living in Stratford, east London, praising Osama bin Laden. 'You have to learn how to shoot and fly planes and drive tanks,' el-Faisal told those who attended his lectures. 'Jews,' el-Faisal said, 'should be killed... as by Hitler.'

He encouraged the use of chemical weapons to 'exterminate non-believers', and exhorted Muslim women to buy toy guns for their children to train them for jihad. He also suggested that nuclear power stations could be fuelled with bodies of Hindus, slaughtered for their 'oppression' of Muslims in Kashmir.

Videos of his lectures have been found circulating in Muslim circles in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, where police are concentrating inquiries into this month's alleged bomb plot involving airliners.

El-Faisal is eligible for parole having served more than half his sentence. The Home Office confirmed he had been served with a notice of deportation to Jamaica, signalling that he will be released in weeks - bar a successful appeal against the decision.

The prospect of a man described in court as a 'fanatic and an extremist' being freed has troubled Muslim leaders who fear he will continue to disseminate his views in Britain. 'Once he's deported to Jamaica, what restrictions will there be to prevent him spreading his message of hate over the internet,' asked Andrew Dismore MP.

In the government's official account of the events that led to the London bombings in July 2005, el-Faisal is credited with having had a 'strong' influence on Jermaine Lindsay, who blew up a tube train.

James Ujaama, a US citizen jailed for conspiring to help the Taliban in Afghanistan, was recorded asking questions at el-Faisal's lectures. Richard Reid, who tried to detonate a bomb in his shoe on a transatlantic plane, and Zacarias Moussaoui, who was jailed for life over his involvement in the 11 September 2001 attacks, are also believed to have attended the lectures. El-Faisal's fluence extended to the US, where followers set up groups marketing tapes and endorsing jihad.

After el-Faisal's conviction, Peter Clarke, head of the Metropolitan Police's anti-terrorist squad, said the case had 'nothing to do with freedom of speech', as el-Faisal claimed, 'but everything to do with racial hatred'.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1854346,00.html

NYer

08-21-2006, 05:01 PM

Perhaps he should be sentenced to community service - working the crowds at the local football games.

Petronas

08-25-2006, 03:12 PM

Film of high-profile targets was made as a joke, trial told
August 23, 2006

A MUSLIM student told a terror trial yesterday that he filmed a video of British landmarks that prosecutors claim was a visual guide for terrorists.
The locations in the film include Hyde Park, Big Ben, Parliament Square, the London Eye, Edgware Road Tube station and the Hilton Hotel in Park Lane, Woolwich Crown Court heard.

Rauf Abdullah Mohammad, 26, an Iraqi minicab driver, is charged with making a video likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism contrary to the Terrorism Act 2000.

The prosecution claims that Mr Mohammad drove around London making a film showing “high-profile targets” to help Islamic terrorists to plan and carry out an attack on the capital.

His friend, Maz Ibrahim, 25, a British Sudanese, yesterday gave evidence for the defence, saying that he was the unseen man holding a camcorder whose voice was recorded in Arabic saying: “Rauf is planning a bombing operation.” In the background of the video can be heard religious chants, sounds of machineguns and a missile exploding, and poems about martyrdom, killing and being killed in the name of Allah.

Mr Mohammad, from Forest Gate, East London, can allegedly be heard on the video discussing his hopes for the killing of Tony Blair, President Bush, Silvio Berlusconi and Donald Rumsfeld.

The true interpretation of the hour-long video, extracts from which have been shown several times to the jury, is central to the arguments at Woolwich Crown Court.

Mr Ibrahim, of Southwark, southeast London, told the jury that the video, which was made around September 2003, was no more than a tourist souvenir for overseas relatives and that the terrorism chat was just an example of the companions’ ironic sense of humour. He said that his friend had wanted to make a tape to send back to relatives and suggested going to famous places in London. ...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,29389-2324868,00.html

Petronas

08-29-2006, 01:44 AM

Muslim students deny airline mutiny was a set-up
August 28, 2006

from "The Independent" ...:

"Mr Ashraf and Mr Zeb were removed from the late-night Airbus A320 by order of the captain, who had been contacted by several passengers worried by their appearance and behaviour after they boarded the plane. They were said to have been talking loudly in Urdu, and wearing suspiciously heavy clothes. When the airline looked into details of their itinerary, the pair were detained pending further security checks....

"Industry sources revealed they booked their flights after the recent security scare began on 10 August, paying £166 each for the day-trip to Malaga. Although they have claimed that the purpose of the visit was to carry out research for a holiday in September, the pair decided to take an evening flight to the resort. It touched down at 7.25pm, leaving them just a few hours in Malaga before they had to check in for the 3am return journey."

The story goes on to point out that if they were really carrying out "research for a holiday," would they choose a flight that enabled them to see the resort only in the dark? Also, they say they're students at the the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST), and have claimed that they can't do any more interviews because they have exams, but the university is closed and this is not an exam period. University officials wouldn't even confirm that they are really students there.

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/012908.php

Petronas

09-03-2006, 08:58 PM

Terror police swoop on restaurant
Saturday, 2 September 2006, 23:33 GMT 00:33 UK

Armed police have arrested 14 men following anti-terror raids in London, including 12 arrests at a restaurant in the Borough area. Two people were held elsewhere in the city in what police said was an intelligence-led operation. Police said the arrests were not connected to the alleged transatlantic jet bomb plot or the 7 July attacks.

An Islamic school near Tunbridge Wells has also been searched as part of the same operation. The Jameah Islameah property, on Catt's Hill near Crowborough, East Sussex, is an Islamic teaching facility for boys aged between 11 and 16. At the time of its last inspection the school only had nine pupils.

The BBC's Keith Doyle said the south London restaurant where the 12 arrests were made was a halal Chinese called The Bridge to China Town. He said the raids came after "months of surveillance into those suspected of recruiting or encouraging others to take part in terrorist activities".

The restaurant was full of people, including children, when around 40 police officers wearing riot gear raided it shortly after 2200 BST on Friday. Diners were told they were being questioned under the Terrorism Act. Each was asked to give their name and address, after which those arrested were taken away in handcuffs. Police said the men were arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000 on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism. Anti-terrorist officers also carried out raids on a number of addresses in other parts of London, with a search being carried out at an address in the north of the capital.

The restaurant's owner, Mehdi Belyani, 40, said a group of around 15 men and two small boys had come in for dinner at 9pm. He described them as aged between 25 and 35 and said some were wearing Islamic dress. "It was surprising actually, because plenty of [police officers] suddenly came in all together. There were more than 50 or 60 of them," he said.

"They suddenly came inside because they were suspicious of some of the customers, and they talked to them. They talked to them [for] more than one hour, two hours. And they arrested some of them. So it was obviously surprising for me, my staff, for everyone anyway."

The BBC's security correspondent, Gordon Corera, said the arrests were linked to allegations of "training camps" within the UK for people who want to engage in terrorist acts. "This involves people suspected of facilitating training activity within the UK which might have allowed others to take part in terrorist activity," he said.

"Here in the UK it's more forms of bonding and getting groups together as well as radicalising those taking part. It's not necessarily military or terrorist training or blowing things up, it's more training in the sense of groups bonding and working together". Some of the 7 July bombers were suspected of having undertaken this kind of training activity within the UK, although there is no link to those arrested overnight. A spokeswoman for Home Secretary John Reid said he had been "kept fully informed".

Meanwhile, two men have also been arrested in other anti-terror raids in Manchester but a spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said these arrests were not linked to the London raids. The pair were detained under the Terrorism Act and three addresses in the Cheetham Hill area are being searched. A spokesman said both arrests followed an operation that took place on 23 August, when one man was held and a house in Elmfield Street in Cheetham Hill was searched.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/5307818.stm

Petronas

09-03-2006, 09:01 PM

Attacks on Jews soar since Lebanon
September 02, 2006

BRITISH Jews are facing a wave of anti-Semitic attacks prompted by Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon. Synagogues have been daubed with graffiti, Jewish leaders have had hate-mail and ordinary people have been subjected to insults and vandalism. On Thursday an all-party parliamentary inquiry will state that anti-Semitic violence has become endemic in Britain, both on the streets and university campuses. The report will call for urgent action from the Government, the police and educational establishments.

Mark Gardner, of the Community Security Trust, said: “In July, when the conflict in Lebanon began, we received reports of 92 incidents, which was the third-worst month since records began in 1984.” In 2000 the monthly average was between 10 and 30 incidents. The former minister Denis MacShane, who chaired the parliamentary inquiry, said: “These figures confirm the evidence given to us that anti-Semitic attacks are a very real problem.”

The Board of Deputies of British Jews submitted evidence to the inquiry that anti-Semitism in Britain was at its worst level. The July incidents “were more dispersed than usual”, Mr Gardner said. “It is usually a small number responsible for a large number of attacks, but these were very widespread across the country and included graffiti attacks on synagogues in Edinburgh and Glasgow.”

The attackers, when visible, are from across society, he said. “When it’s verbal abuse, it’s just ordinary people in the street, from middle-class women to working-class men. All colours and backgrounds. We hardly ever see incidents involving the classic neo-Nazi skinhead. Muslims are over-represented.”

In hate-mail to senior Jewish figures, ordinary Jewish people were being blamed for the deaths of Lebanese civilians. “There are also references to the Holocaust, saying that Hitler should have wiped out the Jews.” Mr Gardner said that the rise in attacks reflected increased hostility to Israel and Jews in the media and across society: “The number of anti-Semitic attacks reflects the mood music around Jews and Israel.”

There have been several attacks in Golders Green and Hampstead Garden Suburb in North London, where there is a large Jewish population. La Maison du Café in Golders Green Road was targeted two weeks ago by two young men who threw chairs at the restaurant, punched workers and threatened to kill the owner, Ruth Cohen, with a knife. Ms Cohen, 34, said: “They asked if it was a Jewish restaurant. They said they were going to kill me and called me a ‘dirty Jew’, a ‘stinking Jew’. One of them had a knife. A colleague came out. They started punching him and throwing chairs.”

In Hampstead Garden Suburb, swastikas and the words “Kill all Jews” and “Allah” were daubed on the house and car of Justin Stebbing. Dr Stebbing, who works at a hospital, said: “I felt violated. It’s horrible.”

Jon Benjamin, of the Board of Deputies, said: “The problem is the spin that Israel is an irredeemably evil regime, and we are concerned that it may become common currency to connect British Jews with this.”

The Association of Chief Police Officers said: “Our National Community Tension Team are alert to recent incidents. We are working with the CST. We are strongly encouraging reporting of incidents.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2339394,00.html

Vancouver

09-04-2006, 01:31 AM

One of the people picked up in the China Town sweep is Abu Abdullah (picture), head of the Finsbury Park Mosque and a former underling of Abu Hamza. At least 17 homes are being searched.

Petronas

09-08-2006, 12:05 PM

EXCLUSIVE: NEW ISLAM CONVERTS HELD
4 September 2006

FIVE of the men held in the latest wave of terror raids are new converts to Islam, the Daily Mirror can reveal. All of them are the sons of families who came to Britain from Jamaica and the West Indies. They are Moussa Abdullah Brown, 40, from Walthamstow, East London, and Leroy Mitchell, from Brixton, South London, who are both from Jamaican families.

Roger Michael Figaro, who uses the name Muhammed Al-Figari, and Kibly DaCosta, are both from Caribbean backgrounds and live in South London. The fifth is Gilbert Teye Baiden, 24, the youngest of this group, who also comes from a Caribbean family now in London.

Yesterday, his shocked family protested: "Our son is no terrorist." They were speaking from a friend's house as their own home in Brixton was being search by police. His mother Beatrice, 53, said former video store worker Gilbert, one of five brothers, converted from Christianity to Islam two years ago before marrying his Muslim wife, Shawnette. They have a two-year old daughter.

Beatrice said: "Gilbert was a strong Christian like the rest of the family until he got married. Now he wears Muslim clothes and goes to the mosque, but I accept his new religion, which he keeps to himself." Beatrice, a gospel choir singer, said she learned her son had been arrested when police phoned her. She said: "On Friday my sons were coming round for a family dinner. At about 9pm Gilbert said he was going to meet some friends and he left. He didn't come home and I was worried. Then Paddington green station phoned and said, 'We've got Gilbert and he wants to talk to you'. He told me he was arrested at the Chinese restaurant but gave no details."

Police say the five arrests reflect an increasing number of young British blacks who grew up in Christian families but have recently converted to the Muslim faith. They were among 14 men still being held by anti-terrorist police after a swoop on the Bridge to China Town Hallal Chinese restaurant, in Borough, South London, on Friday.

Police believe the group were training to become suicide bombers at a secret camp at Jameah Islameah school in Crowborough, East Sussex. One of those arrested is Abu Abdullah, who is said to have been No 2 in Britain to jailed cleric Abu Hamza. Last night Scotland Yard were applying to magistrates to extend the time they can keep suspects in custody. A source said they were "very confident" there will be charges for serious terrorism offences.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/tm_objectid=17674629&method=full&siteid=94762&headline=exclusive--new-islam-converts-held--name_page.html

Petronas

09-11-2006, 09:18 AM

Threat of up to two million Muslim terrorists, warns community leader
Last updated at 10:29am on 11th September 2006

Britain will face have to deal with up to two million Islamic terrorists unless there is an end to 'demonising' of Muslims, the leader of the most influential Muslim organisation has said. Treating all Muslims as if they were terrorists will encourage large numbers to become terrorists, Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari said.

The warning from the chief of the Muslim Council of Britain - the grouping that Tony Blair's Government has considered the leading voice for Muslims - came amid rising tensions over the increasingly suspicious attitude to Muslims in the rest of society.

Dr Bari declared: "Some police officers and sections of the media are demonising Muslims, treating them as if they are all terrorists, and that encourages other people to do the same. If that demonisation continues, then Britain will have to deal with two million Muslim terrorists, 700,000 of them in London. If you attack a whole community, it becomes despondent and aggressive," he added.

The message from Dr Bari appeared to be aimed at muting criticism from police officers and broadcasters and newspapers who have questioned widely-held Muslim attitudes and at police officers who have called for greater surveillance of Muslims. It appeared to contain a measure of exaggeration - according to the last national census, there are fewer than 1.6 million Muslims in the country.

But by suggesting that a majority of British Muslims may be prepared to support or engage in terrorism the Muslim Council chief may undermine figures who have tried to ward off attacks on Muslims. His view appears in particular to mock Scotland Yard Deputy Assistant Commissioner Brian Paddick, who declared after the 7 July bombings last year that "Islamic and terrorist are two words that do not go together".

In recent weeks a number of senior police officers have called for 'profiling' measures that would pick out Muslims for greater attention in security checks. Metropolitan Police anti-terrorist chief Peter Clarke said last week that thousands of Britism Muslims are now being watched, and last month Met superintendents' spokesman Chief Superintendent Simon Humphrey said it was "wholly unacceptable to portray the Asian community as victims".

At the same time a series of highly-publicised surveys have shown that a high proportion of people are reluctant to sit next to a Muslim on public transport or would feel unhappy to have a Muslim neighbour.

Dr Bari said in an interview with the Sunday Telegraph that he did not understand why "the whole of our diverse community" is being criticised. "We want to isolate that bad people and put them in the dock," he said. "But we all have to work together to do that: police, politicians, the media and the Muslim community."

Security profiling at airports "reinforces a negative stereotype", he added. "When the IRA was blowing people up, the entire Catholic population of Britain was not demonised, so why is it happening to the Muslim community?" he asked. Another prominent Islamic figure also said that extremists had been falsely represented as typical of Muslims.

But Dr Ghayasuddin Siddiqui of the Muslim Parliament said the responsibility lay on Muslim communities to expose and end the threat. Dr Siddiqui said: "Muslim failure to act robustly against extremist ideology provides ammunition to those who wish to pursue the Neo-con agenda by demonising Muslims and creating an atmosphere of fear and hatred within society." He added: "It is up to moderate Muslims to reclaim Islam and for a new generation of young Muslim activists and leaders to emerge who love both their country and their religion." Most mosques have remained immune to change and faith schools need to become more open to the wider society, he added.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=404525&in_page_id=1770

Petronas

09-15-2006, 08:47 PM

9/11 made me happy - terror suspect
Fri 15 Sep 2006

A TERROR suspect told a court yesterday he "was happy" when he heard about the 9/11 attacks. Omar Khyam, 24, and six other Britons were arrested in 2004 after fertiliser explosive was found at a storage depot in London. The prosecution alleges they had al-Qaeda links and were planning a bombing campaign in Britain, targeting utilities, nightclubs and the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent.

Khyam told the Old Bailey: "America was, and still is, the greatest enemy of Islam. They put up puppet regimes in Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt." He added: "I was happy that America had been hit because of what it represented against the Muslims, but 3,000 people died, so there were mixed feelings."

Khyam, a former university student and the first to give evidence for the defence, said his grandfather had fought in the British Army in the Second World War and come to the UK in the 1970s. Although his family were Muslims, he had been brought up in a secular household. "They did not pay much attention to religion," he said. He had non-Muslim friends and was sent to a secondary school which was predominantly white as opposed to the local school where there were many Asians, he said. Khyam played football and cricket at school, and at club level.

He became more interested in religion as a teenager at college in Surrey, attending meetings of a radical group, Al-Muhajiroun. On a visit in 1999 to his family's homeland of Pakistan, Khyam spoke to groups active in the Kashmiri struggle for independence from India, he said. The following year, at the age of 17, he ran away from home to Pakistan and found his way to a training camp for foreigners who wanted to receive military training for Kashmir.

"They taught me everything for warfare," he said. This had included firing weapons, such as rocket-propelled grenades. Khyam told the court: "Over the years, I supported the cause of the freedom of Muslim lands from occupation." This had included sending money and equipment to Afghanistan.

He said attitudes of UK Muslims had hardened following the conflict in Iraq: "Before, myself and others may have made excuses against attacks on Britain but now people were silent." He said he did not think two men he dealt with in Pakistan had been members of al-Qaeda, as alleged by the US supergrass Mohammed Junaid Babar. Asked if one of the men had ever told him to carry out an attack on the UK, Khyam replied: "No".

The accused are Khyam, his brother Shujah Mahmood, 19, Waheed Mahmood, 34, and Jawad Akbar, 23, all from Crawley; Salahuddin Amin, 31, from Luton; Anthony Garcia, 24, of Ilford, east London; and Nabeel Hussain, 21, of Horley, Surrey. They deny conspiring to cause explosions likely to endanger life between 2003 and 2004. Khyam, Garcia and Hussain deny possessing 600kg of ammonium nitrate fertiliser for terrorism. Khyam and Shujah Mahmood also deny possessing alu-minium powder for terrorism. The case continues.

• Two men were charged last night over a police operation targeting an alleged network of terrorist recruiters. The operation also involved searching an Islamic school in Sussex.

Mohamed Hamid, 48, and Kibley Da Costa, 23, both of London, face charges including soliciting murder, and providing and getting terror training.

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1361842006

Petronas

09-15-2006, 11:19 PM

he had protested that deportation to France would "disrupt his life." Now we wouldn't want to do that, would we?

Terror suspect deported from Britain to France
Fri Sep 15, 7:21 AM ET

A French-Algerian national suspected of links to international terrorism has been deported from Britain to France on national security grounds, officials said, amid heightened security here. The deportation of the 33-year-old suspect, identified only by the initials "M.K.", took place on Thursday, the Home Office said Friday. He had been in custody for two years, and was alleged to have ties to an Al-Qaeda-linked group. A source close to the case however downplayed the significance of the case. "It is purely administrative," he said. Britain, which suffered a deadly multiple terrorist attack in London in July 2005, is on a high state of alert since the discovery last month of an alleged plot to blow up transatlantic airliners.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: "A foreign national who had been identified as representing a threat to the national security of the UK was yesterday deported to France. The individual has dual French-Algerian nationality," it said, adding that he was the third suspect to be deported from Britain on national security grounds since last year's London bombings, which killed 56 people. She added: "Our priority is to protect public safety and national security .. The British government is grateful to the French authorities for their co-operation in facilitating the deportation of this individual."

The suspect was detained under immigration rules on September 23, 2004. He had lodged an unsuccessful appeal to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission, which hears appeals from foreigners facing detention, deportation or exclusion on national security grounds, but was granted bail.

During those hearings it was alleged that he had links with the Abu Doha terror group, an Algerian group connected with Al-Qaeda. The man then appealed to the Court of Appeal, which deals with cases where people feel they have been unfairly sentenceed, in June this year but on August 4 that appeal was also dismissed.

Siac heard that the man has a "common-law wife" who is British and a daughter. The couple had undergone a form of Islamic marriage. According to judicial sources, he had protested that deportation to France would "disrupt his life." The Home Office spokeswoman said that authorities have a commitment to protect British citizens. "Where a foreign national living in the UK is a threat to this country we will seek to deport them," she said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060915/wl_uk_afp/britainfranceattacks

Petronas

09-17-2006, 07:59 PM

Plan to blow up Parliament 'was just a joke', gang leader tells bomb plot trial
16/09/2006

One of the leaders of a gang of Muslims allegedly planning to attack Britain joked about bombing the House of Commons during Prime Minister's Questions, a court was told yesterday. Omar Khyam, from Crawley, West Sussex, said he had joked with friends about attacking Parliament but never meant it to be taken seriously.

Giving evidence in the second day of his defence at the Old Bailey, Khyam, 24, said he had been watching television in the flat he shared with Mohammed Babar, an American. "I remember watching, on Wednesday, Prime Minister's Questions. I said 'Imagine if you dropped a bomb right then and there. It would take out all the MPs'." He said Babar and two other friends from Britain, "just laughed" and claimed that it was neither a serious proposition nor a plan.

But asked if he had ever met any members of al-Qa'eda, Khyam admitted: "Yes, probably."

Khyam admitted paying for a training camp on the Afghan border but said it was "just two tents and a few guns" and denied there had been any explosives training.

He said he had visited a town in the tribal area of Pakistan, near Afghanistan, where it was possible to buy detonators for 20p but said he had never wanted to purchase any. He admitted he had brought aluminium powder, one of the components for a home-made bomb, into Britain but said he had been asked for it by his uncle for painting.

It is claimed that the gang of seven planned to use half a ton of ammonium nitrate stored in a lock-up in north-west London to blow up the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent or the Ministry of Sound nightclub in central London.

On returning from Pakistan in September 2003, Khyam said he brought 10 small bags of aluminium powder in his suitcase, along with a baking tin for his mother and aniseed for his grandparents. He said he had returned to Britain in September 2003 to try to formalise his religious marriage. But he said he was also sending camping equipment back to Afghanistan for "the cause".

Khyam and his brother Shujah ud din Mahmood, 19, along with Jawad Akbar, 22, his cousin Nabeel Hussain, 20, and Waheed Mahmood, 34, all from Crawley, West Sussex, and Anthony Garcia, 24, from Ilford, Essex and Salahuddin Amin, 31, from Luton, Beds, all deny conspiracy to cause explosions. The trial continues.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/09/16/nterr16.xml&DCMP=EMC-new_16092006

NYer

09-18-2006, 11:20 AM

Pity Guy Fawkes didn't think of that defense ...

Petronas

09-18-2006, 03:23 PM

A Scotland Yard spokesman said of his comments: "We have had no complaints about this."The Pope must die, says Muslim
18.09.06

A notorious Muslim extremist told a demonstration in London yesterday that the Pope should face execution. Anjem Choudary said those who insulted Islam would be "subject to capital punishment". His remarks came during a protest outside Westminster Cathedral on a day that worldwide anger among Muslim hardliners towards Pope Benedict XVI appeared to deepen.

The pontiff yesterday apologised for causing offence during a lecture last week. Quoting a medieval emperor, his words were taken to mean that he called the prophet Mohammed "evil and inhuman". He insisted he was "deeply sorry" but his humbling words did not go far enough to silence all his critics or quell the violence and anger he has triggered.

A nun was shot dead in Somalia by Islamic gunmen and churches came under attack in Palestine.

Choudary's appeal for the death of Pope Benedict was the second time he has been linked with apparent incitement to murder within a year. The 39-year-old lawyer organised demonstrations against the publication of cartoons of Mohammed in February in Denmark. Protesters carried placards declaring "Behead Those Who Insult Islam".

Yesterday he said: "The Muslims take their religion very seriously and non-Muslims must appreciate that and that must also understand that there may be serious consequences if you insult Islam and the prophet. Whoever insults the message of Mohammed is going to be subject to capital punishment." He added: "I am here have a peaceful demonstration. But there may be people in Italy or other parts of the world who would carry that out. I think that warning needs to be understood by all people who want to insult Islam and want to insult the prophet of Islam."

As well as placards attacking the Pope such as "Pope go to Hell", his followers outside the country's principal Roman Catholic church also waved slogans aimed at offending the sentiments of Christians such as "Jesus is the slave of Allah".

A Scotland Yard spokesman said of his comments: "We have had no complaints about this. There were around 100 people at the demonstration. It passed off peacefully and there were no arrests."

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23367232-details/The+Pope+must+die%252C+says+Muslim/article.do

Petronas

10-03-2006, 12:40 PM

I have to hand it to those to those British terrorists: they sure have a sense of humor!

Suspect thought fertiliser for construction not bomb
Reuters | October 2 2006

One of seven Britons accused of planning to carry out bomb attacks said on Monday he thought a huge bag of fertiliser contained sand for construction work rather than material for making explosives, as prosecutors claim. Nabeel Hussain, 20, told London's Old Bailey court that he had no involvement in a suspected plot to set off bombs at high-profile targets such as pubs, clubs and a shopping centre.

Hussain, a student at Brunel University in west London, admitted that his credit card and signature had been used to pay for a storage facility where 600 kg (1,300 lb) of ammonium nitrate fertiliser were stored in early 2004.
Hussain said that he had lent the money to another of the suspects, Omar Khyam, without asking questions.

"I had building (sites) in the street, they had bags like that (in the storage) ... so I thought it was sand," he told the court. "He (Khyam) then explained to me it was (going) to be used for renovation work, to do up homes. He was going to store it for some machinery, and I said 'ok'."

He said he was scared when he learnt some weeks later through a mutual friend of Kyham's what the bag actually contained. Asked if he was part of a plan to use explosives to murder people in Britain, Hussain said: "(I) certainly was not. It was against my beliefs, my religion. "It was never something I was part of or wanted to be part of." Hussain is the third of the seven suspects to give evidence at the trial.

Hussain, Anthony Garcia, 27, Khyam, his younger brother Shujah-Ud-Din Mahmood, 18, Jawad Akbar, 22, Waheed Mahmood, 33, and Salahuddin Amin, 30, deny conspiring to cause an explosion likely to endanger life. Garcia, Khyam and Hussain are also charged with possessing an article for terrorism -- the fertiliser. Khyam and Mahmood are also accused with having aluminium powder -- an ingredient in explosives. The trial continues.

http://prisonplanet.com/articles/October2006/021006_b_fertiliser.htm

Petronas

10-03-2006, 01:14 PM

Inmates can buy terror books
October 02, 2006

TERROR suspects at Britain’s main top-security jail are being given access to books which promote HOLY WAR. Muslim prisoners have been given a catalogue featuring fanatical publications which can be purchased by mail order.

Inmates at Belmarsh prison in South London — including hook-handed cleric Abu Hamza — can buy books such as The Spectacle of Death which claims men who die in a Jihad are rewarded with virgins in paradise. Another, Islam on Homosexuality, demands gays should be executed.

Furious prison officers have called for Governor Claudia Sturt to be suspended over the scandal. One warder, who did not want to be named, said: “It beggars belief. We are creating terrorist cells in prison by fuelling their hatred. They are hell bent on creating holy war.”

The catalogue was approved a month ago by prison security chief Nick Clark after it was presented by a local imam. A Home Office spokesman claimed all books were vetted before prisoners were allowed to buy them. But a warder last night said it would be impossible for prison bosses to screen the hundreds of titles.

Fanatical Islamic prisoners calling themselves The Muslim Boys have already terrorised other inmates at Belmarsh. Prisoners have been attacked with knives for failing to join the group. Last month The Sun revealed laptops were seized from prisoners — who used them to watch execution videos.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006450588,00.html

Petronas

10-09-2006, 02:50 PM

Police to toughen approach to Islamic extremists
07 October 2006

Scotland Yard are to clamp down on Islamist extremists demonstrating in London following a series of complaints that radicals are being allowed to break the law, and are misrepresenting the views of the Muslim community. The police are to use tactics deployed against crime bosses and suspected terrorists to target individuals who have called for the execution of critics of Islam and have been accused of stirring up racial hatred. A team of specialist lawyers is also to be created to help the police prosecute radicals, under a proposal by the country's most senior Muslim police chief.

The new zero-tolerance approach follows a series of demonstrations in which Islamic extremists were accused of inciting racial hatred. Last month a well-known Islamist radical reportedly said during a protest outside Westminster Cathedral that Pope Benedict XVI should face "capital punishment" for insulting Islam.

The tough stance is likely to be criticised by some as being heavy-handed and an attempt to stifle free speech. But Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur, Britain's most senior Asian officer, who is in charge of policing demonstrations in London, said: "I'm getting frustrated that these people are using public demonstrations to express their extremist views - and that causes a huge amount of concern among Muslims and other communities. I am entirely against the kind of rhetoric these people put out. Just as the BNP [the far right British National Party] is not representative of the white British public, neither are these views representative of the British Muslim community, who want to be law-abiding citizens. The mainstream Muslim community's view is that these people are doing this for their own ends - and because of the platform the media is giving these individuals, the level of hatred is increasing."

He said he would be approaching the Director of Public Prosecutions to discuss "whether we can develop a cadre of specialist Crown Prosecution Service lawyers who can understand the complexity of what we are doing."

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/article1816828.ece

Petronas

10-16-2006, 06:57 PM

Schoolgirl arrested for refusing to study with non-English pupils
10:27am on 13th October 2006

A teenage schoolgirl was arrested by police for racism after refusing to sit with a group of Asian students because some of them did not speak English. Codie Stott's family claim she was forced to spend three-and-a-half hours in a police cell after she was reported by her teachers. The 14-year-old - who was released without charge - said it had been a simple matter of commonsense and accused the school and police of an over-the-top reaction.

The incident happened in the same local education authority where a ten-year-old boy was prosecuted earlier this year for calling a schoolfriend racist names in the playground, a move branded by a judge "political correctness gone mad."

Codie was attending a GCSE science class at Harrop Fold High School in Worsley, Greater Manchester, when the incident happened. The teenager had not been in school the day before due to a hospital appointment and had missed the start of a project, so the teacher allocated her a group to sit with. "She said I had to sit there with five Asian pupils," said Codie yesterday. "Only one could speak English, so she had to tell that one what to do so she could explain in their language. Then she sat me with them and said 'Discuss'." According to Codie, the five - four boys and a girl - then began talking in a language she didn't understand, thought to be Urdu, so she went to speak to the teacher. "I said 'I'm not being funny, but can I change groups because I can't understand them?' But she started shouting and screaming, saying 'It's racist, you're going to get done by the police'."

Codie said she went outside to calm down where another teacher found her and, after speaking to her class teacher, put her in isolation for the rest of the day.

A complaint was made to a police officer based full-time at the school, and more than a week after the incident on September 26 she was taken to Swinton police station and placed under arrest. "They told me to take my laces out of my shoes and remove my jewellery, and I had my fingerprints and photograph taken," said Codie. "It was awful." After questioning on suspicion of committing a section five racial public order offence, her mother Nicola says she was placed in a bare cell for three-and-a-half hours then released without charge. She only returned to lessons this week and has been put in a different science class.

Yesterday Miss Stott, 37, a cleaner, said: "Codie was not being racist." "The reaction from the school and police is totally over the top and I am furious my daughter had to go through this trauma when all she was saying was common sense. " ...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=410150&in_page_id=1770

NYer

10-17-2006, 12:04 PM

Orwell would be so proud ...

NYer

10-19-2006, 09:14 AM

UK now AQ's Target Number One (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6065460.stm)

Petronas

10-21-2006, 02:16 PM

God strikes with blindness whom He wishes to destroy

Research councils halt Islamist project
Thursday October 19, 2006

Research councils today confirmed they have put on hold their involvement in a government-backed project that aimed to identify the growth of Islamist groups around the world. The decision by the Economics and Social Research Council and the Arts and Humanities Research Council followed accusations by academics that they would be putting the lives of British researchers at risk in Muslim countries.

In a joint statement this afternoon, the two councils said "a section of our academic community" had raised concerns about the research, which they "have to take seriously". A spokeswoman said: "We are consulting further with the community, that has already been consulted with, to make sure that their concerns have been heard. We hope that the study can be relaunched with a more open call."

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has funded the £1.3m project, called Combating terrorism by countering radicalisation. Academics were told to focus on countries that had been identified by MI5. Researchers were to "scope the growth in influence and membership of extremist Islamist groups in the past 20 years", according to a report in today's Times Higher Education Supplement. They were expected to "name key figures and key groups" and "understand the use of theological legitimisation for violence."

According to the newspaper, "key topics" to be scrutinised by academics were "radicalisation drivers and counter strategies in each of the countries studied" and "future trends likely to increase/decrease radicalisation". The research was to focus on six regions - Europe, central Asia, south Asia, south east Asia, north Africa and the Gulf. Six countries were also identified, including Turkey, Jordan and Sudan.

But when details of the research became known there was concern from anthropologists, including a member of the ESRC's strategic research board and members of the Association of Social Anthropologists (ASA). They were worried that social scientists involved in the project and working in Muslim countries might be put at risk, the report in the THES said.

There was also some concern that researchers would be expected to name extremists, which raised "fundamental ethical issues". "People feel that it smacks of the cold war use of academics in counter-insurgency activities - essentially using academics as spies," John Gledhill, the chairman of the ASA, told the THES.

The research row has erupted two days after university lecturers and bosses expressed anger at proposals by the Department for Education and Skills that they should spy on "Asian looking" or Muslim students, informing special branch of anybody they suspected of being involved in extremism. The University and College Union said its members felt they were being "sucked into a kind of Islamic McCarthyism, which has major implications for academic freedom".

http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/research/story/0,,1926567,00.html

Petronas

10-22-2006, 06:37 PM

Police to avoid Ramadan arrests
Saturday, 21 October 2006, 14:58 GMT 15:58 UK

Police in Manchester have been told not to arrest Muslims wanted on warrants at prayer times during Ramadan. Greater Manchester Police confirmed it had asked detectives not to make planned arrests during those periods for reasons of religious sensitivity. The advice was emailed out to officers working in Moss Side, Hulme, Whalley Range, Rusholme, Fallowfield, Ardwick, Longsight, Gorton and Levenshulme. Police said it was not a blanket ban, just a "request for sensitivity". The email stressed the order did not apply to on-the-spot arrests, only the execution of arrest warrants.

The holy month of Ramadan began on 22 September and is due to end with the festival of Eid-ul-Fitr next week. The internal email was sent to staff listing the prayer times, but confusion arose and a second memo was sent clarifying it was not a total ban on arresting Muslims at these times. A GMP statement said: "The primary objective of Greater Manchester Police is to fight crime and protect people. The month of Ramadan is an important time of the year for members of the Muslim community throughout the world. It is important that normal, planned policing activities and operations are maintained, while ensuring that officers are professional and respectful to members of the community while going about their duties."

Liberal Democrat councillor Simon Ashley, who represents the city's Gorton South ward and leads the party on Manchester City Council, said: "This sounds odd but we would need to find out what impact rescheduling arrests had on police operations. "The police's first job is to police. I understand they have a difficult task to do and need to do it sensitively, especially within minority communities, but that can't stop them policing serious crimes."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/6073162.stm

Petronas

10-23-2006, 06:24 PM

Their commitment to tolerance and open debate speaks for itself
12133

http://www.ynetnews.com/PicServer2/20122005/914415/YAT006_wh.jpg

NYer

10-26-2006, 11:15 AM

British Airways Forbids Cross, Allows Veil (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=412609&in_page_id=1770&ico=Homepage&icl=TabModule&icc=NEWS&ct=5)

British Airways has been accused of appalling double standards after admitting Muslim staff may be allowed to wear veils - just weeks after it sent a Christian home for wearing a cross...

Hours later the airline's muddled thinking was confirmed when a spokesman said any request from stewardesses or other uniformed staff to wear a full-face niqab would be given serious consideration.

Huh?

Petronas

10-29-2006, 10:29 AM

Briton backs imam in 'uncovered meat' row
October 28, 2006

ONE of Britain’s most senior Muslims has defended as “a great scholar” the Australian imam who likened scantily clad women to uncovered meat that draws predators. Abduljalil Sajid, a senior figure in the Muslim Council of Britain, offered support for Sheikh Taj Din al-Hilali’s views, saying that “loose women like prostitutes” encouraged men to be immoral. Dr Sajid, visiting Australia, said that Sheikh al-Hilali was attacking immodesty and loose dress, or “standing in the streets, inviting men to do these bad acts”.

Although the Australian cleric did not use the word prostitute, but appeared to be attacking women wearing revealing clothes, Dr Sajid said that the sermon had been taken out of context. Referring to the thrust of the Sheikh’s argument, he said: “So what is wrong in it? Who will object to that?” Dr Sajid, who is on a speaking tour, met the controversial Sheikh at his Sydney mosque yesterday.

Sheikh al-Hilali bowed yesterday to pressure and agreed not to preach for three months. But he defied those pressing for him to quit as the leading Muslim cleric in Australia.

After meeting him yesterday, Dr Sajid said: “As far as I am concerned he is a great scholar and he has a great knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence.” Dr Sajid added that he believed that the inflammatory excerpts from a speech, given last month, had been quoted out of context. “I respect his views. His intentions are noble in order to make morality and modesty part of our overall society,” the British cleric said.

Sheikh al-Hilali, who is the Mufti of Australia, delivered his remarks to hundreds of Muslims in his mosque. He likened immodestly dressed women to meat that attracted predators and suggested that they were to blame for being set upon by men. “If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside on the street . . . and the cats come and eat it, whose fault is it, the cats or the uncovered meat? The uncovered meat is the problem,” he said.

Dr Sajid said that he had advised the sheikh, in future, to think before he spoke.

However, after the meeting with Dr Sajid, Sheikh al-Hilali told a media contingent inquiring if he would resign: “After we clean the world of the White House first.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2425971,00.html

Petronas

11-01-2006, 12:57 PM

Livingstone backs terrorist's Tube job
1st November 2006

Ken Livingstone today defended the right of Abu Hamza's son to work for a Tube contractor - despite his conviction for terrorism in Yemen. Mohammed Kamel Mostafa, 25, from Wembley, was given a security pass and had access to restricted areas - including tunnels under Parliament - during his time as a labourer at nights and weekends on the Underground.

But the Mayor said he doubted the veracity of any conviction from Yemen and said Mostafa had passed Tube security checks. He said it was wrong to restrict his ability to work simply because he was the son of Abu Hamza. Mr Livingstone said: "Has he broken any laws here in Britain? The answer is no. We are happy to have him working for us. No one can be blamed for what their parents do. All we ask is that they respect the law of the land and do not hurt anyone."

He added: "In this country a person cannot be sacked for what their parents do. It is the actions of Mohammed Kamel Mostafa himself which are relevant. However, Mr Mostafa has convictions in Yemen. These must be taken into account. They should have been brought to light by those doing the security checks, the failure to do so must be investigated. As he failed to declare these to the subcontractor they are correct to dismiss him."

His extraordinary intervention came after Tube chiefs were accused of an appalling blunder after allowing Mostafa to work in restricted areas. He was employed by a sub-contractor working for Tube Lines, the private sector consortia which looks after the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines. The Jubilee line serves Westminster, the most politically sensitive station on the Underground and where security is supposed to be at its highest level.

Working as a labourer on the Jubilee line would have given Mostafa - jailed in Yemen in 1999 for plotting to kill Western tourists - access to the labyrinth of tunnels at Westminster and where the Tube runs virtually under Parliament. Mostafa and his father were central figures at the Finsbury Park mosque when it was taken over by hardliners. Hamza, 48, is serving seven years for inciting murder and preaching racial hatred during sermons there.

Labour MP Andrew Dismore said today of Mostafa: "It beggars belief. It wasn't like he was nicked for shoplifting. It was terror offences in Yemen. You would think the Underground would be particularly sensitive to terrorism."

Questions are being asked over the Tube's security checks, which were supposed to have been increased following the 7/7 atrocities. Brian Cooke, chairman of the passenger watchdog TravelWatch, said: "It is surprising that LU does not appear to have greater control over the reference checks of people employed by contractors."

Mostafa was only stopped from working on the Tube when colleagues recognised him and informed bosses, who withdrew his pass. LU chiefs tried to play down Mostafa's employment, saying he was allowed to work because "he has no criminal convictions in the UK".

LU pointed out that he was not Tube staff but was employed by a "minor" sub-contractor. An LU spokesman said it was up to the contractor - which he refused to name - and not LU to make criminal checks. The spokesman added: "The question of whether the checks were tight enough is a matter for the Government to address. We don't do criminal checks on every single individual who comes on to London Underground."

It was claimed that Mostafa had worked only for "a few weekends" on the network. Asked if LU checked the contractors to ensure they were carrying out the specified vetting procedures, the spokesman added: "There is an assumption that criminal checks are made." He said there were "spot checks" - but not as a regular and ongoing process.

The security blunder by the company was described as "appalling" by the father of one of the victims of the 7/7 bombings, in which 52 commuters were murdered. John Taylor, who lost his daughter Carrie, 24, in the attacks, said he was "shocked and stunned". The security manager from Billericay said: "This man is a convicted terrorist and he has been allowed access to some of the most sensitive areas of the Tube."

Mostafa had previously attempted to forge a career in rap, with lyrics describing waging holy war and dying for Allah.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=413597&in_page_id=1770&ico=Homepage&icl=TabModule&icc=NEWS&ct=5

Petronas

11-03-2006, 02:42 PM

Veiled Muslim stopped from boarding a bus
2nd November 2006

A MUSLIM woman was prevented from getting on a bus in Greater Manchester because she would not remove her veil. The 22-year-old Manchester University student from Oldham says other passengers laughed when the driver refused to let her on because he could not check her identity with her bus pass.

Now the driver's bosses at First Manchester are to meet with their trade association, the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT), to seek advice on how to deal with the problem if other passengers with photo passes refuse to lift their veils. They say they have received no complaint from the woman and have been unable to track down the driver concerned.

The student, who didn't want to be named, tried to board the 59 bus to Oldham. She said: "The driver asked to see my pass, but it has my photo on and he couldn't see my face. "I told him I would not remove my veil and he said I couldn't get on." She is now offering to help the company draw up guidance to drivers.

She said: "It is understandable because the driver has his duty, although he said it in quite a rude manner. It wasn't nice and other passengers were laughing. Bus drivers should be told how to deal with this situation. The veil is my choice and my religious duty. I am willing to go in and help the company so everyone knows what to do."

A First Manchester spokesman said: "We have investigated this incident thoroughly but found no complaint on our system. A women has now identified herself as the person in this situation. However, an official complaint was not registered. Under regulations passengers are required to confirm their identity if using a photo bus pass. If passengers aren't able to do this they will still be able to travel by paying for their trip."

A CPT spokesman said: "We have not heard of this happening before and as our meeting with First has not been held yet, we can't really talk about it."

One bus driver at Oldham bus station, who didn't want to be named, said: "What are we supposed to do? What is the point of a pass if you can't see someone's face? It hasn't happened to me yet but nobody has told me what I should do if it does."

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/227/227125_veiled_muslim_stopped_from_boarding_a_bus.h tml?ref=emtaf&archive=archive

Petronas

11-04-2006, 11:41 AM

Muslim 'wanted new 9/11'
November 04, 2006

A MUSLIM accused of inciting murder during a protest wanted a new 9/11 across Europe, a court heard yesterday. Mizanur Rahman, 23, was also said to have called for the “indiscriminate killing” of American and British troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is alleged to have made the remarks as he demonstrated outside the Danish Embassy in London after cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad appeared in a Danish newspaper.

Rahman is said to have told fellow demonstrators: “Oh Allah, we want to see another 9/11 in Iraq, another 9/11 in Denmark, another 9/11 in Spain, in France, all over Europe. Oh Allah, destroy all of them.”

The Old Bailey was told he was filmed carrying placards with the slogans “let’s annihilate those who insult Islam” and “behead those who insult Islam”. Rahman, of Palmers Green, North London, denies all the charges. The trial continues.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006510314,00.html

Vancouver

11-06-2006, 06:42 AM

About the "gas limos" plotter Dhiren Barot, a Muslim convert:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6120560.stm
He will be sentenced Tuesday.

Vancouver

11-07-2006, 12:45 PM

About the "gas limos" plotter Dhiren Barot, a Muslim convert:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6120560.stm
He will be sentenced Tuesday.
He got 40 years to life:
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/11/07/uk.bomb.plot.ap/index.html

Casey

11-07-2006, 10:37 PM

Air Malta confirms Al-Qaeda terrorist was a former employee

United Kingdom / Europe & Russia
Date: Nov 07, 2006 - 09:22 PM

by di-ve news

LONDON/MALTA (di-ve news)--November 07, 2006 - 2015CET - National airline Air Malta confirmed that Mr Dhiren Barot, who was given a life sentence for plotting to kill thousands with massive bomb attacks in the London underground, was an Air Malta employee betwwn 1991 and 1995.

Barot, boss of the British al-Qaeda cell, worked for Air Malta as a junior ticket and reservations agent at the airline's office in Regent Street, London. Barot was 19 years when he joined Air Malta.

The terrorism charges he faced were linked to activities he carried out five to six years after terminating his job with Air Malta. The national airline pointed out that during his employment, there were no reports of wrongdoings by Mr Barot.

Air Malta's last contact or association with Mr. Barot was on the 29th September 1995, the date of his resignation from his employment.

http://www.di-ve.com/dive/portal/portal.jhtml?id=255857&pid=23

NYer

11-10-2006, 01:26 PM

Britain's spy chief warns of terrorist plots. (http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-11-10T114730Z_01_L09677345_RTRUKOC_0_US-SECURITY-BRITAIN.xml&pageNumber=0&imageid=&cap=&sz=13&WTModLoc=NewsArt-C1-Article)

Muslim extremists are plotting at least 30 major terrorist attacks in Britain and the threats could involve chemical and nuclear devices, a British spy chief said.

Eliza Manningham-Buller, head of domestic spy agency MI5, said young British Muslims were being groomed to become suicide bombers and her agents were tracking some 1,600 suspects, most of whom were British-born and linked to al Qaeda in Pakistan.

"We are aware of numerous plots to kill people and damage our economy. What do I mean by numerous? Five? Ten? No, nearer 30 ... that we know of," Manningham-Buller said in a speech to a specially invited audience in London on Thursday evening.

Her remarks were posted on the MI5 Web site on Friday.

"These plots often have links back to al Qaeda in Pakistan and through those links al Qaeda gives guidance and training to its largely British foot soldiers here," she added.

The warnings were not intended to alarm but to paint a frank picture of the al Qaeda threat, she said, adding that it was sustained and growing.

"And it is not just the UK, of course," she warned. "Other countries also face a new terrorist threat: from Spain to France to Canada and Germany."

1600 Muslims under surveillance? Had this been the US, CAIR would be calling for Impeachment Hearings already ...

NYer

11-13-2006, 08:14 AM

Islamists infiltrate Four UK Universities. (http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006/11/13/story_13-11-2006_pg7_1)

Islamic extremists have infiltrated at least four British universities to radicalise Muslim students, says a “troubleshooting” imam who sends teams to campuses to tackle indoctrination, The Sunday Times reported. Sheikh Musa Admani believes fundamentalists are bypassing campus bans on groups with radical links by presenting themselves as “ordinary Muslims” to fellow students or forming societies with alternative names. Some students, says Admani, have been so deeply indoctrinated that they are close to travelling to Afghanistan and Iraq to engage in jihad, the report said.

NYer

11-16-2006, 05:07 PM

Al Qaeda plotting Nuclear Attack. (http://politics.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,,1947295,00.html)

British intelligence officials believe that al-Qaida is determined to attack the UK with a nuclear weapon, it emerged yesterday. The announcement, from an officially organised Foreign Office counter-terrorism briefing for the media, was the latest in a series of bleak assessments by senior officials and ministers about the terrorist threat facing Britain.

UK officials have detected "an awful lot of chatter" on jihadi websites expressing the desire to acquire chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear weapons....

And the solution is ... Iran is our friend?

Petronas

11-20-2006, 03:19 PM

Islamic fanatics 'grooming students at 25 universities'
1:29am GMT 18/11/2006

The threat posed by Islamic extremists "grooming" students at British universities has been drastically underestimated by ministers, a leading academic warned last night. Prof Anthony Glees, the director of Brunel University's centre for intelligence and security studies, warned that more than 25 campuses had been infiltrated by fanatics recruiting for so-called jihad (holy war). His comments came as the Department for Education urged lecturers to be on the look out for impressionable youngsters who could fall under the influence of radical preachers.

In a 20-page report the department warns of "serious, but not widespread, Islamic extremist activity in higher education institutions". It asks lecturers to vet Islamic preachers invited on to campuses, ensure that "hate literature" is not distributed among students and report suspicious behaviour to police. Bill Rammell, the higher education minister, said: "It is about all of us working together to identify and challenge what I think is a small minority who advocate extremism."

The report followed comments by Sheikh Musa Admani, a Muslim chaplain at London Metropolitan University and adviser to Mr Rammell, that he was aware of at least four universities in which students had been "groomed" by extremists. The minister said he could not estimate how many universities were affected.

But Prof Glees said: "The guidance is a step in the right direction, but I don't think the threat has been taken seriously enough. From my research I would say this issue probably affects more than 25 universities, not the small handful they talk of. The fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan has radicalised many young men and I think an opportunity has been missed to take serious action against a very real threat." He suggested extra investment should be made in campus security and academics should interview undergraduates to ensure that they were bona fide students.

Yesterday's report outlined real-life cases and how similar scenarios should be handled by universities. This included students being seen logging on to websites showing "somebody making a home-made explosive device". In one incident, the report said, students had raised concerns about a speaker delivering a talk called "Terrorist or freedom fighter?". The report said that in such cases, academics should investigate the preacher's background and consider expelling him from the university.

It also highlighted the case of a member of an Islamic society who complained that meetings had begun to "turn more extreme under the influence of a number of individuals who have recently joined". It suggested universities should suspend funding from groups found to have breached religious hatred laws.

"Should control of a college society or other group fall into the hands of extremist individuals, this can play a significant role in the extent of extremism on campus," said the report. "Taking control of Friday prayers, other prayer meetings and sermons and the use of charismatic radical speakers can be means by which extreme groups seek to spread their messages." It said that some students, particularly those away from home for the first time, were vulnerable targets. It suggested that some "quite rightly" wanted to explore their faith but then fell into the wrong company.

The report said universities – which are often rife with "ethnically segregated communities" – provided opportunities for extremists to "form new networks, and extend existing ones".

Its recommendations to counter extremism included creating "inter-faith boards" to promote events among religious groups, publicising how terror networks operate and explaining how students can report suspicions. It also said suspicious activity should be investigated and information shared between universities.

Faisal Hanjra, of the Federation of Student Islamic Societies, said: "The guidance issued to universities and colleges, whilst improved from previous leaked drafts, will however not solve all the issues, nor does it give sufficient emphasis to concrete steps to improve good campus relations. Any implementation should recognise that demonising Muslims is unacceptable and dangerous."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/11/18/nterr18.xml

Petronas

11-20-2006, 04:09 PM

Al-Qaeda's ‘best assets’ prime UK timebomb
:32am GMT 19/11/2006

British Muslims volunteering to fight against coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan are being sent back to Britain to become al-Qaeda "sleeper" agents, The Sunday Telegraph has learned. MI5 agents believe that young Asian men, who have been trained to take part in the so-called "global jihad" in al-Qaeda camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan, are now regarded as too valuable an asset to be used fighting British and American troops. MI5 and MI6 are working on the assumption that they are being ordered to return to their communities in Britain with instructions to establish secret, autonomous cells and to conduct independent terrorists operations without any direct input from al-Qaeda's high command.

Security sources claim that al-Qaeda is unlikely to send a British passport holder to his death as a suicide bomber in Iraq when he would be far more valuable as a "sleeper" in Britain.

MI5 fears that it is impossible to estimate how many British Muslims have attended training camps over the past decade or how many are back in the UK planning attacks. Hundreds of thousands of people travel from Britain to Pakistan every year, mostly to visit relatives or do business. The challenge facing the intelligence services, say security sources, is to discover which among them are travelling for "nefarious" reasons. The warning was made as the Prime Minister is visiting Pakistan, where British terrorists are known to have undergone training.

Security sources have also warned of the danger facing Britain from radicalised Muslims who are currently fighting as part of the insurgency in Iraq.

MI5 assumes that a "backwash" of violence may be unleashed in the UK by British-born Muslims who have been involved the fighting in Iraq. A security source said: "We may see people who have been ‘blooded’ in Iraq, who are experienced in weapons handling and bomb making, arriving back in this country and they may cause a problem."

Andrew Rowe, a Jamaican convert to Islam who is known to have visited Bosnia in the 1990s, is often cited as an example of a militant Muslim who fought a jihad abroad and returned to Britain to conduct a campaign of terrorism. Rowe, a drug dealer before his conversion to Islam, became known as the "sock bomber" after he was arrested for carrying socks with traces of high explosives, which police believe had come from mortars. He was jailed for 15 years for possessing material which might be of use to terrorists.

It emerged earlier this month that Dhiren Barot, a Muslim convert who was jailed for 40 years for plotting to kill thousands of people in Britain and America, had attended a training camp in Pakistan and was subsequently recruited as a sleeper agent by al-Qaeda. Whitehall sources said he typified the threat now facing Britain.

At least two of the bombers involved in the attacks on London on July 7 last year are also known to have visited terrorist training camps in Pakistan.

Last week Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, the head of MI5, gave warning that it was just a matter of time before Britain was attacked with a chemical, biological or radiological weapon.

She said that up to 1,600 terrorists in the UK were involved in 30 "priority one" plots. Whitehall sources have admitted that it was impossible for MI5, given its current level of resources — it has 2,800 staff — to disrupt every terrorist plot being hatched against Britain.

The source said: "MI5 would have to be the size of the Stasi (the 100,000-strong East German secret state police during the Cold War) to have a chance of stopping every possible attack and, even then, it would be unlikely that it would succeed."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/11/19/wafg119.xml

Petronas

11-20-2006, 04:49 PM

Al-Qaeda has focused on using suicide bombers to attack so-called “soft targets” ... Now Islamic terrorists are believed to have added strategic economic sites to their list.
Energy plants may get armed terror guards
November 19, 2006

A SPECIAL armed police force is being proposed to protect Britain’s main oil, gas and electricity installations from terrorist attack by Al-Qaeda.
Whitehall security officials are suggesting that key sites such as the Milford Haven gas terminal on the Welsh coast and national grid power stations that supply London and other cities should be protected by police armed with machineguns.

The move follows intelligence reports in September that at least two known Al-Qaeda suspects had been spotted reconnoitring a huge gas pipeline facility at Bacton on the Norfolk coast. Bacton is made up of five separate terminals and handles about a quarter of the country’s gas, processing supplies from three big North Sea fields. It also sends and receives gas to Zeebrugge in Belgium and the rest of Europe through its interconnector terminal. Effectively Britain’s “gas supply tap”, its huge underwater pipelines are critical to the country’s economic wellbeing.

A security source said: “Police received intelligence of reconnaissance of the Bacton terminal by suspected Al-Qaeda terrorists. The suspects were sufficiently well traced [on intelligence files] for it to be worrying.”

Officials say proposals to create an armed force to protect the critical national infrastructure have been discussed in the Cabinet Office and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). They fear that infrastructure sites are relatively poorly defended, often only by unarmed security staff. A successful attack could have devastating consequences, blacking out entire cities and cutting off water supplies.

The new force is likely to be created by extending the existing Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC), a dedicated police force that protects more than 40 nuclear power plants and other civil nuclear sites across Britain.That force deploys several hundred officers, many of them armed, at sensitive nuclear sites such as Sizewell in Suffolk and Sellafield in Cumbria. Senior officers from the force are understood to have held meetings in the past month with Cabinet Office and DTI officials to sort out details of the plan.

Patrick Mercer, the Tory spokesman on homeland security, said: “We have long argued for the need for our energy sources to be properly protected. While it’s taken the government an inordinately long time to do something about it, at least something is now being done. I shall be interested to see how long it takes them to put these very sensible plans into practice.”

Al-Qaeda has focused on using suicide bombers to attack so-called “soft targets” such as the London Underground, shopping centres, nightclubs and stadiums. Now Islamic terrorists are believed to have added strategic economic sites to their list.

Eliza Manningham-Buller, the director-general of MI5, hinted at the change in a speech 10 days ago, in which she highlighted the growing terror threat. “We are aware of numerous plots to kill people and to damage our economy,” she warned. The Home Office, which is responsible for MI5, declined to comment on the threat to Bacton or other economic targets.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2460263,00.html

Petronas

11-20-2006, 07:26 PM

Welsh terror targets warning
Nov 11 2006

WELSH people should remain vigilant and not assume that they are immune from terrorist attack just because they live outside large metropolitan centres, a defence analyst warned last night.

Speaking after MI5 warned it was aware of 30 terror plots affecting the UK, intelligence specialist Paul Moorcraft said Wales has been and remains a possible target and training ground forviolent fundamentalists. "There are national targets in Wales such as the Millennium Stadium and Assembly building," he said.

Within Wales, Cardiff is becoming increasingly internationally known through television programmes like Doctor Who and Torchwood. This means there are buildings in Cardiff that are recognised and symbolic. "For all we know London or Manchester will be targeted, but it is wrong to assume that Wales is immune."

Mr Moorcraft, who used to work for the Ministry of Defence and now runs the Centre for Foreign Policy Analysis in London, echoed a police warning that national parks in Wales could also be used for training and team building by terrorist units.

Two of the London bombers attended a rafting course at the Whitewater Centre in Canolfan Tryweryn a week before the attacks last year. Edgeware Road bomber Sidique Khan and Aldgate bomber Shehzad Tanweer went to the centre which later provided police with information. Before that reports had circulated after the 9/11 atrocities that al-Qaeda used the Brecon Beacons as a training ground. After the London bombings the chief constable of West Yorkshire Police Colin Cramphorn warned that "wherever there's a national park you will find them".

Mr Cramphorn was a leading player in the London bombing probe because the bombers were from Leeds - and he called on people to be aware of possible training in national parks.

Mr Moorcraft agreed with his analysis. "The SAS train in the Brecon Beacons so it would be ironic and appropriate for al-Qaeda to train there and we know the whitewater rafting centre was used," he said.

But his views are not shared by those who still feel that Wales is too low-profile for serious consideration as a terrorist target. Bob Ayers from international think tank Chatham House said it was unlikely terrorists would bother with Wales and that they had probably even been scared off from ever training here again. Mr Ayers, intelligence, security and defence spokesman for Chatham House, said, "Terrorists will target places where they'll get maximum exposure. That's unlikely to happen in Wales. And given that Wales has now been exposed as a training area they are not going to return there to train."

But Mr Moorcraft insisted the threat should not be underestimated. "He pointed out that police had been put on special alert at several events at the Millennium Stadium and that Wales was increasingly internationally important. And he said the timing and severity of MI5's statement was significant.

MI5 chief Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller said she did not usually speak publicly but went on to spell out a high level of risk. "We are aware of numerous plots to kill people and damage our economy," she warned. "What do I mean by many? Five? 10? No, around 30 that I know of." She said that 1,600 individuals were known to security services and were under surveillance but there would be others who were not known.

Mr Moorcraft said it was clear that politicians and security services had made a decision to make the public aware of the risks and alert them. "I think she feels it's her moral duty to make people aware. It's obviously a problem, how much to inform people and when? They [politicians and security services] have obviously discussed this and decided it's a very real problem. The threat of attack and the divisions in society are very real and we are under-resourced, in my view."

http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0200wales/tm_headline=-terror-expert-warns-millennium-stadium-and-assembly-are-possible-targets---&method=full&objectid=18078772&siteid=50082-name_page.html

Petronas

11-20-2006, 07:29 PM

Airport worker on terror handbook charges is remanded
Sat 11 Nov 2006

AN ASIAN woman who worked at Heathrow airport was remanded in custody yesterday charged with hoarding terrorist handbooks, including weapons manuals and information about deadly poisons.

Samina Malik, 22, who was a shop assistant at WH Smith at Heathrow, was allegedly found with an al-Qaeda manual, a terrorist handbook and the Mujahideen Poison Handbook on her computer hard drive. She is also accused of possessing a sniper rifle manual, a firearms manual, a handbook for rocket-propelled weapons and a document entitled "How To Win Hand-To-Hand Fighting".

She was arrested on 27 October and charged with four offences under the Terrorism Act 2000. Her lawyer indicated she would plead not guilty to all charges. Malik will face the court again, via videolink, next week.

http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=1667982006

Petronas

11-24-2006, 11:47 AM

Security alert as police lose a briefcase full of dummy bombs on train
17th November 2006

A major security alert has been sparked after police lost a briefcase full of imitation bombs. An officer left the case containing around 15 mock-up explosive devices on a train. He was returning home after using the "bombsî in a presentation to security staff and police.

Among the items are believed to be mock-ups of the device that caused the Lockerbie air disaster in 1988 and of those used by the Animal Liberation Front. One source said: "They are very realistic. If the briefcase went through an x-ray machine you would see fuses and what looks like explosives. "This could cause a massive security panic and chaos if one of these was found on the Tube or someone smuggled one onto a plane."

The incident is a major embarrassment to the City of London Police whose officer mislaid the case. The force's acting commissioner Mike Bowron ordered an immediate internal inquiry. The dummy "bombs" are used in police presentations to alert fellow officers or corporate security staff to what they should be looking out for during searches for explosives. The case is also believed to contain mock devices in the form of video cassettes.

The City officer who lost the briefcase immediately alerted British Transport Police after realising he had apparently left it on the train. BTP officers halted the train and conducted a search but could not find the case. Police had been hoping that it would be handed in after the incident on 31 October but it is still missing.

A City of London spokesman said: "We can confirm that a briefcase belonging to the City of London Police was lost or stolen on 31 October. The briefcase contained training materials used to educate the public about terrorism awareness. An internal inquiry is being carried out to ascertain the full circumstances around the loss of the material. We take incidents of this nature very seriously. We have also carried out an urgent review into how officers handle such material. A number of changes have already been made to ensure we minimise the risk of such incidents in the future."

Police hope that whoever has the case will return it intact, complete with dummy devices. They say this person can return it to a police station or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 with information on the briefcase's whereabouts.

In April, artist Monica Saieva sparked a bomb alert which paralysed west London when she left a series of suspicious boxes with nails sticking out of them in the street. The bomb squad, forensic science officers and ambulances were called out before police realised the items were a hoax. The operation is believed to have cost £100,000. Ms Saieva was arrested and charged with causing a public nuisance but escaped with a caution.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=416982&in_page_id=1770

Petronas

11-26-2006, 10:42 AM

British Terror Trial Traces a Path to Militant Islam
November 26, 2006

More than half a ton of ammonium nitrate fertilizer suitable for making bombs was locked in a rented storage warehouse. A cookie tin of aluminum powder was hidden behind a garden shed. Young British Muslims underwent military training at guerrilla camps in remote parts of Pakistan. Suspects, surreptitiously taped by the police, talked about bombing targets in Britain. Enter a computer technician in Canada experimenting with remote-controlled detonation devices and a collaborator-turned-informer from Queens testifying about secret meetings with operatives of Al Qaeda.

For eight months, the tale of the Operation Crevice Seven has been unfolding in a cramped, windowless courtroom in the Old Bailey in London. On trial are seven men, ages 19 to 34, six of them with family roots in Pakistan. Arrested in 2004, they are charged with involvement in a criminal conspiracy to make explosives to commit murder, allegations that they all deny. Their target, the authorities say, was unclear — a nightclub, perhaps, or a shopping mall, public utilities, a British airliner or even the House of Commons.

But investigators say the evidence reveals the workings of the kind of cell most feared by officials in Europe. Young Muslims, radicalized by local imams and trained at military camps in Pakistan with vague connections to Al Qaeda, plan an attack at home with help from outside terrorists. The July 7, 2005, London transit bombings and the alleged London-based plot uncovered last August to blow up airliners also involved disaffected British youths of Pakistani descent, some of whom had traveled to Pakistan for family visits, study and perhaps training.

In a speech this month, Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, the director general of the British security service known as MI5, disclosed that intelligence officers were watching 1,600 people “who are actively engaged in plotting, or facilitating, terrorist acts here and overseas.” She said they had identified nearly 30 plots that “often have links back to Al Qaeda in Pakistan and through those links Al Qaeda gives guidance and training to its largely British foot soldiers here.” She said other countries — Spain, France, Canada and Germany — faced similar threats. Dame Eliza’s comments echo concerns among intelligence officials throughout Europe that remnants of Al Qaeda’s network, disrupted after Sept. 11, were reconstituting in the tribal areas on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The Crevice defendants deny they were a conspiratorial cell. Some admit to training in Pakistan but insist they had a goal other than attacking Britain, notwithstanding the fertilizer stored near London. They said they supported jihad in Afghanistan and the liberation of Kashmir, a disputed area between Pakistan and India.

One defendant, Salahuddin Amin, a 31-year-old part-time taxi driver from Luton, testified Tuesday that he started donating money to help Kashmir in 1999. Then he moved to Pakistan in 2001 and became a conduit directing assistance from Britain to Afghan refugees in Pakistan, he said. But prosecutors charge that Mr. Amin, who knew some of the other Crevice defendants from Britain, became a link between them and militants in Pakistan. They said he and others attended a two-day course in Pakistan to learn to make fertilizer-based explosives. In videotaped confessions to the British police after his arrest in 2005, he admitted being “mixed up with terrorists” and said he provided a formula for explosives to one of his co-defendants through an Internet chat room.

On the witness stand, Mr. Amin proclaimed his innocence, saying he confessed only after being jailed for 10 months in Pakistan, where he said he was beaten and threatened with a whirring electric drill. “I would never take part in plots like that,” he testified.

Omar Khyam, 24, considered by prosecutors to be the ringleader of the group, began his journey to extremism as a teenager in Crawley, just south of London. Mr. Khyam, a standout cricket player, planned to study electrical engineering in college, but when he was 16 he began spending time with members of Al Muhajiroun, a radical group active in Crawley and dedicated to a global Islamic community under Shariah, the legal code based on the Koran. The group, led by Omar Bakri Mohammed, is now banned in Britain.

Two years later, instead of preparing for his high school exams, Mr. Khyam ran away, leaving a note saying he was off to join Islamic freedom fighters in Kashmir. His uncle told a British newspaper that ran an article in 2000 about Mr. Khyam’s sudden departure that his nephew had been indoctrinated by Al Muhajiroun. Mr. Khyam’s family persuaded him to return home, but not before he had attended a training camp.

“They taught me everything I needed for guerrilla warfare in Kashmir, AK47s, pistols, RPGs, sniper rifles, climbing and crawling techniques, reconnaissance and light machine guns,” Mr. Khyam testified in the Crevice trial in September. After enrolling in college in Britain, Mr. Khyam returned to Pakistan in 2001 for a friend’s wedding and crossed into Afghanistan to meet members of the Taliban movement before it was overthrown after 9/11. “They were soft, kind and humble, but harsh with their enemies,” he recalled in court.

Meanwhile, in Luton, a town on the other side of London and another center of Al Muhajiroun recruitment, Mr. Amin also heeded the call to jihad. His videotaped confessions to the police tell the story of his rejection of his Western way of life, his turn to prayer and the rules of Islam and his political radicalization. It was in a Luton prayer center that he first met some of the men accused of being Crevice conspirators, including Mr. Khyam and a man accused of being a Qaeda operative, Abu Munthir, who was visiting from Pakistan.

Videos showing the slaughter of Muslims in Chechnya and Bosnia jolted Mr. Amin into sending money to “freedom fighters” in Kashmir to buy arms and ammunition. The lectures of the radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri at the Finsbury Park mosque in London shortly before 9/11 and the American-led invasion of Afghanistan helped persuade him that he should join the Afghan fight. Two months after 9/11, Mr. Amin sold his house in Luton and went to Pakistan in search of training with militants, according to his confessions. The prosecution argues that over the next three years, Mr. Amin, Mr. Khyam and their associates entered a hidden world of terrorism with tentacles on three continents.

Secrecy was maintained by using aliases and coded language. Cellphone conversations were avoided. Rather than using e-mail messages, communications were passed through Internet chats or by electronic messages stored for others to pick up later with passwords. Computer hard drives and cellphone SIM cards were discarded and replaced often.

The prosecution’s guide through that world was a Pakistani-American named Mohammed Junaid Babar, who said he worked for the New York chapter of Al Muhajiroun. Defense lawyers portray Mr. Babar as a fabricator and possibly an agent for the United States government. “You are a liar, a deceitful, self-centered, arrogant fantasist,” Michel Massih, a lawyer for one of the defendants, told Mr. Babar during cross-examination last April.

Mr. Babar acknowledged having lied when first questioned by the F.B.I. He pleaded guilty in New York in June 2004 to providing material support for terrorists, and he said in court that he was testifying against the Crevice suspects to reduce his sentence. Yet during 17 days on the witness stand, Mr. Babar, the star witness for the prosecution, told a riveting story.

A militant networker, Mr. Babar said he moved to Pakistan in November 2001 with money and instructions from Al Muhajiroun. A year later, on a fund-raising trip to London, Mr. Babar said, he first met members of what he called the “Crawley lot,” including Mr. Khyam and Anthony Garcia, an Algerian-born aspiring fashion model who had changed his name and is now accused of purchasing the secreted fertilizer.

Mr. Babar said Mr. Khyam told him that he and other “brothers” from Crawley were not just a local operation but reported to a man called Abdul Hadi, described by Mr. Khyam as the “No. 3” in Al Qaeda. In mid-2003, the prosecution said, the Crevice suspects began coming together in Pakistan where Mr. Babar’s home in Lahore was a haven for young, radical Britons of Pakistani descent.

Bomb-related equipment like detonators, fertilizer and aluminum powder that can be used to fuel an explosion, and beans to make the poison ricin were stored in a bedroom cupboard, he said. The backyard was used for small-scale experiments with explosives, including the detonation of a spice jar packed with chemicals. Mr. Amin, meanwhile, was living close by. He said in his police confessions that he had been collecting money and materials for fighters in Afghanistan and passing them on to the man accused of being a Qaeda operative, Abu Munthir, who had once visited the Luton prayer center.

When Mr. Khyam arrived in Pakistan in 2003, hoping to train to fight in Afghanistan, he was told there were enough fighters there, according to Mr. Amin’s confessions. Instead, Abu Munthir sent word that if he was really serious, he should “do something” in Britain, Mr. Amin told the police. Later that year, Mr. Khyam, Mr. Amin and another man traveled to a safe house in Kohat, Pakistan, for two days of training in making explosives, including fertilizer bombs, Mr. Amin said. Mr. Khyam then organized a session in the mountains around Malakand near the Afghan border, allegedly to teach others what he had learned.

Mr. Khyam and a core group of three other Crevice suspects, including Mr. Babar, made their way there by posing as Western tourists looking to visit lakes and glaciers. Mr. Babar said one of the men he brought along was a Canadian named Mohammed Momin Khawaja, a computer engineer, now 27, who is accused of being the detonator-maker in the plot.

Mr. Babar recalled in court that the first test with fertilizer-based explosives failed; the second was moderately successful. “It created a U in the ground,” Mr. Babar testified. “It went down, sideways and back up the other way.” The group videotaped the scene, he added, hoping to produce a “a minimovie-type thing” with Koranic verses or songs, to inspire others.

If Mr. Babar is to be believed, Mr. Khyam became so determined to carry out an attack in Britain that during this time he also took a 10-day trip to seek more guidance from Qaeda operatives. Mr. Babar said Mr. Khyam told him that the instructions from Abu Munthir were for “multiple bombings,” either “simultaneously or one after the other on the same day.” Mr. Babar recalled Mr. Khyam saying that Britain was as responsible as the United States for what was happening in the Middle East and should be attacked. “He said we need to hit certain spots like pubs, nightclubs and trains,” Mr. Babar said.

Precisely how and when the authorities learned of the group’s activities is unclear, but by early February 2004, they had begun one of Britain’s largest antiterrorist undercover investigations. Operation Crevice, aided by the United States, Canada and Pakistan, involved round-the-clock human surveillance, audio wiretaps in cars and homes and video surveillance. On Feb. 20, investigators got an extraordinarily lucky break: a suspicious employee at a self-storage warehouse outside of London called the police to report that someone named Nabeel Hussain was storing a large amount of fertilizer.

The police inserted an undercover officer called Amanda as the receptionist and secretly replaced the fertilizer with a benign substance. A hidden camera was installed and filmed Mr. Khyam when he showed up to check the contents.

The police continued to watch and listen, and their 3,500 hours of surveillance tapes are at the core of the prosecution case. Some of the most chilling conversations played in court are between Mr. Khyam, whose Suzuki sport utility vehicle and apartment had been bugged, and Jawad Akbar, 23, a college student whose apartment had been bugged.

In a conversation recorded in February 2004, Mr. Akbar talked of an “easy” target, like a nightclub, “where you don’t need no experience and nothing and you could get a job.” In such a place, he said, “no one can even turn round and say, ‘Oh, they were innocent,’ those slags dancing around,” using a slang term for loose women. When Mr. Khyam asked what he would do if he got a job at a place like the Ministry of Sound, London’s largest nightclub, Mr. Akbar replied, “Blow the whole thing up.”

In March, Mr. Khyam talked about a simultaneous attack of Britain’s gas, electricity and water systems. “The electrics go off so it’s a blackout, and then the gas lot move in and bang,” he said. “Then something goes wrong with the water, a simultaneous attack.”

In late March, when Mr. Khyam and his younger brother, Shujah Mahmood, 19, also a defendant, bought tickets to fly to Pakistan on April 6, the police feared that an attack in Britain was imminent. On March 30, 700 police officers raided two dozen locations, shutting down what they suspected was a cell and arresting six of the defendants.

They found the cookie tin containing aluminum powder behind a shed at Mr. Khyam’s family home in Crawley. They also found a dozen CD-ROMs giving detailed plans of Britain’s electricity and gas systems that they charged had been stolen from the National Grid Transco utility company by an employee, Waheed Mahmood. At 34, Mr. Mahmood, a father of four, is the oldest Crevice defendant. The police seized a list of British synagogues and computer video files containing parts of an explosives handbook and a military training manual. Investigators also found instructions for how to react if contacted by counterterrorism authorities.

Meanwhile, Mr. Khawaja, who had recently returned from visiting Crevice suspects in Britain, was arrested in Canada. Electrical equipment, described by British authorities as remote-control devices that could be connected to bomb detonators, as well as guns and ammunition, were found at his home. He is awaiting trial in Canada, the first suspect to be tried under Canada’s 2001 Antiterrorism Act.

Prosecutors acknowledge that they have not been able to identify either a fixed target or a date for an attack, but they do not have to. To win convictions, they only have to prove that the seven defendants conspired to cause an explosion “likely to endanger life” in Britain.

Mr. Khyam, Mr. Garcia and Mr. Hussain are also charged with possessing 600 kilograms, or about 1,320 pounds, of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, and Mr. Khyam and Mr. Mahmood with possessing aluminum powder, in both cases with the intent to use the ingredients to commit an act of terrorism.

In considering the surveillance tapes, defense lawyers argue that their clients may have been doing a lot of talking about deadly chaos, but that it was nothing more than talk. Some of the schemes seemed like fantasy, like injecting poison into beer cans at soccer games. Others were more frightening, if true: Mr. Amin is accused of making inquiries about buying a radioactive “dirty bomb” from the Russian mafia in Belgium.

As in other criminal cases in Britain, some of the evidence against the suspects is not permitted to be disclosed — either to the jury or the public — until the trials are over for fear that juries will be improperly swayed. Even the news media is under a strict order by the judge to avoid revealing certain information about the case.

The evidence presented shows that the radicalization of the defendants began years ago, raising questions about how well the British security services monitored militants in their midst before last year’s transit bombings. The authorities continue to investigate any links between the Crevice defendants and the 2005 bombers, one of whom, the government says, had visited a training camp in Pakistan before the attack.

Investigators closely watch traffic between Britain and Pakistan. But that is a significant challenge with nearly 400,000 visits by residents of Britain to Pakistan in 2004, of an average length of 41 days. And it is even more difficult to determine which, if any, of those visitors are militants following the dangerous route of traveling to Pakistan for indoctrination and training.

“Counterterrorism efforts haven’t been able to penetrate the process of radicalization and recruitment,” said Sajjan M. Gohel, director for international security at the London-based Asia-Pacific Foundation. “For every individual captured or killed, there are at least five more coming down the assembly line.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/26/world/europe/26crevice.html?ei=5094&en=e7e6dc6dc5bdf41b&hp=&ex=1164603600&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print

NYer

11-28-2006, 09:30 AM

Captain Hook Loses Appeal. (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=419216&in_page_id=1770)

http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2006/10/hamza1_228x334.jpg

Radical Islamic cleric Abu Hamza today lost his appeal against his convictions for incitement to murder and race-hate offences.

NYer

11-29-2006, 09:00 PM

Sharia Law is spreading. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=Y3UZA1RZGTHK5QFIQMFSFGGAVCBQ 0IV0?xml=/news/2006/11/29/nsharia29.xml)

"Sharia courts now operate in most larger cities, with different sectarian and ethnic groups operating their own courts that cater to their specific needs according to their traditions," he says. These are based on sharia councils, set up in Britain to help Muslims solve family and personal problems.

Sharia councils may grant divorces under religious law to a woman whose husband refuses to complete a civil divorce by declaring his marriage over. There is evidence that these councils are evolving into courts of arbitration.

Faizul Aqtab Siddiqi, a barrister and principal of Hijaz College Islamic University, near Nuneaton, Warwicks, said this type of court had advantages for Muslims. "It operates on a low budget, it operates on very small timescales and the process and the laws of evidence are far more lenient and it's less awesome an environment than the English courts," he said.

Mr Siddiqi predicted that there would be a formal network of Muslim courts within a decade.

Petronas

12-01-2006, 12:25 PM

Londonistan
A briefing by Melanie Phillips
November 15, 2006

Melanie Phillips, a prominent British journalist and author of six books, has written extensively on British politics and culture. Educated at Oxford, her writings have appeared in such venues as the Guardian, the Observer and the Sunday Times, and she is the recipient of the Orwell Prize for journalism. She currently writes a weekly column for London's Daily Mail. Ms. Phillips addressed the Middle East Forum on Wednesday, November 15 on the subject of her book, Londonistan. The following is an account of Ms. Phillips' briefing, as reported in the Evening Bulletin.

Is Britain Lost?
by Joseph Puder
The Evening Bulletin
November 24, 2006

According to British journalist Melanie Phillips, author of the recently-published Londonistan, "Britain stands at the precipice." Both Britain and Europe, she claims, are facing a civilizational test and are in danger of losing.

Speaking Nov. 15 as the guest of the Middle East Forum/Bob Guzzardi Lecture series in Philadelphia, Philips explained that London has become the European hub for the promotion, recruitment, and financing of Islamist terror and extremism, thus mockingly dubbed Londonistan. Britain, she pointed out is experiencing the collapse of self-confidence and national identity resulting in paralysis by multiculturalism and appeasement. In her book she pieces together the story of how Londonistan developed.

Phillips described the British condition in recent articles published on her Web site and in various British dailies. Titles such as Feminized Britain portray the state of denial the British are in. Phillips suggested that the current climate threatens to "undermine the alliance with America and imperil the defense of the free world." She quoted Nathan Sharansky's remarks about her book: "Londonistan is a last minute warning for Britain and for much of the free world."

Sharansky observed moreover that "In dictatorships you need courage to fight evil; in the free world you need courage to see evil."

Londonistan exposes the truth of how Islamic clerics infect young British Muslims with hate and incite them towards violence. Young British Muslims are told that Islam is under attack by the West, they are told that Americans are butchering Muslims in Iraq, and Jews are doing the same in Palestine and, they are told that the Israeli Mossad and the American CIA perpetrated 9/11.

Muslims are the largest minority faith community in Britain, comprising 3 percent of the population, approximately 2 million strong. In London, the Muslim population is about nine percent; more than 700,000 people. Phillips maintains that most Muslims in Britain are moderates. However, there are nearly 1600 potential suicide bombers who are primed and ready to go, according to the latest British intelligence reports.

The British public has been strangulated by their culture of political correctness. Islamic terrorists have deftly exploited British weakness in defending its culture and institutions, and any criticism of Islam is automatically viewed as Islamophobia.

A recent controversy over a Muslim women teacher wearing the veil in class (she taught English and her students could not hear her because of the veil), raised by former Foreign Minister Jack Straw detonated a fierce debate in Britain. Ironically, it became a shallow exchange because the British feminists, fearing accusations of Islamophobia, were silent on the subject and, the general public was equally intimidated. The Hijab (veil in Arabic, meaning cover) is not merely an expression of modesty but a political statement as well, one meant to intimidate other women.

Most Britons do not understand the severity of their situation. In the face of the July 7, 2005 terrorist attack on the London Underground (rail system) by British Muslim suicide bombers, which killed 57 people and wounded hundreds, the Brits pretty much blamed themselves. Many excused the Muslim terrorists with such expression as "It was because of our involvement in Iraq." The Brits, as Philips points out, simply do not realize that they are in a war with an enemy that seeks to destroy them and impose an Islamic way of life governed by Sharia law (the latest polls indicate that 40-60 percent of British Muslims want Sharia laws to govern Britain), thereby destroying their democratic institutions and their nullifying their individual freedoms.

The Islamic war on the West did not begin on 9/11; it started in 1979 with Khomeini's Islamic revolution in Iran. Khomeini then, and Ahmadinejad today, declared their intention to subjugate the West. The Saudis, fearful of Shiite dominance in the region and concerned with Khomeini's impact on Muslims worldwide and the possible destabilization of their kingdom, ignited a race with Shiite Iran that fueled Jihadist Islam. The Saudis spent billions spreading their intolerant and anti-Western brand of Sunni Islam known as Wahhabism. They funded the anti-Western and anti-Semitic madrassas in Europe and the Indian sub-continent thereby radicalizing British mosques and Imams, and paving the way for the creation of home-grown British suicide bombers.

At the same time, while Muslim radicalism was taking shape, a massive wave of immigration from Islamic lands hit Western Europe. And unlike previous immigrants from Asia, Eastern Europe, or the Caribbean, according to Phillips, "Muslim immigrants did not seek to integrate - they sought instead to colonize the host countries."

Phillips charged that the British government has not "combated the ideas that are driving Islamic terror," and that the British government defined a Muslim "moderate" as "someone who does not promote violence against Britons." The British government, therefore, regarded Sheikh Yusuf Karadawi, who promoted suicide bombings in Israel as a duty of all Muslims, as a "moderate."

"We do not understand in Britain that we are fighting a religious war. Instead, we're appeasing it," Phillips said. Why doesn't Britain get it? According to Phillips, "The Brits lost their national identity and values." Moreover, Britain lost control over its borders, and belief in itself as a proud nation. "Britain," Phillips said, has become supra-national, believing in the U.N. and the E.U..." Brits view particularism as exclusive and discriminatory, and thus celebrate the minority Muslim culture. It is a form of self-hatred that infected most of the West, who discarded Christianity and who view with favor Islamic "orderliness."

In today's Britain, every minority member is a "victim" except the Jews. Brits reason that because Muslims are "victims," it is "our" fault. This sentiment, according to Phillips, is an outgrowth of the "cultural dominance of the British Left." There is no talk-radio or think tanks in Britain to challenge the prevailing views and as a result, America and Israel are demonized.

Asked to comment on Mark Steyn's book America Alone, which argues that Europe as we knew it is lost by virtue of disappearing demographically and through cultural suicide, Phillips replied "I disagree, I will not give up without a fight to bring Britain to its senses."

http://www.meforum.org/article/1062

Petronas

12-01-2006, 12:49 PM

Muslim jailed for killing British queen's swan to break Ramadan fast
November 23, 2006

A Muslim man who was so hungry while fasting during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan that he killed a swan to eat was jailed for two months at a court in Britain Wednesday. Shamsu Miah, 52, killed the mute swan at a boating pond in the north Welsh seaside resort of Llandudno September 25 - only the second day of fasting in Britain.

All mute swans in Britain belong to the sovereign, Queen Elizabeth II, an historical quirk dating from the twelfth century. When challenged by police, Miah said: "I am a Muslim, I am fasting, I needed to eat."

Llandudno Magistrates Court heard that Miah had blood on his shirt and white feathers in his beard. Prosecutor Jim Neary said: "When interviewed he said, 'I was hungry, I had to eat the swan so I killed it, I stabbed it. I did nothing wrong, it was just a bird, I needed to eat'."

"The officers told him the swan was the property of the queen and he replied, 'I hate the queen, I hate this country'." ...

http://metimes.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20061123-063919-1824r

Petronas

12-14-2006, 04:12 PM

Blair: 'Muslim may be PM'
December 09, 2006

A MUSLIM could one day be Prime Minister, Tony Blair said last night. Speaking exclusively to The Sun, the PM said: “They said there would never be a woman Prime Minister, but there was. It would depend on how good they were. “The people would judge who was best for the job.”

The Premier also said he would not mind if any of his children wanted to marry a Muslim, saying: "I would respect it, if that was their decision and they were in love and happy." ...

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006570172,00.html

Petronas

12-21-2006, 04:31 PM

Tube 'wide open' to terror attack
Wednesday December 20, 2006 3:58 PM

London's Underground system remains wide open to terrorist attack because the Government has been hugely complacent about safety, the Tories have warned. Homeland security spokesman Patrick Mercer said that "virtually nothing" had been done to make the Tube less vulnerable after the July 7 attacks. Suicide bombers killed 52 people on the capital's transport network last year, and it has been highlighted as a target of at least one other plot.

Mr Mercer told Parliamentary Monitor magazine: "The Tube is wide open to further attacks and very little has been done to make it any safer. The Government is hugely complacent about Tube safety and security. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, when he was detained by the Americans four years ago, said that one of his principal targets was the London Underground, and that has been clear for years. Since then, we have had a successful attack that killed 52 and injured about 700; we have had an attempted attack that failed on July 21; and we have almost certainly had foiled attacks as well. What has happened to make the tube safer? Virtually nothing. Apart from the Jubilee Line, there are no signs telling you what to do in the event of an emergency. There are signs telling you not to put your feet on the seats and to turn down your iPod, but nothing to tell you what to do in an emergency."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uklatest/story/0,,-6293375,00.html

NYer

12-21-2006, 05:07 PM

And in a related story, London bracing for attack. (http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/12/london_braces_f.html)

"It is not a matter of if there will be an attack, but how bad the attack will be," an intelligence official told ABCNews.com.

Authorities say they are seeking at least 18 suspected suicide bombers.

Ho, ho, ho indeed.

Petronas

12-23-2006, 12:39 AM

It would seem the Brits have come across something that makes them REALLY nervous.

Al-Qaeda threat graver than Second World War or IRA - UK official
LONDON, Dec 22

The danger from al-Qaeda terrorists represents the gravest threat against the UK since the Second World War, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair said Friday. Sir Ian told BBC domestic radio the threat of an attempted terror attack on the UK is "ever present," and of an "unparalleled nature and growing." It is also worse than the threat posed by the IRA at the height of the Troubles, he said.

But he said police had "no specific intelligence" about a Christmas plot against the country. "The threat of another terrorist attempt is ever present. Christmas is a period when that might happen. We have no specific intelligence" as what to do with that. "It is a far graver threat in terms of civilians than either the Cold War or the Second World War. It's a much graver threat than that posed by Irish Republican terrorism," he noted. ...

http://www.kuna.net.kw/home/story.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=936540

Petronas

12-24-2006, 10:17 AM

Secret Scottish base training anti-terror squads
Mon 4 Dec 2006

A SECRETIVE new government office has been set up to prepare Scottish police forces for a terrorist attack using nuclear, chemical or biological weapons, The Scotsman has learned. The new Home Office bureau in Edinburgh is part of an urgent government drive to train thousands of officers to use the equipment that would be required in the event of a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) attack. Experts from the new office are also working with senior officers to revise and update contingency plans and emergency procedures.

The new training and preparation campaign comes amid increasingly urgent warnings from intelligence chiefs about the threat to the UK from terrorists using weapons of mass destruction.

In recent weeks, the Home Office, which has final responsibility for all anti-terrorism policing in the UK, has quietly established the Police National CBRN Operational Response Programme. More than 7,000 police officers across the UK have so far been trained in CBRN readiness, but government planners want to go much further, according to a document prepared by the civil contingencies secretariat at the Cabinet Office.

The Cabinet Office report, distributed to planning staff in emergency services and local governments, says the operational response programme's objectives are:

• The training of several thousand more officers
• The purchase of new equipment
• The adoption of a UK-wide response to a CBRN incident
• The provision of a co-ordination role for advice and audit.

The Home Office last night refused to discuss the size and budget of the programme. "We are not disclosing details for security reasons," said a spokeswoman. However, The Scotsman understands that Edinburgh is one of two sites chosen for the programme's work. The other office is at Ryton, near Coventry.

The Edinburgh office, which would be overseen by the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, is being jointly funded by the Home Office and the Scottish Executive. Both offices became operational in September, although their creation has never been publicly announced.

British security officials are becoming increasingly worried about the possibility of a terrorism "spectacular" using dangerous material. In particular, counter-terrorism officers fear the use of a "dirty bomb," a device that uses conventional explosives to scatter radioactive material. Dhiren Barot, a British Muslim convert, was last month sentenced to 40 years in jail for planning terrorist attacks, including using a dirty bomb.

According to one counter-terrorism official, such a device would only need to contain a tiny amount of radioactive material to panic the public. "They don't need enough to seriously contaminate a target, they just need enough to make a Geiger counter needle move just a tiny bit after a bomb blast, because then we have to go through all the precautions of sealing the area and decontaminating just in case," the official said. "There's also the panic factor: people would hear about a radiation attack and naturally become very anxious."

The MI5 director-general, Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, last month gave a rare public speech in which she said that future terrorist plots "will include the use of chemicals, bacteriological agents, radioactive materials and even nuclear technology".

Separately, intelligence officials at the Foreign Office have said there is "no doubt whatsoever" that Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network is seeking to gain access to nuclear and radioactive material to use in future terrorist attacks.

Last month, the Centre for Disaster Management at Coventry University concluded that Scotland has failed to prepare properly for a major disaster such as a serious terrorist attack. Any chemical, biological or nuclear attack would require the rapid movement of large numbers of people away from the affected area. But among the critical "gaps" in planning singled out by the Coventry study was Scotland's failure to carry out a single mass evacuation exercise to prepare for such an attack. ...

http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1795362006

Petronas

12-28-2006, 01:12 AM

Police chief demands M25 'ring of steel' to foil attacks
Last updated at 11:00am on 27th December 2006

A police chief is demanding that a "ring of steel" is created around the M25 to protect London from terrorist attacks. Officers armed with mobile number plate scanners would patrol the motorway 24 hours a day, seven days a week under new proposals. They would be backed up by a network of fixed cameras capable of reading thousands of registration plates every minute.

It would mean the Met taking over control of the 117-mile motorway, which is currently patrolled by six different forces, and would help officers track the movements of criminal gangs and terrorists believed to be targeting the capital.

The senior Met officer who drew up the plans believes the current fragmented approach to policing the M25 aids terrorism by risking the loss of intelligence between the Met, Thames Valley, Hertfordshire, Kent, Essex and Surrey forces. He said that by handing control of the motorway to one force, criminals could be stopped from having "unfettered" use of it.

The cameras take details of number plates which are automatically checked against police records of stolen or wanted vehicles. The officer, who asked not to be named, added: "I am keen that the Met takes over the M25. It is an opportunity to put a ring of steel around London." ...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=424945&in_page_id=1770

Petronas

12-28-2006, 07:41 AM

Terror alert over executive jets flying into Britain
27.12.06

The Government's terrorism watchdog is to call for tighter checks on executive jets arriving in Britain amid concern that foreign militants could use them to enter the country. In a report to ministers, Lord Carlile of Berriew will raise fears about a loophole in flight notification rules that means the UK authorities are only told about the last place an aircraft took off from and not its original point of departure.

This means that an aircraft that takes off from the Middle East, Pakistan or other potential danger spot and touches down briefly in Paris is listed only as coming from France.

Lord Carlile, a QC appointed by the Government to monitor its counterterrorism measures, believes this is a potentially serious weakness that could be exploited by terrorists. The risk, he says, is greatest at small airfields, which are heavily used by private jets but where scrutiny by the police and immigration services is less intense. The peer also points out that because flight details can be provided by an incoming aircraft as little as three hours before departure, there is only minimal time for the British authorities to react even if there are concerns about a plane.

Lord Carlile's warning comes days after potential flaws in Britain's border controls were exposed by the conviction of a gang that used a private aircraft to smuggle in at least 40 illegal immigrants for £7,000 each. Pilot Wyatt Anderson, 49, from Camberley, Surrey, was jailed for using airstrips at Lamberhurst in Kent and Bourne in Cambridgeshire to fly in illegal immigrants from remote airstrips in France and Belgium using his six-seater Cherokee. The trial judge said the racket, which used airstrips where there were no passport controls, exposed a " worrying weakness" in Britain's security.

In his forthcoming report on terrorism laws, Lord Carlile will raise similar fears and warn that although scrutiny of executive flights has improved, potential weaknesses remain. "In my view, we need to retain a high level of vigilance in relation to executive jet travel which at times has been under-policed," he said.

He added that gaps in the flight plans submitted by inbound aircraft were a prime concern. "There are examples of oor practice. If a plane were to start from Algiers or Islamabad and it were to land, however briefly, in any other EU country, then it would appear on the notification as a plane flying in from there," he said.

"We need to ensure that better information-sharing protocols exist that would show the origins of such aircraft to the police and others who might be interested in them."

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23379596-details/Terror%20alert%20over%20executive%20jets%20flying% 20into%20Britain/article.do

Petronas

01-10-2007, 01:36 AM

'The hero of Islam is the one who separated his head from his shoulders.'
'We have to rule ourselves and we have to rule the others.'
'Allah has created the woman deficient.'
if a girl 'doesn't wear hijab, we hit her'.
'The time is fast approaching where the tables are going to turn and the Muslims are going to be in the position of being uppermost in strength and, when that happens, people won't get killed - unjustly.'

Leaders of the mosques have expressed concern at the preachers' activities, saying they were unaware such views were being disseminated.
Captain Renault: I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here! ("Casablanca")

Revealed: preachers' messages of hate
Sunday January 7, 2007

An undercover investigation has revealed disturbing evidence of Islamic extremism at a number of Britain's leading mosques and Muslim institutions, including an organisation praised by the Prime Minister. Secret video footage reveals Muslim preachers exhorting followers to prepare for jihad, to hit girls for not wearing the hijab, and to create a 'state within a state'. Many of the preachers are linked to the Wahhabi strain of Islam practised in Saudi Arabia, which funds a number of Britain's leading Islamic institutions.

A forthcoming Channel 4 Dispatches programme paints an alarming picture of how preachers in some of Britain's most moderate mosques are urging followers to reject British laws in favour of those of Islam. Leaders of the mosques have expressed concern at the preachers' activities, saying they were unaware such views were being disseminated.

At the Sparkbrook mosque, run by UK Islamic Mission (UKIM), an organisation that maintains 45 mosques in Britain and which Tony Blair has said 'is extremely valued by the government for its multi-faith and multicultural activities', a preacher is captured on film praising the Taliban. In response to the news that a British Muslim solider was killed fighting the Taliban, the speaker declares: 'The hero of Islam is the one who separated his head from his shoulders.'

Another speaker says Muslims cannot accept the rule of non-Muslims. 'You cannot accept the rule of the kaffir [non-Muslim],' a preacher, Dr Ijaz Mian, tells a meeting held within the mosque. 'We have to rule ourselves and we have to rule the others.'

The 12-month investigation also recorded a deputy headmaster of an Islamic high school in Birmingham telling a conference at the Sparkbrook mosque that he disagrees with using the word democracy. 'They should call it ... kuffrocracy, that's their plan. It's the hidden cancerous aim of these people.' The Darul Uloom school said it no longer employed the teacher and that one of the reasons he resigned 'was the incompatibility of many of his opinions with the policies of the school'.

When contacted by The Observer, UKIM said: 'We are a nationwide organisation and hold different programmes in our mosques. We are very concerned about this. We have instructed all our branches not to allow any more speakers with radical or fundamentalist views. This has occurred as a result of an internal problem. We hired out Sparkbrook community hall, and some of the organisations that hired it allowed some speakers with views that are not our own. As a result, no more external groups will be allowed to hire the community hall at Sparkbrook.'

Elsewhere the documentary records the huge popularity of DVDs and internet broadcasts produced by extremist preachers. At the Islamic bookstore at Regent's Park Mosque in central London, DVDs of a preacher called Sheikh Yasin are sold. In one DVD, Yasin, who is promoted on the mosque's website, accuses missionaries from the World Health Organisation and Christian groups of putting the 'Aids virus' in the medicine of African people, 'which is a conspiracy'.

Another DVD on sale features Sheikh Feiz, a Saudi-trained preacher. Feiz says: 'Kaffir is the worst word that can ever be written, a sign of infidelity, disbelief, filth, a sign of dirt.' In a statement the company that runs the bookstore said: 'We sell and supply a wide range of material and we do not necessarily agree with it. It is totally unfair to blame [us] for any of the views expressed in these lectures.'

Elsewhere, another preacher at a mosque in the East Midlands is caught on film, praying: 'God help us in our fight against the kaffir, in every field, in every department of life. We beg you to help us fight against the enemies of our religion.'

Inside the Green Lane mosque in Birmingham, a preacher is recorded saying: 'Allah has created the woman deficient.' A satellite broadcast from the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh, beamed into the Green Lane mosque suggests that Muslim children should be hit if they don't pray: 'When he is seven, tell him to go and pray, and start hitting them when they are 10.' Another preacher is heard saying that if a girl 'doesn't wear hijab, we hit her'.

Another preacher says: 'The time is fast approaching where the tables are going to turn and the Muslims are going to be in the position of being uppermost in strength and, when that happens, people won't get killed - unjustly.'

In a statement to Channel 4, Lord Ahmed, the convener of the government's Preventing Extremism taskforce, said he was worried about the programme's consequences: 'While I appreciate that exaggerated opinions make good TV, they do not make for good community relations.'

A spokesman for Green Lane mosque said Islam does not denigrate women and that the instruction to hit a child was merely a smack. He accused C4 of intensifying the 'witch-hunt' against Muslims.

'Undercover Mosques', Dispatches, goes out at 8pm on Monday, 15 January

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1984530,00.html

NYer

01-16-2007, 11:21 AM

UK Mosques Undercover (http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/186083.php#186083)

British TV aired a show where a cameraman went undercover into some of Britain's largest and most attended mosques. You won't like, and won't be surprised, at what was recorded. Watch them today before some dhimmi at YouTube pulls them.

Vancouver

01-23-2007, 09:45 AM

Five arrests in England on terrorism charges. Several residences searched.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,245871,00.html

Petronas

01-25-2007, 06:04 PM

Replace Muslim schools says top Blair aide
23 January 2007

SCHOOLS which are dominated by children from Muslim families should be closed and replaced with "multi-faith" academies, a senior Government adviser has said. Sir Cyril Taylor, chairman of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, said police faced problems in areas where different communities were concentrated in separate schools. He suggested that such "segregated" schools should be replaced with privately sponsored academies. Bradford and Leeds were among the areas where such changes could be implemented, Sir Cyril said.

But his comments were severely criticised by one senior Bradford councillor who described them as "staggering" and unfairly singling out Muslims. David Ward, a Liberal Democrat who was formerly executive member responsible for education, said: "It's frightening that someone who has the ear of the Prime Minister has these kind of views. He's stoking up the prejudice that already exists in many parts of the country." ...

http://www.yorkshiretoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=55&ArticleID=1986550

Petronas

01-25-2007, 06:10 PM

Islamic leaders defend Muslim officer over handshake snub
Sunday, January 21, 2007

British Islamic leaders today defended a Muslim woman police constable who refused to shake hands with her force's chief because of her beliefs. The Metropolitan Police officer declined to have any physical contact with Commissioner Sir Ian Blair at a passing-out ceremony for newly-qualified recruits.

Muslim groups said her refusal was in line with common Islamic practice and called for greater understanding of cultural differences.

But Scotland Yard said it would not normally tolerate such requests and indicated that the officer, who has not been named, could be fired if she failed to fulfil her duties. A police spokeswoman said: "The officer maintains that she puts the requirements of being a police officer above her personal beliefs and only exercises the latter when she has choice to do so. "Any refusal to engage in this manner would not be tolerated by the Metropolitan Police Service."

Scotland Yard said Sir Ian, Britain's top policeman, had questioned the validity of the woman's refusal to shake his hand at the ceremony, held to mark the end of an 18-week recruit training course. The officer will now be required to complete a two-year probationary period. ...

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=34026&in_page_id=34

Petronas

01-25-2007, 06:14 PM

Muslims in police will rise up, Bakri insists
12:02am GMT 21/01/2007

Moderate British Muslims in the police, Armed Forces and Civil Service will one day revolt against the system to "crush it from within", according to Omar Bakri Mohammed, the notorious Islamic extremist. In claims condemned as a cynical attempt to create division, the co-founder of the extremist al-Muhajiroun group said that Britain was "digging a deep hole" for itself by allowing Muslims into the Services and Whitehall.

Speaking exclusively to The Sunday Telegraph in Lebanon, where he moved in August 2005 — at about the time it emerged the British authorities might charge him with incitement to treason — he claimed police officers, soldiers and civil servants would one day become radicalised.

"When you start to ask Muslims to join your Army and your police you are making a grave mistake. That British Muslim who joins the police today will one day read the Koran and will have an awakening," he said.

"Those moderates are one day going to be practising Muslims. Now what happens if they are British police or in the Army and they have weapons? How much information do they have about you that they will use to serve the global struggle? They will revolt against the system if they have been failed by your foreign policy which is oppressive against Islam, or have been contacted by people who believe Britain is a domain of war."

In remarks almost certain to cause widespread anger among the survivors and relatives of victims, he also claimed that the world was a better place after the July 7 bombings in London. "I believe it is a better place for Islam and Muslims… but not for non-Muslims. What's happening around the world is good and positive for Islam." ...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/01/21/nhate21.xml

NYer

01-26-2007, 10:59 AM

MI5 Warns UK Labs of Qaeda Threat (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=431292&in_page_id=1770)

MI5 officials are warning British laboratories that Islamist terrorists may try to steal deadly viruses.

Scientists and lab staff handling biological agents such as samples of polio, rabies, tuberculosis and avian flu, have been told their security measures will be vetted by police.

The crackdown comes after M15 told the Foreign Office that al Qaeda operatives are training in germ warfare.

The terror network is said to be trying to recruit university students with access to laboratories.

Ayman al-Zawahri, al Qaeda's second-in-command, warned Western states in a video on the internet: "You are facing the Islamic rage... what awaits you, should you press on [with current policies], is far worse than anything you have seen."

Tony McNulty, the Home Office minister in charge of policing, said: "The terror threat is always changing and we must adapt. As terrorists look for new ways to endanger life we have to take action to be one step ahead.

"That is why we are extending the list of controlled substances to prevent terrorist groups using chemical or biological materials as terrorist weapons."

Petronas

01-30-2007, 07:27 PM

Radical Islam By the Numbers
January 29, 2007

According to a new report by a UK think-tank, young British Muslims are getting more radical:

> 37% of British Muslims aged 16-24 want to live under Sharia - compared to 28% overall and only 17% of those over 55.

> 36% of British Muslims aged 16-24 believe Muslims who convert to other religions should be punished by death - compared to 19% of those over 55.

> 74% of British Muslims aged 16-24 prefer Muslim women wear a veil - only 28% of those over 55 agree.

And the most concerning number of all:

> 13% of British Muslims aged 16-24 agree with the statement "I admire organizations al-Qaeda that are prepared to fight the West." Only 3% of those over 55 agreed with the same statement.

Here's a link to the full report by the Policy Exchange - a pdf that runs some 100 pages - which appears to be chock full of interesting info and insights.
http://www.policyexchange.org.uk/images/libimages/246.pdf

http://time-blog.com/real_clear_politics/2007/01/radical_islam_by_the_numbers.html

Petronas

01-30-2007, 07:38 PM

How The UK Threatens US Security – Part One
January 29, 2007

On January 15, Dr. Daniel Pipes participated in a public debate with Ken Livingstone, mayor of London. During this debate, Dr. Pipes quoted former Home Secretary David Blunkett, who wrote in 2003 that "Britain remains a significant base for supporting terrorism."

Dr. Pipes said: "British-based terrorists have carried out operations in at least 15 countries, going from East to West ... Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kenya, Tanzania, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iraq, Jordan, Israel, Algeria, Morocco, Russia, France, Spain and the United States. I give you one example from the United States - this was Richard Reid, the British shoe bomber."

He quoted from American authors who wrote in 2006 that: "The biggest threat to US security emanates not from Iraq, not from Iran, not from Afghanistan, but rather from Great Britain", and concurred: "And I believe this is the tip of the iceberg."

That Britain should be the biggest threat to the US is, sadly, true. Britain has allowed radical Muslims to preach in the country for two decades, influencing successive generations of Muslim youth.

The agencies responsible for this situation are the judiciary, the political executive, the security agencies (MI5 and MI6) and the police. Recently, the signs that these bodies are becoming less prepared to practically deal with extremism suggest a future in which Britain will give more freedom to the radicals on its soil. These dangerous policies could eventually destroy what is left of the "special relationship" between Britain and the United States.

By the time Siri was convicted in absentia, he was in Britain, walking free on the streets of Maida Vale, West London, claiming benefits, and consorting with other radicals, including Omar Bakri Mohammed. While claiming asylum, he set up an Islamist website, the Islamic Observation Center, which published messages from Al Qaeda members, as well as the blind Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman. He was arrested and charged in 2001 for complicity in the murder of the leader of Afghanistan's Northern Alliance, Ahmed Shah Massoud. Massoud was killed two days before 9/11 by Belgian-based members of Al Qaeda who carried a bomb disguised as a camera. Siri was released without charge.

Siri has openly boasted that he can never be deported from Britain. He said in August 2005: "I don't think any British judge can accept any agreement between the UK and any Middle Eastern country like Egypt. Any judge here can take this agreement and throw it in the rubbish basket." Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's current prime minister, has said he does not understand how people "whose hands are drenched in blood" could gain political asylum in Britain.

Another individual arrived from Jordan. Abu Qatada (aka Omar Abu Omar, aka Omar Mohammed Othman) had similarly escaped to Britain to escape justice at home. He had arrived in September 1993, and in June 1994, he was granted asylum. Like Bakri, he was given a house in which to live with his family of five children. Qatada has been described as "Al Qaeda's ambassador to Europe". Videotapes of his sermons were found in the Hamburg apartment of Mohammed Atta, the 9/11 terrorist. Both Richard Reid, the failed "shoe-bomber", and Zacarias Moussaoui, a member of the 9/11 plot, had sought religious advice from Qatada.

In 1998, Qatada was convicted in absentia in Jordan for involvement in a series of explosions in that year. Abu Qatada was arrested in February 2001, when he was suspected of involvement in a plot to bomb the Christmas market in Strasbourg in 2000, the eve of the millennium. He had on him an envelope containing $14,000, upon which was written "for the muhajideen in Chechnya". After 2001, he was designated as a terrorist by the US Treasury, and was arrested again in October 2002.

He was kept in detention, being released in March 2005. He was rearrested in August 2005, under the orders of Charles Clarke, who was then home secretary. The deaths of 52 people in London a month earlier had galvanized the usually apathetic authorities to finally do something about the promoters of terrorism who had been allowed to freely disseminate sermons of jihad and hatred. Qatada still remains in prison, awaiting deportation. He is still fighting moves to send him back.

In 1994, Mohammed al-Massari arrived in Britain as an asylum seeker. He had fled from Saudi Arabia, where he had been a member of Saudi Hizbollah. In 1996, Britain suggested it would deport Massari to Dominica, to avoid conflict with the Saudi authorities. This never happened, and Massari still remains in Britain as a free man.

Massari is a known associate of Omar Bakri Mohammed. Bakri founded the British wing of Hizb ut-Tahrir (Massari was a member of this group in Saudi Arabia, where it is banned). In 1996, Bakri also founded the radical group Al-Muhajiroun . Massari frequented meetings of this group. He has a website, called "Tajdeed.net." This website has extolled the virtues of Islamist murderers such as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and has shown videos of beheadings and other Islamist atrocities.

After the bomb attacks in Amman on November 9, 2005, in which 60 people died, Tajdeed praised the attacks. In the same month, while the city of Paris was wracked with incidents of Muslim rioting which were spreading throughout France and into adjacent countries, Massari used the Tajdeed website to urge Muslim youths in Europe to riot.

There are several more similar Islamists who are living in Britain, claiming asylum. One famous British-based Islamist is Abu Hamza al-Masri (Mustafa Kamel Mustafa), who for years was the imam at the notorious Finsbury Park Mosque. Hamza was not an asylum seeker - he had married a British woman in 1980 while he was a student, and gained citizenship. Hamza too was an associate of Bakri.

Hamza's sermons were listened to by Zacarias Moussaoui, Richard Reid, and two members of the cell which carried out the 7/7 attacks on London Transport in 2005. Shehzad Tanweer and Mohammed Sidique Khan had gone to the Finsbury Park Mosque to hear Hamza preach. Hamza, a friend of Omar Bakri Mohammed, ran a group calling itself the "Supporters of Sharia", which had links with Al-Muhajiroun.

Khan, the leader of the 7/7 cell, had been involved with Al-Muhajiroun members. He had stayed in Pakistan with Hassan Butt, who had been a senior figure in the group, who had organized British members of Al-Muhajiroun to fight coalition forces in Afghanistan. Khan also met with the New York Al-Muhajiroun member Junaid Babar in Pakistan, stated Richard Watson in a BBC Newsnight documentary from October 25, 2005.

The same documentary revealed for the first time that Mohammed Sidique Khan had been under surveillance by MI5 (the British homeland intelligence services) in 2004. The intelligence services had decided that Khan was not "important" enough to continue monitoring. Only after he and three others had killed 52 people was it revealed that Khan had had links to Al Qaeda going back five years previously - he had even gone to Malaysia, where he met Hambali, a senior figure in the terror group Jemaah Islamiyah, and also a known member of Al Qaeda. Hambali is now in Guantanamo. Khan had gone to the Philippines, where he attended the Hudaybiyah training camp, run by Jemaah Islamiyah and Al Qaeda. The information came from a reliable source - Nasir Abbas, former head of Jemaah Islamiyah, who is now assisting Indonesian authorities in trapping terrorists.

What is surprising is the incompetence of the UK intelligence authorities, to have failed to notice a suspect's history. Worse still, the authorities were in denial that Khan had anything to do with Al Qaeda until September 2005, when a video from Al Qaeda showed Khan condemning the West and warning of more terrorist attacks was broadcast on Al Jazeerah TV.

In April 2006, a parliamentary committee criticized MI5 for its failings regarding Khan. A month later, it was revealed that MI5 had surveillance tapes which had recorded Khan discussing the manufacture of a bomb, months before the 7/7 atrocity. The attitude of the police and the intelligence services in gathering information on terror seems to be both apathetic and blundering.

Khan, Shehzad Tanweer and another of the 7/7 bombers had grown up in Beeston, a district of south Leeds, Yorkshire. A computer expert, Martin Gilbertson, had been assisting the Iqra Bookshop in Leeds. He had assisted in compiling videos onto DVDs. Gilbertson claimed that he had sent DVDs to Holbeck police station in 2003, where he announced his worries about Khan and Tanweer's radicalism. He said: "I added a list of names, including Khan and Tanweer, plus the names of people from whom they were receiving emails. Some of those names were quite surprising, because they included people regarded as mainstream Muslim community leaders. I heard nothing back from the police. Not a word." The police denied having received such a package.

On the eve of the 7/7 attack, less than 24 hours before Khan and his three accomplices murdered 52 people, MI5 told members of parliament that there was "no imminent terror attack".

On July 21, 2005, exactly two weeks after 7/7, four individuals attempted to set off bombs on London Transport. Their bombs were not successful, causing only minor ignition and creating panic. These individuals were captured on CCTV cameras fleeing from the scene. On Monday, January 15, these four men and two others stood trial at Woolwich Crown Court. Once again, the details of the trial highlight shortfalls in the ability of Britain's authorities to monitor suspects adequately.

Three of the accused had been regular visitors to Abu Hamza's mosque at Finsbury Park. One of these, Mukhtar Said Ibrahim (illustrated), had tapes of Hamza's inflammatory sermons at his home. 28-year old Ibrahim from Stoke Newington, north London, had attended a terror training camp in Sudan, the court was told. He had also gone to Pakistan between December 2004 and March 2005.

The court was told that five of the individuals who are now on trial had been under police surveillance almost 15 months before they had tried to set off explosive devices. The five individuals, including Mukhtar Said Ibrahim, had been in Langdale in the Lake District, Cumbria, northern England, in May 2004 and had been photographed by police.

Even though five of these individuals had been under surveillance, in late April, 2005, they had begun to purchase the ingredients necessary for their "bomb material". The group had planned to use the same explosive as that which had caused death and carnage on 7/7 - triacetone triperoxide, or TATP. One of the main ingredients for this is hydrogen peroxide. The court was told that the ingredients were assembled in a one-bedroom apartment in New Southgate, north London, owned by Yasin Omar, the alleged "chemist".

What is becoming obvious from this trial is that even though five of the suspects had bought more than 440 liters of hydrogen peroxide, no alarm bells were sounded.

Mukhtar Ibrahim, who is said to be the leader of the group, had been stopped three times by police, but had been released without charge on each occasion. When he traveled to Pakistan, he was stopped at Heathrow airport. He had with him £3,000 ($5,875) in cash, a sleeping bag and a first aid kit. His companion had part of a manual, which showed how to deal with gunshot wounds. Ibrahim had claimed to going to a friend's wedding.

On July 21, 2005, while the other individuals had tried to detonate their rucksacks on tube trains, Mukhtar Ibrahim, the court heard had boarded a Number 26 bus, where he had tried to set off his explosives. Despite 440 liters of hydrogen peroxide being bought by the group, the liquid had not been concentrated, and fortunately the devices did not explode as desired.

The lack of real doggedness by the police and intelligence authorities was demonstrated in Richard Watson's 2005 documentary. A source told the BBC that in 2004, a known terror suspect had been arrested. Mohammed Sidique Khan contacted the source, to find out what had happened. On two occasions, Khan had met the source while in the company of three other men, who had not been the other 7/7 bombers. The source contacted the anti-terrorist police. The person who answered the terror hotline was not interested, and said "No disrespect, but these people could have been anybody."

Sir Paul Lever, former chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, when asked about the 7/7 bombings, responded: "I suppose you could characterize it as a failure of intelligence. I would put it more as perhaps a failure of imagination. It really didn't occur to people that young men, born... in Britain, would go down that path."

Britain is now fully aware that young men can "go down that path", but as I will show in Parts Two and Three, the authorities are not doing nearly enough to prevent similar atrocities. There is more than a "failure of imagination" in Britain's war against terrorism.

http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/global.php?id=668213

Petronas

01-30-2007, 07:46 PM

Cartoon protestor 'only repeated chants of crowd'
Tuesday, 30th January 2007, 14:05

A Muslim accused of calling for 7/7 style suicide attacks at demonstrations against cartoons of the prophet Mohammed told the Old Bailey today he was only repeating the chants of a mob. Abdul Rahman Saleem admitted that when he led the crowd with chants "Denmark you will pay, 7/7 on its way" and "UK you will pay, bin Laden on his way," his words could be construed as being threatening or intimidating.

However the father of five claimed he was not the author of the words and denied he was stirring up racial hatred when he said Danes, Norwegians and Europeans would pay with their "blood." The British Telecom engineer said his words were aimed at the governments of the countries that had allowed the drawings to be published and not individual citizens.

The East London-born Briton of Pakistani descent is accused of acting as a "cheer leader" when he whipped up a crowd of more than 500 demonstrators into a frenzy encouraging them to repeat his hate-filled slogans. But Saleem, 31, claimed when he led the crowd with chants of "Down, down UK" he was attacking Prime Minister Tony Blair and his cabinet for refusing to condemn the publications and distance themselves from the Danish government, the court heard.

Saleem was filmed using a loudhailer to lead protestors with chants such as: "Democracy, hypocrisy; Democracy go to hell, freedom go to hell; UK you will pay, Islam on its way; UK you will pay, Shariah is on its way" as they marched on the Danish Embassy on February 3 last year.

Giving evidence Saleem told the jury that he felt "deep hurt" over the publication and had gone on the march to "lodge a legitimate complaint." But he admitted that his words could be deemed to be threatening.

Asked by his barrister Rock Tansey QC why he said 7/7 bombers on its way, Saleem said: "It was slogans that everybody was chanting. Slogans that I heard, slogans that was on banners, slogans everyone was using in full view of police officers. It was something I said because everybody else was saying."

Asked about his chants saying al Qaeda leader bin Laden was on his way, Saleem justified his words by saying: "All the chants that I used, I said, were chants that was said by everybody. I was not the inventor or author of the chants. They were things in the air."

Mr Tansey asked: "What did you hope to accomplish by saying these particular words?" Saleem replied: "I did not have any particular intention. It was a chant, slogan I just said. It was not something where I sat down and gave it some thought."

Mr Tansey added: "The UK press did not publish the cartoons,at all, only those in other countries." Saleem replied: "I think it's very noble. They are self regulating but decided it was not conducive for relations between communities."

He said the slogans were aimed at the UK government, "not to the UK press, people. I was just hoping our government would take a stance. Meaning the government would come out and condemn and distance themselves from Denmark."

Justifying when he shouted out Denmark, and Norway will pay "with your blood" and Europe must pay "with your blood," Saleem said: We had been on the demonstration a good two-three hours. "They were words everybody was chanting from beginning to end on the demonstration. They were really in my head, they were something I said. I never in any way intended to hurt or harm anybody."

The demonstration was part of worldwide protests over the publication of cartoons in Danish and other European newspapers notably in Germany, France, Italy and Spain, depicting the Prophet in a way some Muslims saw as insulting to their faith. Saleem of Mellish Street, Poplar, east London, denies stirring up racial hatred. The trial, expected to last another three days, continues.

http://www.lse.co.uk/ShowStory.asp?story=CA3033552U&news_headline=cartoon_protestor_only_repeated_chan ts_of_crowd

Petronas

01-30-2007, 08:48 PM

Cameron: Radical Islam is mirror image of neo-Nazis
29.01.07

David Cameron today attacked radical Muslims as "the mirror image" of the neo-Nazi British National Party. He used a keynote speech on race and integration to signal plans for tough measures against extremists on both sides.

Attacking the BNP for preaching "pure hate", he went on: "And those who seek a Sharia state, or special treatment and a separate law for British Muslims are, in many ways, the mirror image of the BNP. They also want to divide people into 'us' and 'them.' And they too seek out grievances to exploit."

The Tory leader spoke out as a disturbing opinion poll found that radical anti-western attitudes have grown in a generation of young Muslims. The survey found that almost four in 10 would like to live under Sharia law and some 13 per cent "admired" terrorists like those in al Qaeda. Mr Cameron said the Conservative policy review would publish a report on extremism tomorrow and pledged to unveil new measures against them before long.

Speaking this afternoon at the New Testament Church of God in Handsworth, Birmingham, Mr Cameron was set to say that many barriers to integration were the fault of politicians. Multiculturalism, he was due to say, was "manipulated" to separate communities rather than help them live together. Warning of "educational apartheid", in his speech he was set to say that poor schools were also to blame because they condemned some children to poverty and were too ignorant to challenge prejudice and extremism.

"Those who get left behind are prime targets for extremists who offer easy explanations and point the finger of blame at other people," he was due to tell his audience. "Young white men are told, 'The blacks are all criminals.' Young Afro-Caribbean men are told, 'The Asian shopkeepers are ripping you off.' Young Muslim men are told, 'The British want to destroy Islam.'" Mr Cameron's speech adds: "The best answer to ignorance like this is a good education."

And the Tory leader was calling for a slow-down in immigration, which "puts pressure on housing, on public services, and helps create division, fear and resentment - among British people of all ethnic backgrounds". In an interview with the Sun, Mr Cameron called for a public holiday on the Queen's birthday to encourage people to celebrate their "True Britishness". ...

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23383444-details/Cameron%3A+Radical+Islam+is+mirror+image+of+neo-Nazis/article.do

Vancouver

01-31-2007, 03:06 AM

Eight arrested around Birmingham on terrorism charges.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6315989.stm

Vancouver

01-31-2007, 05:16 AM

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/01/31/nterror131.xml
Excerpt:
The Home Office said the raids were part of a "major" nationwide operation, and security sources said an imminent terror attack had been thwarted.

Petronas

01-31-2007, 02:09 PM

Father's Shock At Arrest
Updated: 16:42, Wednesday January 31, 2007

The father of one of the men arrested in a series of raids in Birmingham is reported to have said he did not believe his son could be involved in a terror plot. Eight men were seized in dawn raids for apparently planning to kidnap, torture and behead a soldier in his 20s - a ninth was held up later.

Police have said the men are being held at a police station in Coventry. One is aged 31 and another is 29, according to reports. One of the men arrested was named locally as Amjad Mahmood, a 29-year-old shopkeeper. He was described as a Liverpool fan who worked in a local shop and is well known in the area.

Local councillor Ansar Ali Khan said he had spoken to the father of the arrested man. "He was in shock to know that his son had been arrested," Mr Khan said. He described him as "a very hard working local businessman", adding: "He has served the community for 30 years and he is proud to be British. ...

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1249666,00.html

Petronas

02-01-2007, 08:34 PM

'Plot To Kill Straw'
Updated: 16:59, Thursday February 01, 2007

Terrorists allegedly planned to assassinate Jack Straw at last year's Labour Party conference, Sky News can reveal. The plot was foiled by police who swooped on addresses in North West England three weeks before the annual event, it is claimed. Two people have been charged in connection with the plan.

At the time, it was reported police had a number of suspected terrorists under surveillance amid fears of a Christmas bombing campaign. But The Sunday Mirror said at the time that officers moved in when details of the plan to kill the former Foreign Secretary were allegedly uncovered. It claimed group members had visited Pakistan and other countries in the Middle East where they met al Qaeda figures. The party conference was held in Manchester last September.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,70131-1249861,00.html?f=rss

NYer

02-02-2007, 08:19 AM

Father's Shock At Arrest
Updated: 16:42, Wednesday January 31, 2007

Such a good boy.

He’s such a good boy
A real mama’s boy
She treats him like a toy
He’s such a good boy

Carly Simon

Petronas

02-03-2007, 12:08 AM

'BEHEAD' DUO ON THE RUN
February 2, 2007

Two suspected terrorists managed to avoid the massive British police raids that netted nine accomplices in a plot to kidnap and behead a Muslim British soldier, it was reported yesterday. The suspects on the run were described only as members of a gang of British-born Muslims whose plan was foiled by Wednesday's predawn raid by 700 police and security officers in Birmingham, British newspapers said.

Flights over the area were restricted while a spy plane circled Birmingham in search of the two fugitives.

Investigators, who had been shadowing the plotters for six months, decided to act after one of the suspects bought a video camera at a local electronics store last weekend, the British newspapers The Sun and Daily Mail said. Authorities believe the gang intended to grab their victim as he walked along the street, force him into a van and take him to a secret location, where they would videotape him being tortured and eventually executed. The video would be shown on the Internet.

The plotters allegedly prepared an "execution house" for the victim in nearby Tipton, where surveillance aircraft were also spotted Wednesday, The Sun said. Britain's MI5 security service reportedly had been monitoring the plot since it was discovered through intercepted coded e-mails and cellphone calls. The nine arrested men were questioned yesterday at police stations as a judge authorized them to be held for at least seven days. They were seized under the Terrorism Act, which gives police a maximum of 28 days to hold them.

They had allegedly drawn up a hit list of as many as 25 British Muslims in the armed forces, civil service and police. A military intelligence corporal, who had just returned from service in Afghanistan, and a second soldier were believed to be at the top of the list.

Investigators suspect the plot was masterminded by a top al Qaeda terrorist in Pakistan.

Police tried to calm Birmingham's South Asian neighborhoods by handing out leaflets in English, Punjabi, Bengali, Hindi and Urdu yesterday. The fliers declared: "We want to reassure you that the police are not targeting communities or faiths but suspected criminals."

Police continued searching eight homes and four businesses sealed off after the raids. One of the businesses is the Maktabah Islamic bookshop, publishers of a book by Dhiren Barot, who was jailed last year after admitting a plot to blow up the New York Stock Exchange.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/02022007/news/worldnews/behead_duo_on_the_run_worldnews_andy_soltis.htm

Vancouver

02-05-2007, 07:46 AM

Letter bomb in London. Minor injuries to one person.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16986404/

Petronas

02-05-2007, 03:49 PM

Fears of terror mole in UK defence
February 03, 2007 12:00

DEFENCE chiefs have launched an urgent investigation into how a gang of suspected Islamic terrorists obtained a list of names and addresses for 25 serving British Muslim soldiers as part of an alleged plot to kidnap and behead a serviceman. Senior officers are alarmed that the hitlist includes home addresses as far apart as Glasgow and the West Country.

A priority will be to ensure that no Ministry of Defence "mole" provided the suspected terror cell with such top-secret personal information. All those on the hitlist are understood to be serving members of the regular army. The main targets identified by the gang are understood to have served a recent tour of duty in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Police in the West Midlands were given seven more days yesterday to hold nine men arrested in Birmingham on Wednesday. The men are being held in connection with a suspected plan to abduct and murder a serving soldier, whose execution was to be broadcast on the internet.

Defence officials would not say if all those named on the hitlist had been warned. Senior MoD officials met yesterday to consider whether new security provisions were needed to protect the 330 Muslims serving in the armed forces and their families.

New guidelines are expected to be issued to Muslim personnel in the next few days about their personal safety. A defence official said last night: "Such sensitive information about our personnel is kept under conditions of strict confidentiality, so we obviously want to discover how a list of names and home addresses was reportedly compiled."

One British soldier who is understood to have been on a short list of three men to be the first hostage was under armed guard yesterday at a safe house with his family. The soldier, said to be a corporal in his early 20s, is understood to have agreed to be used as "bait" to help flush out the suspected gang of Islamic extremists. The soldier, who had just returned on leave to the West Midlands after serving in Iraq, was told by police that he was a prime target for the alleged kidnap. He was warned of the risks of taking part in the undercover operation. The soldier was kept under close surveillance for several weeks as police tried to identify all those involved in the alleged plot. Police would not normally put a kidnap target at risk. However, as he was a combat soldier who understood the dangers, a decision was taken to involve him.

Counter-terrorism officers and MI5 agents had already spent six months on Operation Gamble. It is understood they had not identified all those involved in the alleged gang. At least two men are thought to be on the run in Britain. Police decided to make their arrests after an intelligence tip that the gang was about to strike. One of the group bought a camcorder, which officers believe was to be used to film the torture and beheading of their hostage.

Three of those arrested appeared at Coventry Magistrates Court before district judge Nicholas Evans, who was brought in from London to deal with the case. The public and media were barred. The remaining six were at the high-security Chace Avenue police station.

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,,21163287-5006003,00.html

Petronas

02-18-2007, 03:12 PM

Muslim fanatic works on trains
February 16, 2007

A MUSLIM fanatic who dressed as a suicide bomber at a rally threatening terror attacks has got a job on TRAINS. Sick Omar Khayam cleans carriages unsupervised for rail giant First Group. And he has even got keys to onboard electrical cupboards.

Furious train drivers last night claimed the safety of staff and passengers is being put at risk. One driver added: “It’s an astonishing security breach. We cannot believe this man is employed in a job giving him access to locked places on trains where bombs could be hidden and never be found. He has keys that could be passed on to others for the electrical cupboards in carriages. It is a risk too far.”

Convicted drugs dealer Khayam, 22, had been filmed dressed as a bomber at the controversial demonstration outside London’s Danish Embassy last year. He wore a sinister camouflage outfit with a black vest. Extremists around him — protesting at cartoons of the prophet Mohammed — waved placards supporting the 7/7 London bombings and calling for new UK terror attacks.

Khayam was sent back to prison after officials ruled he had broken the terms of his early release. He was due to stay behind bars until August 2007 but was AGAIN released early.

He now works nights at First Group’s huge depot in Bedford. When challenged about his job, he said: “So what? I’ve not committed a crime. If there is a concern, that’s what the police are there for. That’s what security services are for.” ...

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007070779,00.html

Petronas

02-22-2007, 11:27 PM

Prosecutors: London Bombing Suspect Fled in Burka
Wednesday, February 21, 2007

A jury was shown surveillance footage Tuesday of bombing suspect Yassin Omar apparently dressed in a burka after the attempted attacks in London. The footage shows the terror suspect in a coach station in Birmingham mingling with commuters. Omar fled the capital the day after he made a failed attempt to detonate a rucksack bomb on a Tube train near London's Warren Street station, Woolwich Crown Court was told.

The head-to-toe outfit gave others at Digbeth coach station no clue that the man inside was wanted by anti-terror police. ...

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,252980,00.html

Petronas

02-26-2007, 07:53 PM

United Kingdom (Country threat level - 3): A British newspaper reported on 25 February 2007 that, according to a leaked government document, more than 2,000 domestic affiliates of al-Qaeda are planning mass-casualty suicide attacks in the United Kingdom. The report also indicated that the number of planned attacks would increase in 2007. In November 2006, an MI5 spokesperson stated that the intelligence agency was tracking more than 1,600 terror suspects and 30 plots in the United Kingdom.

http://www.asigroup.com/HOTSPOTS.asp

Petronas

02-27-2007, 02:58 PM

BRITAIN: PREMIER EYES CREATION OF 'ANTI-TERROR DEPARTMENT'
Feb-27-07 11:45

Britain's prime minster Tony Blair is said to be "actively considering" splitting the interior ministry to create a new department for counter terrorism, security and policing and hiving off responsibility for prisons and probation to the department for constitutional affairs - which already has responsibility for the courts - the Daily Telegraph newspaper reports.

Under the blueprint being mooted by Blair, current interior minister John Reid would head the new anti-terror department. The fight against terrorism will be better coordinated if both the external intelligence agency MI6 and the domestic MI5 intelligence agency are in the same department, Reid has argued. However, the intelligence services have clashed with Reid and MI6 is unhappy that it will be reporting to Reid rather than the foreign secretary Margaret Beckett, according to the Daily Telegraph

M15 currently rates the threat of a terrorist attack in Britain as severe - meaning an attack is highly likely.

http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.390308132&par=0

Petronas

03-12-2007, 11:50 PM

Islamic extremists 'infiltrate Oxbridge'
2:20am GMT 12/03/2007
Leading universities including Oxford and Cambridge have been targeted by Islamic extremists who remain widely active on campuses, a prominent academic is warning. Up to 48 British universities have been infiltrated by fundamentalists and the threat posed by radical groups must be "urgently addressed", according to Prof Anthony Glees. The claim calls into question the Government's attempted crackdown on Islamic extremism in universities and casts doubt on claims by Bill Rammell, the Higher Education Minister, that the problem is not widespread.

Prof Glees will warn the Association of University Chief Security Officers (Aucso) next month that the disbanded extremist group, al-Muhajiroun, claims to have infiltrated "the main campuses such as Cambridge, Oxford, the London School of Economics and Imperial College". His speech on "radicalism in universities" also states that at its peak before the July 7 bombings in 2005, al-Muhajiroun had a presence at "more than 48 universities and faculties", and that Omar Bakri Mohammed, the group's founder, claims it is "still operational" in several campuses.

Prof Glees, the director of Brunel University's Centre for Intelligence and Security Studies, said: "We must accept this problem is widespread and underestimated. Unless clear and decisive action against campus extremism is taken, the security situation in the UK can only deteriorate." Following a report from Prof Glees showing that 31 universities and colleges had hard-line Islamic groups within their campuses, the Department for Education and Skills last year issued guidelines on dealing with any extremism.

Student Islamic societies have faced growing scrutiny after it emerged that one of 12 men charged in connection with the alleged plot to blow up transatlantic airliners was president of the Islamic Society at London Metropolitan University. Last year, Aucso launched a "counter-terrorism" group to tackle the spread of Islamic fundamentalism on campuses.

Prof Glees called on the Government to provide extra investment in campus security and urged university officials to interview undergraduates to ensure that they were bona fide students. A spokesman for Oxford University said: "We always take any extremism seriously and work closely with the police on any form of extremism that might affect our students or staff." A Cambridge University spokesman said he was not aware of any current extremist activity but that the university "remained vigilant". The Government's controversial guidance asked university staff to "monitor" student Islamic societies and report any "Asian-looking" students they suspected of extremism to the security services. Student groups attacked the move as "bearing on the side of McCarthyism".

Other critics suggest that the guidelines are widely ignored. Chris Pope, an associate fellow of the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies, said: "My understanding is that this problem is ongoing and expanding in some campuses." A spokesman for Universities UK, the umbrella group for British vice-chancellors, said: "In the rare event of such problems, universities work very closely with the police and other authorities."

In a recent report from a London-based Arabic newspaper, Anjem Choudary, the former head of al-Muhajiroun in Britain, who joined the group as a student at the University of Surrey, confirmed that while the movement officially disbanded in 2005, "the students of Omar Bakri continue to preach on campuses".

Last year, Dhiren Barot, said to be al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's "UK general", was jailed for 40 years for planning terrorist attacks. Barot, 34, faked his identity in order to study at Brunel University. The London School of Ecomonics and Imperial College were unable to comment.

Mr Rammell said: "Our assessment has not changed. Violent extremism in the name of Islam is a real, credible and sustained threat to the UK and there is evidence of a serious, but not widespread risk of violent extremism in the name of Islam on our university campuses."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/11/noxford11.xml

Petronas

03-23-2007, 12:08 AM

Three Men Arrested Under Terrorism Act 2000
Thursday, March 22, 2007

Police today (Thursday, March 22, 2007) have arrested three people under the Terrorism Act 2000. The arrests have been made by officers working on the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the terrorist attacks in London on 7th July 2005.

At 12.30 pm today officers arrested two men aged 23 and 30 years at
Manchester Airport as they prepared to leave the country. A third man, aged 26, was arrested this afternoon at a house in Leeds. Following the arrests police visited addresses in the Beeston area of Leeds. Five houses in Cardinal Road, Colwyn Road, Firth Mount, Tempest Road, and Rowland Place are being searched. The men are being taken to a police station in London.

West Yorkshire Police officers are meeting with local people to keep them informed and provide reassurance to the wider community and we thank them for their continuing support whilst the investigation takes place.

Because of the arrests, we are legally limited as to how much we can say about today’s action, but we will share as much information as we are able with those living in the area and the wider community. As usual, local Neighbourhood Police teams are also on patrol in the area.

People are also encouraged to contact the national, confidential anti-terrorist hotline number on 0800 789321 if they have any information about possible terrorist-related activity.

http://www.westyorkshire.police.uk/section-item.asp?sid=12&iid=3269

Petronas

03-23-2007, 12:38 AM

More Britons given anti-terror control orders
Last updated at 12:06pm on 22nd March 2007

The number of British citizens handed "control orders" by the Home Secretary has risen to nine, it has been announced. Half of all the 18 controversial orders currently in force - placing terror suspects under a loose form of house arrest - are now against UK citizens rather than foreigners. In comparison, in February last year just one of the 18 orders in force was against a Briton.

Home Secretary John Reid said in a quarterly update to MPs that two new orders have been made against British citizens - one on December 11 and another on March 10. The total number of orders is constantly in flux as orders lapse and are replaced or varied.

Mr Reid also confirmed that a terror suspect who absconded last summer is now thought to be overseas. It had previously been suggested that the Iraqi, who can only be identified by the initials LL, would be prepared to head to his homeland where he may be a danger to UK forces.

Mr Reid said: "I have been informed that the individual who absconded in August 2006 is currently believed to be abroad. The individual in question has been excluded from the UK."

LL vanished from his address in the north of England last August after being charged with seven offences of breaching his control order. His control order was then quashed by the Court of Appeal in separate legal proceedings, but he had not been handed a modified version before he disappeared.

Apart from LL, two other men on control orders are still on the run. British national AD escaped from a mental health unit in south-west London at the end of September. He has reportedly been questioned about alleged links with the July 7 bombers. The 25-year-old was held in Pakistan in 2005 for more than six months. Pakistani authorities are reported to have questioned him about an alleged meeting in Pakistan with Aldgate bomber Shehzad Tanweer. AD is also alleged to have been a friend of British suicide bomber Asif Hanif, who blew himself up in Israel in 2003. The allegations against him were reported in the New York Times in July 2005, but Pakistani officials rejected the claims.

The third international terrorist on the loose - believed to be a 26-year-old Pakistani living in Manchester - absconded in January just days after being served with his control order. He evaded police by taking sanctuary in a mosque and slipping out of a back entrance while police negotiated with religious leaders. The missing man was reported to have said he wanted to undertake terror training in Afghanistan.

Mr Reid gave no update on the other two missing terrorists.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=443980&in_page_id=1770

NYer

04-17-2007, 08:51 AM

Britain drops use of phrase War on Terror. (http://www.nysun.com/article/52587)

A member of Prime Minister Blair's Cabinet yesterday brought out into the open a quiet shift away from the American view on combating extremist groups, acknowledging that British officials have stopped using the expression "war on terror" favored by President Bush.

As yet, there's no truth to the rumor that the new phrase is the "War against Those Who Cannot Be Mentioned."

NYer

04-23-2007, 08:10 AM

AQ and Iranian allies plan Hiroshima style attack. (http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21605699-2,00.html)

Spy chiefs warn that one operative had said he was planning an attack on "a par with Hiroshima and Nagasaki" in an attempt to "shake the Roman throne", a reference to the West, according to The Times newspaper in the UK.

I hope Titus Pullo is on it.

Klaus

04-24-2007, 11:35 PM

The Times is reporting this as well.
Just like Spain, right before elections.

But this is "Large scale" and they intend to ensure it is successful.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1687360.ece

AL-QAEDA leaders in Iraq are planning the first “large-scale” terrorist attacks on Britain and other western targets with the help of supporters in Iran, according to a leaked intelligence report.

Spy chiefs warn that one operative had said he was planning an attack on “a par with Hiroshima and Nagasaki” in an attempt to “shake the Roman throne”, a reference to the West.

Another plot could be timed to coincide with Tony Blair stepping down as prime minister, an event described by Al-Qaeda planners as a “change in the head of the company”.

The report, produced earlier this month and seen by The Sunday Times, appears to provide evidence that Al-Qaeda is active in Iran and has ambitions far beyond the improvised attacks it has been waging against British and American soldiers in Iraq.

Ono

05-03-2007, 07:42 PM

MI5 watch 2,000 terror suspects

By Frank Gardner
BBC security correspondent

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/999999.gif

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42868000/jpg/_42868579_plotters.jpg Links between the fertiliser plotters and the 7 July bombers have brought MI5's work into sharp focus

The number of terror suspects being monitored by MI5 in the UK has grown by a quarter in the past six months, the BBC has learned.

The security service and police are monitoring about 2,000 individuals who they say are actively involved in supporting al-Qaeda.

Some are thought to have direct links with al-Qaeda in Pakistan.

The fertiliser bomb plot case has highlighted the links to terrorist training camps in Pakistan.

More than 400,000 Britons each year go to Pakistan on innocent family visits.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gifhttp://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/start_quote_rb.gif I think this is the strongest connection that we are confronted with at the moment http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/end_quote_rb.gif

Peter Neumann
King's College

But Pakistani intelligence agents cannot follow everyone.

And from cites like Karachi, it's easy for Jihadist recruits to head up into the hills to training camps hidden in areas like Malakand.

There, they're taught explosives and weapon handling by al-Qaeda veterans.

This is how the London bombers got their final training before returning to Britain.

Peter Neumann, from King's College's Defence Studies centre, said: "I think this is the strongest connection that we are confronted with at the moment, not least because of the historical connections between Pakistan and Britain and this is most likely to be the greatest source of vulnerability - especially for Britain."

Active planning
The al-Qaeda nexus is extensive.
Its core base is now in and around Waziristan - close to the Pakistan/Afghan border.

Operatives travel from there to Britain. New recruits fly in the other way.

There are also links with al-Qaeda insurgents in Iraq.
And those, in turn, are linked back to Britain, where young Jihadis have been coming back from Iraq.

The bottom line is that core al-Qaeda is still actively planning operations against the West.

Jihadi internet videos link up al-Qaeda followers around the world. Now even the Taleban are using the internet.
Back in Britain, all this translates into a rich recruiting ground for al-Qaeda. MI5's 2,000 terror suspects are likely to keep growing in number.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6613963.stm

NYer

06-09-2007, 02:56 PM

Galloway May Have Known Saddam Was Funding Iraq Appeal. (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article1901474.ece)

http://bp2.blogger.com/_lX2HZVZF4yI/RmpRCHSu7mI/AAAAAAAAAKM/VIAtcDBbvtY/s1600/galloway.jpg

George Galloway’s campaign against Iraq sanctions was bankrolled using aid diverted by Saddam Hussein’s regime and the MP may have known about the illicit funding, the Charity Commission says today.

The commission spent more than a year studying financial records and Iraqi Oil Ministry documents and interviewing oil market sources.

Mr Galloway, who has always denied a link between the Oil-for-Food scandal and his antisanctions Mariam Appeal, accused the commissioners of a grand smear against him. The Mariam Appeal was created in 1998 after the MP brought a four-year-old Iraqi girl to Britain to be treated for leukaemia.

The report opens the door for the Iraqi Government to sue the appeal’s trustees, including the MP, to return $376,000 (£188,000) of diverted aid. The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards is still investigating a complaint that Mr Galloway received money from Saddam under the Oil-for-Food programme.

Vancouver

06-29-2007, 03:57 AM

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6252276.stm
"Police have made safe a suspected car bomb in the heart of London."

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/06/29/london.bomb.reut/index.html

A guy in London tells me he has heard it was a large nail bomb.

Vancouver

06-29-2007, 04:54 AM

The bomb contained 200 litres of fuel, CNN is just now saying. If a liquid hydrocarbon, that would be about 180 kilograms or 400 pounds.

NYer

06-29-2007, 06:42 AM

Fox News is showing photos of propane tanks and nails. Police were tipped off by an alert citizen who was alarmed at the driver's erratic driving. After the car crashed in an area near nightclubs, the driver left the scene. News conference upcoming.

http://static.sky.com/images/pictures/1553554.jpg

Sky News has more, (http://news.sky.com/skynews/home) as does CNN. (http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/06/29/london.alert/index.html)

nancydrew

06-29-2007, 08:26 AM

Laura Mansfield reports at http://www.lauramansfield.com
"In his last video taped message before his death in May, Al Qaeda commander Mullah Dadullah said “We will be executing attacks in Britain and the US to demonstrate our sincerity and make them understand how hard it is to endure under a foreign occupation. (See www.nefafoundation.org for actual video clip.)"
nancy

NYer

06-29-2007, 08:38 AM

Mike Pechar has More. (http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/188508.php)

In a followup report, a security source said the operating mechanism in the explosive device is similar to IED's found in Iraq.

Pesky Mormon extremists again?

NYer

06-29-2007, 12:13 PM

Hero Cop may have saved Scores of Lives. (http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,70131-1272910,00.html)

Drudge (http://drudgereport.com/) has links to updates.

The WOT goes on, whether we believe in it or not ...

NYer

06-29-2007, 01:41 PM

"Today I say: Rejoice, by Allah, London shall be bombed." (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/06/29/terror/main2997517.shtml)

al-Canine

06-29-2007, 04:54 PM

Second car bomb (http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23402331-details/Hunt+for+Al+Qaeda+terror+gang+behind+'massive'+Lon don+bomb+attack/article.do)found in London's Park Lane

A second car bomb has been defused in the heart of London sparking fears that others could be primed and parked around the capital.

The petrol, gas and nail bomb was discovered in a Mercedes apparently towed into a car park pound beneath London's Park Lane after being found illegally parked in the West End of the city.

The discovery, in the early hours of Friday morning - at about the same time as the first car-bomb was found in Haymarket, left anti-terror detectives asking "How many more?" as thousands of officers searched the captial for other suspect vehicles - and for the terrorist cell.

Just hours before the deadly devices were found, an Islamic fanatic chillingly predicted a terror blast in London...

Petronas

07-08-2007, 01:32 PM

Muslim extremists ‘working in Britain’s police’
Sunday, July 08, 2007

LONDON: Up to eight people believed to have links to Islamist extremists, including Al Qaeda, are working in Britain’s police service, the Daily Mail said on Saturday, citing an intelligence service file. The newspaper said Britain’s domestic intelligence service MI5 had drawn up a secret document containing the names of alleged radicals, including serving officers, said to be working in London’s Metropolitan Police and other forces. Some on the list are believed to have attended extremist training camps or radical Islamic schools in Pakistan or Afghanistan and others visited pro-jihad websites or had links to firebrand Muslim preachers, it added. But none has been dismissed because police do not have legal authority to do so, the newspapers said. The article comes amid concern about vetting procedures for foreign doctors working in Britain’s state-run National Health Service (NHS) following the three failed car bomb attacks in London and Glasgow. Most of the seven people under arrest on suspicion of involvement are thought to be either doctors or linked to the NHS. The Daily Mail said the second booby-trapped Mercedes car in central London last Friday was left at a designated “evacuation assembly point” where the public and emergency services would have gone had the first exploded. It said detectives were working to determine if those responsible had information about rescue procedures after an atrocity in the British capital. A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said all officers and civilian staff undergo security checks before joining and after.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\07\08\story_8-7-2007_pg1_6

NYer

07-11-2007, 07:56 AM

Briton marries Bin Laden's son. (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article2056380.ece)

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00186/woman185360_186827a.jpg

A British woman has married a son of Osama bin Laden after a holiday romance and is to apply for a visa so that he can visit Britain, The Times has learnt.

Jane Felix-Browne, a 51-year-old grandmother and parish councillor from Cheshire, has until now kept her marriage to Omar Ossama bin Laden, 27, secret from everyone apart from her immediate family and close friends. But she has now agreed to speak about her relationship with bin Laden’s fourth eldest son.

“It would be nice if, like any other married woman, I could stand up and say this is my husband and this is his name, but I have to be realistic about things,” she told The Times. “I hope people don’t judge me too harshly. I married the son, not the father.”

“I just married the man I met and fell in love with – to me he is just Omar,”

NYer

07-13-2007, 06:32 PM

WTF? (http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/13/1977438.htm?section=justin)

Britain's World War II prime minister Winston Churchill has been cut from a list of key historical figures recommended for teaching in English secondary schools, a government agency says.

George Santayana is not mentioned.

NYer

07-17-2007, 09:30 AM

Gorgeous George Caught Red-handed. (http://powerlineblog.com/archives/018261.php)

http://www.challenging-islam.org/whatsnew/GallowayBigBrother.jpg

Petronas

07-18-2007, 01:21 AM

30 cells plotting attacks on UK
17 Jul 2007, 0344 hrs IST,AFP

Britain's security services believe up to 30 Islamist militant cells are plotting attacks and they are monitoring 2,000 suspects and another 2,000 sympathisers, the new security minister said on Monday even as there was an explosion outside the British embassy in Santiago, Chile.

Alan West told BBC radio that the scale of the security operation was "quite dramatic" as he backed extending the 28-day limit on the time suspects can be held without charge. He issued the warning following three botched car bombings in London and Glasgow at the end of last month.

"I have come back to this after about 16 months away from it and I have to say I was quite concerned when I saw what the level of threat is," said Lord West, the former chief of defence intelligence and now the security and counter-terrorism minister. "If one looks at what our security service and police are looking at on a day-to-day basis, they are now monitoring over 200 groupings or networks which to varying degrees are threatening our security," he told the BBC. "There are 30 that are actually bing looked at very closely indeed because they have got to the stage where they are gathering materials and doing things which could lead in fairly short term to doing something if they wanted to. This means that effectively about 2,000 individuals are being monitored in varying degrees of closeness and probably about another 2,000 loosely connected to them. The scale of this whole thing is quite dramatic."

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/30_cells_plotting_attacks_on_UK/articleshow/2209002.cms

Vancouver

07-20-2007, 06:42 AM

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/07/20/britain.arrests/index.html

[
Police discovered a substance at a Bristol address that led them to believe there may be a potential link to terrorist activity. The search was initiated after an Afghan man was arrested late Wednesday on drug-related charges.
The discovery led to him being arrested under the Terrorist Act 2006.
The investigation led to the arrest of a second, although no additional details were given by police.
]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6907827.stm
[
During searches of a flat in the city officers found containers labelled "hydrogen peroxide" which led them to suspect a link to terrorist activities.
...
Following the first arrest in the Castle Park area of Bristol police then searched an address in Stapleton Road, Easton.
Officers found the two labelled 25-litre containers at the flat, which are now being analysed ...
]

docj227

07-20-2007, 07:31 AM

man, if they can arrest you for having hydrogen peroxide, i hope they don't show up at my office.

NYer

07-22-2007, 12:25 PM

Galloway thanked Saddam for cash. (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22096829-15084,00.html)

An account of their meeting, published for the first time in a House of Commons report into Mr Galloway's failure to declare his financial backers, contradicts the MP's insistence that he was unaware of receiving money from the former Iraqi regime.

The record was unearthed by Philip Mawer, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, during a four-year inquiry into Mr Galloway's activities. As a result, he faces being suspended from the house for 18 sitting days.

NYer

07-24-2007, 12:06 PM

Sen. Norm Coleman : I told you so. (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118524076303375746.html?mod=rss_opinion_main&apl=y)

Two years ago George Galloway, a member of the British Parliament, came to the U.S. and attempted to make a mockery of an investigation into allegations of corruption within the United Nation's Oil for Food program. Readers will remember that Oil for Food started as a way to feed Iraqi children, but became a vehicle that Saddam Hussein used for bribery and extortion.

Mr. Galloway dismissed accusations that he benefited substantially through a charity he was involved with (the Mariam Appeal), from Saddam. Evidence that he and the Appeal had received lucrative oil benefits had been released by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, of which I was chairman. In testimony to the subcommittee, Mr. Galloway denied the accusations and later attacked the integrity of his accusers, including me. His bombastic denials won him international attention.

But now, thanks to an investigation conducted by the British Parliament, the truth is out. Last week the House of Commons's Committee on Standards and Privileges issued a damning report presenting "undeniable evidence" that Mr. Galloway and his political operation at the Mariam Appeal benefited from Saddam's regime through Oil for Food. This report is the fourth official investigation -- from the U.N. to the U.S. to the U.K. -- to condemn Mr. Galloway for his misconduct.

... The U.K. report exposes a fraud who personally benefited at the expense of the Iraqi people -- the very people he was pretending to help.

NYer

08-03-2007, 11:53 AM

Jihad: The Musical (http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23406931-details/'Jihad+The+Musical'%3A+'Tasteless'+show+about+Isla mic+terrorism+comes+to+the+UK/article.do)

http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/08_01/JihadMusicalUPPA_468x410.jpg

Paging Max Bialystock ...

Petronas

08-03-2007, 02:57 PM

Glasgow Airport attack man dies
Friday, 3 August 2007, 15:20 GMT 16:20 UK

A badly burned man detained after the suspected terror attack at Glasgow Airport has died in a Glasgow hospital. Kafeel Ahmed was one of two men held at the airport after a Jeep struck the terminal and burst into flames. The 27-year-old, from Bangalore, India, had suffered burns to 90% of his body when he was arrested.

The second man in the vehicle - Iraqi doctor Bilal Talal Samad Abdullah - has since been charged with conspiracy to cause explosions. The circumstances surrounding the death have been reported to the procurator fiscal.

The man died in Glasgow Royal Infirmary on Thursday evening. He had been transferred to the specialist burns unit there from the Royal Alexandra Hospital, in Paisley. He was being kept under armed guard and had been described by health officials as being in a critical condition. Contrary to earlier reports, Ahmed was not a medic but an engineer with a PhD in design and technology.

Images of Ahmed being detained at Glasgow Airport have been shown around the world. Passengers used their cameras and mobile phones to record how an off-duty policeman used a fire extinguisher to try to save the terror suspect after he drove a second-hand Jeep packed with propane gas canisters into a doorway.

Ahmed studied at Queen's University in Belfast where he completed a post-graduate course in aeronautical engineering in 2001. He stayed in the city for a further three years as a research assistant. Ahmed studied for his PhD in the department of design and technology at Anglia Polytechnic University (now called Anglia Ruskin University) in Cambridge.

The incident at Glasgow Airport has resulted in Bilal Talal Samad Abdullah being charged with conspiracy to cause explosions. Ahmed's brother Dr Sabeel Ahmed, who was arrested near Liverpool's Lime Street station on 30 June, has also been charged under the Terrorism Act. The 26-year-old is accused of not disclosing information that could have helped police arrest a suspected terrorist. Another doctor has also been charged in connection with the Glasgow attack and the two earlier failed car bombings in London.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/glasgow_and_west/6929991.stm

Petronas

08-25-2007, 01:31 PM

Student trained in terror in Capital
Thu 23 Aug 2007

A STUDENT facing terrorism charges spoke of attending “training groups” in Edinburgh, a court heard today. Mohammed Atif Siddique, 21, also told a fellow student how he wanted to be a suicide bomber, blow up Glasgow and that he had met Osama bin Laden. He is facing five charges including possessing, collecting and distributing terrorist propaganda and providing instructional material for bomb making. Siddique, from Alva in Clackmannanshire, denies all the charges.

At the High Court in Glasgow, Razia Hussain said the accused made a series of claims while they were studying computing at Glasgow Metropolitan College. The 22-year-old told the court that Siddique would access non work related websites in class every time he had an opportunity.

Questioned by Crown counsel Brian McConnachie QC about what the websites displayed, she replied: “People getting blown up, people who were dead, armies and explosions. Mohammed used to explain to me about these sites, about people getting blown up. How this is right and should be done because we are Muslims. Mohammed said that as Muslims we should commit Jihad.”

Asked by Mr McConnachie what Jihad meant she answered: “To go and blow yourself up.”

Ms Hussain told the court that one image showed a dead man with a smile on his face. She added: “Mohammed said this was because he had committed Jihad and God was going to be happy. He said he wanted to be one as well – a suicide bomber.”

“How many times did he say that?” Mr McConnachie asked. “A few times,” she replied.

Siddique also denies causing a breach of the peace by threatening to become a suicide bomber and saying he was a member of the terror network al Qaida, as well as showing images of suicide bombers and beheadings.

Ms Hussain also told the court that the accused claimed to have met Osama bin Laden and was visiting or planning to visit “training groups” in Edinburgh or Stirling.

On another occasion the trial heard Siddique said he was going to “blow Glasgow up.” Ms Hussain said: “At times you did take him seriously. At times you didn’t take him seriously.” Mr McConnachie asked her: “When he said these things to you did he appear to be joking?” to which she replied: “No.”

The offences are alleged to have been carried out between March 1, 2003 and April 13, 2006. Siddique and Ms Hussain were students on the HND Information and Communication Technology course, between 2003 and 2005.

Siddique’s trial is being heard by Lord Carloway. He faces three charges under the Terrorism Act 2000, one under the Terrorism Act 2006 and a breach the peace charge. He is accused of possessing items which gave a reasonable suspicion that they were connected with the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism. Among the items described are imitation firearms, documents depicting terrorist propaganda and instructions on making bombs.

It is also alleged that he collected information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.

Siddique is charged further with setting up websites that demonstrate how to make explosives and use firearms and freely distributing terrorist publications via websites.

http://news.scotsman.com/edinburgh.cfm?id=1341342007

Vancouver

08-26-2007, 10:54 PM

Habib Ignaoua was arrested at his home in Finsbury Park on 7 June, on an EU warrant at the request of Italy. The charge says Ignaoua supplied false travel documents to GSPC recruits in Milan during the 1990's. (He himself used a forged passport to enter the UK from Syria in 2004, and then requested political asylum from his native Morocco.)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6729941.stm
Very few papers reported that his extradition to Italy was approved at the hearing in Westminster Magistrates' Court on 28 June, and nobody has yet said that he has or has not been extradited. But does anybody know if Habib Ignaoua is still in the UK? TIA

Vancouver

08-26-2007, 11:19 PM

Habib Ignaoua ... requested political asylum from his native Morocco.Sorry, I meant to say his native Tunisia.

Petronas

09-08-2007, 12:14 AM

Hardline takeover of British mosques
September 7, 2007

Almost half of Britain’s mosques are under the control of a hardline Islamic sect whose leading preacher loathes Western values and has called on Muslims to “shed blood” for Allah, an investigation by The Times has found. Riyadh ul Haq, who supports armed jihad and preaches contempt for Jews, Christians and Hindus, is in line to become the spiritual leader of the Deobandi sect in Britain. The ultra-conservative movement, which gave birth to the Taleban in Afghanistan, now runs more than 600 of Britain’s 1,350 mosques, according to a police report seen by The Times.

The Times investigation casts serious doubts on government statements that foreign preachers are to blame for spreading the creed of radical Islam in Britain’s mosques and its policy of enouraging the recruitment of more “home-grown” preachers. Mr ul Haq, 36, was educated and trained at an Islamic seminary in Britain and is part of a new generation of British imams who share a similar radical agenda. He heaps scorn on any Muslims who say they are “proud to be British” and argues that friendship with a Jew or a Christian makes “a mockery of Allah’s religion”.

Seventeen of Britain’s 26 Islamic seminaries are run by Deobandis and they produce 80 per cent of home-trained Muslim clerics. Many had their studies funded by local education authority grants. The sect, which has significant representation on the Muslim Council of Britain, is at its strongest in the towns and cities of the Midlands and northern England. Figures supplied to The Times by the Lancashire Council of Mosques reveal that 59 of the 75 mosques in five towns – Blackburn, Bolton, Preston, Oldham and Burnley – are Deobandi-run.

It is not suggested that all British Muslims who worship at Deobandi mosques subscribe to the isolationist message preached by Mr ul Haq, and he himself suggests Muslims should only “shed blood” overseas. But while some Deobandi preachers have a more cohesive approach to interfaith relations, Islamic theologians say that such bridge-building efforts do not represent mainstream Deobandi thinking in Britain.

The Times has gained access to numerous talks and sermons delivered in recent years by Mr ul Haq and other graduates of Britain’s most influential Deobandi seminary near Bury, Greater Manchester. Intended for a Muslim-only audience, they reveal a deep-rooted hatred of Western society, admiration for the Taleban and a passionate zeal for martyrdom “in the way of Allah”.

The seminary outlaws art, television, music and chess, demands “entire concealment” for women and views football as “a cancer that has infected our youth”. Mahmood Chandia, a Bury graduate who is now a university lecturer, claims in one sermon that music is a way in which Jews spread “the Satanic web” to corrupt young Muslims. “Nearly every university in England has a department which is called the music department, and in others, where the Satanic influence is more, they call it the Royal College of Music,” he says.

Another former Bury student, Bradford-based Sheikh Ahmed Ali, hails the 9/11 attacks on America because they acted as a wake-up call to young Muslims. This, he says, taught them that they will “never be accepted” in Britain and has led them to “return to Islam: sisters are wearing hijab . . . the lion is waking up”.

Mr ul Haq, the most high-profile of the new generation of Deobandis, runs an Islamic academy in Leicester and is the former imam at the Birmingham Central Mosque. Revered by many young Muslims, he draws on his extensive knowledge of the Koran and the life and sayings of the prophet Muhammed to justify his hostility to the kuffar, or non-Muslims.

One sermon warns believers to protect their faith by distancing themselves from the “evil influence” of their non-Muslim British neighbours. “We are in a very dangerous position here. We live amongst the kuffar, we work with them, we associate with them, we mix with them and we begin to pick up their habits.”

In another talk, delivered a few weeks before 9/11, he praises Muslims who have gained martyrdom in battle and laments that today “no one dare utter the J word”. “The J word has become taboo . .. The J word is jihad in the way of Allah.” The Times has made repeated attempts to get Mr ul Haq to comment on the content of his sermons. However, he declined to respond.

A commentator on religious radicalism in Pakistan, where Deobandis wield significant political influence, told The Times that “blind ignorance” on the part of the Government in Britain had allowed the Deobandis to become the dominant voice of Islam in Britain’s mosques. Khaled Ahmed said: “The UK has been ruined by the puritanism of the Deobandis. You’ve allowed the takeover of the mosques. You can’t run multiculturalism like that, because that’s a way of destroying yourself. In Britain, the Deobandi message has become even more extreme than it is in Pakistan. It’s mind-boggling.”

In some mosques the sect has wrested control from followers of the more moderate majority, the Barelwi movement.

A spokesman for the Department for Communities said: “We have a detailed strategy to ensure imams properly represent and connect with mainstream moderate opinion and promote shared values like tolerance and respect for the rule of law. We have never said the challenge from extremism is simply restricted to those coming from overseas.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article2402973.ece

docj227

09-08-2007, 01:51 PM

if the report is substanitated and accurate, the imam and his followers need to be deported. it is the only way. subversion is not acceptable even in countries with free speech

Petronas

10-14-2007, 02:13 AM

London bomber twisted Belafonte's `Banana Boat' song to preach jihad to kids
Friday October 12, 05:04 PM

Caribbean singer Harry Belafonte's popular "Banana Boat" song was twisted by terror camp leader Atilla Ahmet to preach jihad to kids at the Jameah Islamic school, near Crowborough in Sussex. Ahmet, according to the Daily Mail, called it his "Jihad Calypso", and convinced children at the school to sing it along with him at a performance. That performance was later recorded, a court here was told.

The lyrics of the 84-worded song went as follows:

"Come Mr. Taliban, come give me kuffir...my Kalasnikov. Come Mr. Taliban, come bomb England... before the daylight come, you wanna see Ten Downing Street.

Come Mr. Taliban, come implement Shariah. Come Mr. Taliban, come bomb England before the daylight come, Insh'Allah, it will be done.

Hey Mr. Taliban, come kill the dirty kuffir, get rid of the haram, because we want halal.

Hey Mr. Taliban, boom, boom, boom, come bomb England before the daylight come. Insh'Allah, it will be done."

Ahmet, a former preacher at Finsbury Park Mosque, has pleaded guilty to three counts of soliciting murder in connection with a case now being heard at Woolwich Crown Court.

Mohammed Hamid and four other men are on trial accused of links to a plot to conduct terrorist training camps in the UK. They deny the charges. Hamid is accused of radicalising the July 21 bombers by brainwashing them on paint balling trips. The four other men on trial are Mousa Brown, 41, of Walthamstow, North-East London; Kibley da Costa, 24, of West Norwood, South London; Kader Ahmed, 20, of Plaistow, East London; and Mohammed Al Figari, 43, of Tottenham, North London. All the men deny all the charges.

In August 2006, Ahmet told Dawood that Hamid had stopped his Friday prayer meetings because "things were getting a bit hot". In September, the group convened at their usual meeting place, a Chinese restaurant in Borough, South London. Hamid and Ahmet went outside to talk and when they returned, Ahmet told the group they had been rumbled by the police.

Moments later, officers burst in and arrested them. A search of their homes uncovered material glorifying suicide bombers and beheadings, the court heard. The trial continues.

http://in.news.yahoo.com/071012/139/6lvbz.html

Petronas

10-24-2007, 03:47 PM

Scottish ‘would-be suicide bomber’ gets 8 years in jail
Wednesday, October 24, 2007

A Scottish college student who declared that he intended to become a suicide bomber after scouring extremist Islamic sites on the Internet was sentenced Tuesday to eight years in prison.

Mohammed Atif Siddique, 21, was convicted in September of four terrorism offenses and also of causing a disturbance by telling fellow students he planned to become a suicide bomber. Prosecutors said during the four-week trial that security agents watched Siddique for several months before he was arrested in April 2006 as he tried to board a flight from Glasgow to Lahore.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\10\24\story_24-10-2007_pg7_57

Petronas

11-26-2007, 10:26 AM

HEZBOLLAH WILL AVENGE IRAN STRIKE
Sunday November 25,2007

TERRORIST group Hezbollah is poised to launch bloody reprisals in Britain for any Western attack on Iran, a former intelligence chief has warned. Richard Kemp, who was senior adviser on terrorism to Tony Blair, said the Iranian-backed group had established sleeper cells in this country to carry out revenge attacks.

He said: “Hezbollah cells are operating in this country, in London. The big question is how capable Hezbollah groups are in Europe. What I can say is that Hezbollah is probably the world’s most effective terrorist organisation, and that includes Al Qaeda.”

Hezbollah’s record of terrorism in the Middle East stretches back 25 years. Last year its rocket attacks on Israel sparked a full-scale war between Israel and Lebanon, where its political arm holds seats in government. But the organisation, which is thought to receive funding and weapons from Iran, has now established a network of terror around the world.

Four years ago the CIA warned that Hezbollah had a dozen terrorist cells in the US.

The chances of a Western attack on Iran have increased sharply recently because of fears about Iran’s nuclear programme. Mehrdad Konsari, a former Iranian diplomat now exiled in Britain, said the probability of a Western attack on Iran had increased to “more than 50 per cent” during the last year.

Mr Kemp’s comments, at a security conference last week, are the first indication that British intelligence believes the group is operating in this country. Mr Kemp, a former Army colonel who was commander of British forces in Afghanistan in 2003, is a respected figure in the intelligence field. He was a member of the Cabinet Office’s Joint Intelligence Committee which advises the Prime Minister on security matters. Last night he warned that any Western attack on Iran could bring reprisals here, as well as against British interests in the Middle East.

He said bomb attacks were possible but extremists would struggle to get the radioactive material to build a “dirty bomb” capable of inflicting mass casualties.

Hezbollah was founded in 1982 during the Lebanese civil war. It carried out the 1983 suicide bombing of a US Marine barracks in Beirut which killed 241 servicemen.

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/26277/Hezbollah-will-avenge-Iran-strike

NYer

01-29-2008, 12:12 PM

The UK is in deep doo doo. (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article3269848.ece)

al-Canine

01-29-2008, 01:30 PM

The UK is in deep doo doo. (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article3269848.ece)
Wow, get a load of that first goon's noggin...

Separated at birth?

Petronas

02-13-2008, 11:04 AM

SUICIDE BOMBER, 12, AT UK SCHOOL
Sunday February 10,2008

FURY erupted last night after it emerged that a boy of 12 who trained to be a suicide bomber is being allowed to attend school in Britain. Parents of his classmates are unaware of the Afghan child’s terrifying past. MP Philip Davies said the youngster should be removed from school immediately so a proper investigation can take place into any potential danger he poses.

The Tory MP for Shipley, West Yorks, said: “This boy has had a tragic upbringing through no fault of his own. But there should be a detailed and thorough look at his past and the threat he could pose in the future. I am sure that the parents in the school would be concerned if they were told about it.”

Extremists recruited the boy shortly after his father, a Taliban fighter, was shot dead by British soldiers in a gun battle. One elder told him: “You must avenge his death by becoming a martyr.” During intensive mountain training the youngster learned how to handle explosives and sophisticated detonators. He even went on dummy missions with bags taped to his body. Taliban fanatics instructed him to wander towards British patrols, pretending to be a tearful lost child, and once surrounded by soldiers – or taken to an Army base – he would blow himself up.

But after weeks of secret training the boy blurted out to his mother what he was doing. She could not bear the thought of losing a son as well as her husband, so worried family members pulled all their resources together and paid for him to be spirited out of Afghanistan to escape the clutches of evil Taliban leaders. After a traumatic journey across several countries, the boy was smuggled into Britain, probably hidden on the back of a lorry. Later he was questioned by immigration officials in Croydon, Surrey.

They were stunned when full details of the boy’s shocking story emerged. One source said: “There was so much detail that was little doubt he was telling the truth. You could see the terror in his eyes. He was being brainwashed to be a suicide bomber and was on the verge of carrying out an attack which would have claimed many British lives. Yet, to save him from death, his family sent him to the very country which sent the soldier who killed his father. The child has gone through a terrible experience and needs a strong, stable environment to unwind from all the pressure he has been put under. In Britain he is being offered that environment, which will hopefully convince him how evil his Taliban masters had been.”

The boy has been granted asylum because of the threat to his safety in his homeland, and the authorities found him a place at a state secondary school at a secret location. He is said to have settled down well and is mixing with other children. It is understood the head of the school has been told about his past but parents have no idea that their children are sharing a classroom with a trained suicide bomber.

The security services have been alerted to the situation and are concerned about the risk of him falling into the hands of Al Qaeda supporters in Britain, who may attempt to force him to become a suicide bomber here.

Patrick Mercer, a member of the Home Affairs Select Committee, said: “The progress of this boy through school should be closely monitored. But the real emphasis should be on tracking down those people in this country who support the Taliban and who are involved in the trafficking of young people.”

Terror expert George Kassimeris, who lectures at Wolverhampton University, added: “There are large numbers of children trafficked to Britain who have been radicalised to support the cause of the Islamic Jihadists. They have been brainwashed to carry out attacks, to become martyrs. The authorities will have to create deradicalisation programmes to make them change their ways, otherwise there is a potential that they will become terrorists in this country.”

Last week the US military released shocking pictures of Al Qaeda recruits in Iraq – boys as young as 10 being trained in assassination, kidnapping and suicide bombings. In Afghanistan last year there were 140 suicide bombings against allied troops.

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/34470/Suicide-bomber-12-at-UK-school

Petronas

02-15-2008, 11:41 PM

BAE: secret papers reveal threats from Saudi prince
Friday February 15 2008

Saudi Arabia's rulers threatened to make it easier for terrorists to attack London unless corruption investigations into their arms deals were halted, according to court documents revealed yesterday.

Previously secret files describe how investigators were told they faced "another 7/7" and the loss of "British lives on British streets" if they pressed on with their inquiries and the Saudis carried out their threat to cut off intelligence.

Prince Bandar, the head of the Saudi national security council, and son of the crown prince, was alleged in court to be the man behind the threats to hold back information about suicide bombers and terrorists. He faces accusations that he himself took more than £1bn in secret payments from the arms company BAE. He was accused in yesterday's high court hearings of flying to London in December 2006 and uttering threats which made the prime minister, Tony Blair, force an end to the Serious Fraud Office investigation into bribery allegations involving Bandar and his family. The threats halted the fraud inquiry, but triggered an international outcry, with allegations that Britain had broken international anti-bribery treaties.

Lord Justice Moses, hearing the civil case with Mr Justice Sullivan, said the government appeared to have "rolled over" after the threats. He said one possible view was that it was "just as if a gun had been held to the head" of the government.

The SFO investigation began in 2004, when Robert Wardle, its director, studied evidence unearthed by the Guardian. This revealed that massive secret payments were going from BAE to Saudi Arabian princes, to promote arms deals. Yesterday, anti-corruption campaigners began a legal action to overturn the decision to halt the case. They want the original investigation restarted, arguing the government had caved into blackmail.

The judge said he was surprised the government had not tried to persuade the Saudis to withdraw their threats. He said: "If that happened in our jurisdiction [the UK], they would have been guilty of a criminal offence". Counsel for the claimants said it would amount to perverting the course of justice. ...

http://www.guardian.co.uk:80/world/2008/feb/15/bae.armstrade

NYer

04-14-2008, 09:01 AM

Minister: 30 active terror plots inside Britain. (http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008/04/14/story_14-4-2008_pg1_8)

British police and security agencies are monitoring 30 terror plots, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith told a tabloid on Sunday.

“There are 22,000 individuals who are being monitored. There are 200 networks involved and 30 active plots,” Smith said in an interview with the News of the World.

“We now face a threat level that is severe. It’s actually growing,” she said.

NYer

04-21-2008, 08:29 AM

British dealers supply arms to Iran. (http://www.iranfocus.com/en/iran-general-/british-dealers-supply-arms-to-iran.html)

Among the examples uncovered is the case of a UK businessman caught smuggling components for use in guided missiles through a front company that proved to be the Iranian Ministry of Defence. Another case involves a group that included several Britons which, investigators alleged, attempted to export components intended to enhance the performance of Iranian aircraft.

Other examples involve a British millionaire arms dealer caught trading machine-guns used by the SAS and capable of firing 800 rounds a minute with a Tehran-based weapons supplier.

Customs offers are also working on a number of 'active investigations' which include several Britons and breach sanctions aimed at curbing Iran's military strength.

At least two other UK nationals are also being investigated over claims they are working, or have worked with, Iran to import components for the country's alleged nuclear weapons programme. These individuals are understood to have long-standing links to nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, Pakistan's 'father of the bomb', who has admitted helping North Korea, Iran and Libya to develop nuclear weapons.

Petronas

04-23-2008, 12:48 PM

British police make terror arrest
Fri Apr 18, 6:05 AM ET

Police carried out a controlled explosion in the soutwestern city of Bristol early Friday, following the arrest of a 19-year-old man the day before, officials said. About 30 people were evacuated from their homes before the controlled explosion, which was intended to disarm any potential explosive device.

The suspect remained in custody and material from the controlled explosion was retrieved for analysis, police said.

"During yesterday and overnight, Avon and Somerset Constabulary have been co-ordinating a number of covert inquiries," said Assistant Chief Constable Jackie Roberts. "As a result, a 19-year-old man was arrested yesterday afternoon under the Terrorism Act 2000," and was taken to an area police station, she said. A search warrant for his home in the Westbury-on-Trym area of the city was issued, Roberts added.

"A number of people were evacuated from neighboring homes as a precaution," she said, and just after 2 a.m., "the Explosives Ordnance Disposal Team conducted a controlled explosion at the location."

Further details about the arrested man and the covert inquiries were not immediately available. But Roberts said, "this is likely to be a prolonged, complex and sensitive inquiry which may take some time."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080418/ap_on_re_eu/britain_terror_arrest

Petronas

04-23-2008, 01:54 PM

Heathrow terrorism arrests
22 Apr 2008

TWO men were arrested and charged with terror offences today, Scotland Yard said. Mohammed Abushamma, 20, from Islington, north London, and Qasim Abukar, 20, from Tufnell Park, north London, were charged under the Terrorism Act.

Sources said the men were arrested after getting off an inbound flight to Heathrow this morning. It is believed the charges relate to alleged planned terror attacks overseas. The charges state that between March 17 and April 18 the men “engaged in conduct in preparation for giving effect to their intention of committing acts of terrorism contrary to section 5(1)(a) of the Terrorism Act 2006.” The men will appear before City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court tomorrow.

http://thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1076358.ece

NYer

06-17-2008, 07:50 PM

Britain to release Abu Qatada. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/majornews/2145778/Abu-Qatada-Radical-cleric-to-be-released-%E2%80%99in-next-24-hours%E2%80%99.html)

Radical cleric Abu Qatada, described as “Osama bin Laden’s right hand man in Europe,” is to be released in the next 24 hours.

Qatada, who is accused of giving advice and support to terrorists including the leader of the September 11 hijackers, has been described in official documents as a “truly dangerous individual” who was “heavily involved, indeed at the centre of terrorist activities associated with al-Qa’eda.”

He has been convicted twice in Jordan in his absence for conspiracy to carry out bomb attacks on two hotels in Amman in 1998, and providing finance and advice for a series of bomb attacks in Jordan planned to coincide with the Millennium.

It was those convictions which allowed him to argue in the Appeal Court he would not get a fair treatment in his home country.

With the prospect of extradition removed, the Ministry of Justice has been forced to release him by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission.

http://walnutcreekcaliforniarealestate.files.wordpress.co m/2008/04/what-you-talking-about.jpg

NYer

06-18-2008, 10:34 AM

Rusty of the Jawa Report (http://www.mypetjawa.mu.nu) points out that the UK Control Orders (http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2007/jan/17/uk.topstories3) don't have a great track record.

American_Jihad

08-07-2008, 01:12 AM

Extradition Delayed Is Justice Denied
8/6/08

He arrived in Europe with great fanfare: an inspiring young leader from a foreign land who spoke with passion about change and social justice. And Europe answered the call, taking him to her bosom. He is, after all, every bit a "citizen of the world," seizing on the bright promise of international tribunals to overcome the imperialist Anglo-American unilateralism of the past. And no one is more certain that dealing with terrorism through the maze of judicial processes is far preferable to George Bush's cowboy-style militancy.

He's not Barack Obama, though.

http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/6109/abuhamza380758aov2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

He is Mustafa Kamel Mustafa: Egyptian by birth, Briton by dubious marriage, and better known as Abu Hamza al-Masri. Shorn of an eye and armed with a curled prosthesis where his right hand once was -- one of those unfortunate "mine-clearing accidents" in Afghanistan -- he is the jihad's very own "Captain Hook."

He is the kind of terrorist who has customarily been killed, captured or otherwise neutralized on President Bush's watch.

He is the kind of terrorist who would snicker and live to fight another day … and another … and another, if a President Obama were to make good on his promise to "restore America's image in the world" -- i.e., prostrate ourselves in the futile hope that the planet's barbarians and parasites will like us better. Just look where that approach has gotten Great Britain.

According to American officials, Abu Hamza is responsible for the 1998 abduction by Yemeni jihadists of 16 Western tourists (including two Americans), four of whom were killed when the terrorists used them as human shields during a rescue attempt.

He sent emissaries to Oregon to establish a jihadist camp at which trainees were instructed on how to slit their victims' throats, hijack trucks, and construct bombs and poisons.

He used his position as imam of London's infamous Finsbury Park Mosque to recruit Muslims for jihadist training in Afghanistan -- the same type of training undergone by the 9/11 hijackers, the 1998 American embassy bombers, the 1993 World Trade Center bombers, and countless other Muslim militants.

He has been under indictment by the Justice Department since 2004 for conspiring to support terrorists, and to kidnap, kill, and maim Americans. He has also, for years, been wanted in Yemen for the 1998 hostage-taking operation, which he facilitated from London.

And there's the rub: The maestro conducts from today's United Kingdom.

The U.K. has not only put out the welcome mat for jihadists of other nations. It gives them uncontested space to radicalize other disgruntled Muslims. It swaddles them in the majesty of British civil rights (that would be the liberties forged by the people they are sworn to vanquish). It runs interference for them against the nations on which they prey. It denies Islam could possibly have anything to do with Islamic terrorism. And when all else fails, being a paragon of the post-sovereign order, it punts to the "international community," whose tribunals -- under the laughable banner of "human rights" -- are even more indulgent of those pledged to kill as many humans as possible.

In Abu Hamza's case, the U.S. has been trying to navigate the labyrinth of British extradition for four years. But the Brits -- even as they demanded the return from Guantanamo Bay of non-British enemy combatants who had previously resided in the U.K. -- have declined to send him here for trial.

Think that's a product of fear that he'll be consigned to Cowboy Bush's Gitmo torture chamber? Guess again. We are still waiting, a decade later, for England to extradite a number of al-Qaeda operatives who, in 1998, bombed the U.S. embassies in Africa.

The blunt fact is British authorities were allowing their laws to shield jihadists from American justice before there ever was a 9/11, a Bush administration, a Gitmo, or a military commission trial process. The United States, moreover, has solemnly committed that Abu Hamza will not be sent to Gitmo and will not face that bane of European sensibilities, the death penalty. We just want him for one of those regular old civilian trials -- the full flower of due process that Bush-bashers so profess to love. And still they have resisted sending him.

Indeed, their fashionable Islamophilia notwithstanding, the Brits have even refused to send Abu Hamza to Yemen. Couldn't be sure he'd get a fair trial there despite Yemen's venerable Muslim culture and scrupulous adherence to those rich principles of sharia that the Archbishop of Canterbury expects will soon be imported into English law -- principles under which terrorists were acquitted in 2006 by a Yemeni judge who reasoned that jihad against infidel occupiers in Iraq was a duty, not a crime.

British police arrested Abu Hamza in 2004 based on the American charges. Yet, rather than risk extraditing him while British public opinion was turning sharply against the Blair government and the U.S. over the war in Iraq, the Brits elected to prosecute him themselves (based on the very evidence they'd demanded to support his extradition). He was convicted in 2006 of inciting race hatred and soliciting murder. In England, this was worth a whopping seven years in prison. With parole and time already served, the real sentence stood to be considerably less.

The Justice Department thus continued to press the American extradition request. Knowing her approval would merely trigger months of additional litigation rather than an actual transfer, the Right Honorable Jacqui Smith, newly minted as home secretary, signed off on the request this past February. Months later, Abu Hamza's appeal to the high court was rejected. In fact, it was so patently meritless that, on July 23, he was denied leave to appeal to the House of Lords. It appeared that the years of avoiding American prosecution were finally at an end.

But not for a citizen of the world. Abu Hamza may have been in England, but England doesn't run England anymore. Europe does, with the gushing subservience of New Labor lackeys.

Without giving any notice to the Justice Department, Home Secretary Smith promised Abu Hamza's lawyers there would be no extradition for two weeks so they could appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. The convicted terrorist told the ECHR that American prosecutors and prison conditions would surely violate his human rights. Gravely concerned, the ECHR immediately ordered Great Britain to halt the extradition until it could study the matter. Smith informed the Justice Department that she fully intends to comply.

The Home Office decision means it may be years before Abu Hamza is transferred to the United States -- if ever. As Smith well knew, the ECHR has a backlog of several hundred thousand cases. Why, just in 2007 the Home Office permitted Haroon Aswat, an Abu Hamza associate also long sought by the United States, to petition the ECHR for a stay of extradition. The stay was promptly granted and has been languishing for fourteen months with no resolution in sight. (The ECHR apparently makes time to expedite only stays of extradition for terrorists; actual extraditions wait until the judges get around to them.)

There are no secrets after so many years. The Brits know the U.S. case against Abu Hamza depends critically on witness testimony. Over time, witnesses' memories often fade, they get sick or die, they flee out of fear, or they commit new crimes making it impractical to seek their testimony. This has already occurred here: one witness against Abu Hamza has committed a murder in the years while extradition has been pending, and another has fled.

This is what happens when you pretend your national-security threats are mere legal problems: Cases slowly disintegrate while your enemies disarm you, using the legal processes designed to protect the citizens they seek to kill. This is what happens when you subordinate the security of your own nation to the approbation of an "international community" that sees self-defense as a bigger threat than jihadism -- which it cannot even bring itself to call "jihadism."

Did England have to let Abu Hamza appeal to the ECHR? Smith's office says the U.K. was simply honoring its European treaty obligations. But Spain, Germany, and the Czech Republic, which operate under the same obligations, have had no problem extraditing defendants to the United States without permitting them to seek a stay.

At his 2006 British trial, Abu Hamza matter-of-factly claimed his actions were compelled by Islamic scripture and -- whaddya know -- pointed the court to verses of the Koran that unambiguously command violence. In 2007, as Britons were horrified by the specter of yet more Muslim immigrants attempting yet more bombings, Jacqui Smith was quick to pronounce that "[a]ny attempt to identify a murderous ideology with a great faith such as Islam is wrong and needs to be denied."

Citizens of the world sure spend a lot of their time in the denial business.

http://www.aina.org/news/2008080612938.htm