Title: Omar Bakri Mohammed
Description: Banned Cleric
Description: Banned Cleric
numeral - November 14, 2006 07:47 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE |
| Covert preaching of banned cleric A banned cleric is still preaching support for terrorism to young British Muslims by appearing incognito on the internet, the BBC has learned. The joint investigation by File on 4 and Newsnight has found Omar Bakri Mohammed broadcasts hatred for the UK using a variety of pseudonyms. He was excluded from the UK last August on the grounds that his presence was "not conducive to the public good." On a recent broadcast he said the 7/7 London bombers were "in paradise." The BBC investigation has also revealed how young British Muslims are being radicalised by extremists on university campuses and in street gangs. Omar Bakri Mohammed ran the radical al-Muhajiroun group from Tottenham, north London, until it was proscribed last year. The then Home Secretary Charles Clarke barred him from returning to Britain while he was out of the country in August 2005. But the BBC has learned that he broadcasts online most evenings - a voice recognition expert confirmed that the voice was that of the radical preacher. In one broadcast he praised the 2005 London bombers by saying: "How can you condemn those great men - it's not something so bad, something so good. Something so good to be involved in." A chatroom has been infiltrated by a group called Vigil, which aims to disrupt radical groups and report back to police and security services. During an online question and answer session a Vigil member asked Omar Bakri Mohammed if Dublin Airport should be a terrorist target because US troops transit there on the way to Iraq. The cleric replied: "Hit the target and hit it very hard, that issue should be understood. Your situation there is quite difficult therefore the answer lies in your question." Terror hotline Vigil claims the UK authorities have been slow to deal with the broadcasts. One academic, who is a member of Vigil, contacted the Metropolitan Police's anti-terrorist hotline saying he had more than 100 hours of material from the chatroom only to be told to contact his local police station. "The anti-terrorist office showed no sense of urgency to get this information," he said. Home Office Minister Tony McNulty said he would examine the details of the claim. He also said: "Glorifying terrorism on the internet is an offence and we are trying to deal with it and keep up with it. Mr McNulty added: "We do have to keep these things under review." Hear the full story on Radio 4: File on 4 Tue 14 Nov 2000GMT, repeated Sun 12 Nov 1700GMT or online at the File on 4 website See the full story on BBC Two: Newsnight 2230GMT or online at the Newsnight website |
numeral - December 26, 2006 02:48 PM (GMT)
I came across this by accident. The references to the covenant of security are interesting. So is talking openly to an Evening Standard journalist!
| QUOTE |
| Terror on the dole By David Cohen, Evening Standard 20.04.04  Sayful Islam: total support for bin Laden Four young British Muslims in their twenties - a social worker, an IT specialist, a security guard and a financial adviser - occupy a table at a fast-food chicken restaurant in Luton. Perched on their plastic chairs, wolfing down their dinner, they seem just ordinary young men. Yet out of their mouths pour heated words of revolution. "As far as I'm concerned, when they bomb London, the bigger the better," says Abdul Haq, the social worker. "I know it's going to happen because Sheikh bin Laden said so. Like Bali, like Turkey, like Madrid - I pray for it, I look forward to the day." "Pass the brown sauce, brother," says Abu Malaahim, the IT specialist, devouring his chicken and chips. "I agree with you, brother," says Abu Yusuf, the earnest-looking financial adviser sitting opposite. "I would like to see the Mujahideen coming into London and killing thousands, whether with nuclear weapons or germ warfare. And if they need a safehouse, they can stay in mine - and if they need some fertiliser [for a bomb], I'll tell them where to get it." His friend, Abu Musa, the security guard, smiles radiantly. "It will be a day of joy for me," he adds, speaking with a slight lisp. As they talk, a man with a bushy beard, dressed in a jacket emblazoned with the word "Jihad", stands and watches over them, handing around cups of steaming hot coffee. His real name is Ishtiaq Alamgir, but he goes by his adopted name, Sayful Islam, meaning "Sword of Islam". He is the 24-year-old leader of the Luton branch of al-Muhajiroun, an extremist Muslim group with about 800 members countrywide, who regard Osama bin Laden as their hero. Until recently, nobody took the fanatical beliefs of al-Muhajiroun too seriously, believing that a British-based group so brazenly "out there" could not be involved in something as "underground" as terrorism. The group is led by the exiled Saudi, Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammad, from his base in north London. Yesterday, in a magazine article, Bakri warned that several radical groups are poised to strike in London. For all its inflammatory rhetoric, al-Muhajiroun has never been linked to actual violence. Yet, with the discovery last month of half-a-tonne of ammonium nitrate fertiliser - the same explosive ingredient used in the Bali and Turkey terror attacks - and with the arrest of eight young British Muslims in London and the South-East, including six in Luton, extremist groups such as al-Muhajiroun are under the spotlight like never before. Detectives fear that the "enemy within", the homegrown extremists leading apparently normal lives in suburbia, now pose the greatest threat to security in Britain. Sayful and his friends fit this "homegrown" profile: three were born here, two came as young children from Pakistan; all were educated in local Luton schools; and they grew up in families of full employment - one of their fathers is a retired local businessman, two are engineers, and two worked in the local Vauxhall car plant. The question is: how worried should we be? Is al-Muhajiroun nothing more than a repository for disaffected Muslim youths who have adopted an extreme interpretation of Islam - perhaps to cock a snook at the white establishment - but who are essentially posturing? Or does the group also perform a more sinister function, sucking in alienated young men and brainwashing the more impressionable into becoming future suicide bombers? Although none of the arrested Muslims - aged 17 to 32 - appear to be current al-Muhajiroun members, rumours have circulated of informal links to the group. Moreover, parents of the arrested men have spoken anxiously of the "radicalising influence" of al-Muhajiroun militants who " corrupt" their children at mosques. Nowhere has this public confrontation between radicals and moderates been more apparent than in Luton, which has the highest density of Muslims in the South-East - 28,000 out of a total population of 140,000 - and has long been regarded as a hotbed of extremism. Sayful Islam, for one, is particularly proud of his contribution to Luton's hardline reputation. His exploits include covering the town with " Magnificent 19" posters glorifying the 11 September suicide bombers. "When I joined al-Muhajiroun four years ago, there were five local members," he says. "Now there are more than 50 and hundreds more support us." The strange thing is that four years ago, Sayful Islam was a jeans-clad student completing his degree in business economics at Middlesex University in Hendon, north London. The son of a British Rail engineer who came to this country from Pakistan, Sayful grew up in a moderate, middle-class Muslim family in Luton. At the local Denbigh High School, he is remembered as one of the smartest kids, and was selected to attend a science masterclass at Cambridge University. He would go on to marry, have two children and find work as an accountant for the Inland Revenue in Luton. He was thoroughly uninterested in politics. THEN he met Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammad at a local event. Within two years, he had swapped his decently paid job as an accountant for an unpaid one as a political agitator. What turned him into an extremist? And how far is he prepared to go to achieve his aims? Prior to seeing the group at the fastfood restaurant, Sayful meets me at his semi-detached rented home in Bury Park, Luton's Muslim neighbourhood. He no longer works, even though he is able-bodied, he admits, preferring instead to claim housing benefit and jobseeker's allowance. He smiles sheepishly and says the irony is not lost on him that the British state is supporting him financially, even as he plots to "overthrow it". "I made a decision that I wanted to follow what Islam really said," Sayful begins, sitting on his sofa in his thowb (a traditional robe) and bare feet. "I went to listen to all the local imams, but I found their portrayal of Islam was too secularised. When I heard Sheikh Omar [the leader] of al-Muhajiroun speak, it was pure Islam, with no compromise. I found that appealing. "At the same time," continues Sayful, "wars were happening in Bosnia, Kosovo, Chechnya, Afghanistan. People were being oppressed simply because they were Muslim. Although I had never experienced racism in the UK, it opened the eyes of a lot of Muslims, including mine." But it was the events of 11 September that crystallised Sayful's worldview. "When I watched those planes go into the Twin Towers, I felt elated," he says. "That magnificent action split the world into two camps: you were either with Islam and al Qaeda, or with the enemy. I decided to quit my job and commit myself full-time to al-Muhajiroun." Now he does not consider himself British. "I am a Muslim living in Britain, and I give my allegiance only to Allah." According to Sayful, the aim of al-Muhajiroun ("the immigrants") is nothing less than Khilafah - "the worldwide domination of Islam". The way to achieve this, he says, is by Jihad, led by Bin Laden. "I support him 100 per cent." Does that support extend to violent acts of terrorism in the UK? "Yes," he replies, unequivocally. "When a bomb attack happens here, I won't be against it, even if it kills my own children. Islam is clear: Muslims living in lands that are occupied have the right to attack their invaders. "Britain became a legitimate target when it sent troops to Iraq. But it is against Islam for me to engage personally in acts of terrorism in the UK because I live here. According to Islam, I have a covenant of security with the UK, as long as they allow us Muslims to live here in peace." HE USES the phrase "covenant of security" constantly. He attempts to explain. "If we want to engage in terrorism, we would have to leave the country," he says. "It is against Islam to do otherwise." Such a course of action, he says, he is not prepared to undertake. This is why, Sayful claims, it is consistent, and not cowardly, for him to espouse the rhetoric of terrorism, the "martyrdom-operations", while simultaneouslylimiting himself to nonviolentactions such as leafletting outside Luton town hall. He denies any link between al-Muhajiroun and the Muslims arrested in the recent police raids. But, as I later discover at the fastfood restaurant, not everyone attaching themselves, however loosely, to al-Muhajiroun draws the same line. Two members of the group - Abu Yusuf, the financial adviser, and Abu Musa, the security guard - scorn al-Muhajiroun as "too moderate". "I am freelance," says Abu Yusuf, fixing me with his piercing brown eyes. What does that mean? I ask. "The difference between us and those two," interjects Abu Malaahim, pointing to Musa and Yusuf, "is that us lot do a verbal thing, [but] those brothers actually want to do a physical thing." Referring to the latest truce offered by Bin Laden, and Britain's scathing rejection of it, Abu Malaahim adds: "He tried to make a peace deal. When terrorism happens, you will only have yourselves to blame." How far are you prepared to go? I ask. "You want to know how far I will go," says Abu Musa, his high-pitched lisp rising an octave. "When Allah said in the Koran 'kill and be killed', that's what I want. I want a martyr operation, where I kill my enemy." Are you saying, I probe, that you are looking to kill people yourself ? "Yes," Abu Musa says, "to kill and to be killed." He emphasises each word. What's stopped you doing it? "As you know from watching the news," intones Abu Yusuf, "there are brothers who do leave the country and do it." He is referring to the four Muslims from Luton who died fighting for the Taliban in Afghanistan, and the two British Muslims, said to have had ties to al-Muhajiroun, who last April left to become suicide bombers in Israel. "In-shallah [ Godwilling], there will be a time to go." It is hard to know whether Musa and Yusuf are deadly serious or just pumped full of misguided, youthful bravado. Though I see coldness - even ruthlessness - in their eyes, I sense no malice. Both young men agree, perhaps foolishly, to be quoted using their real names, though they decline photographs - thus illustrating their uncertainty of which way to jump. Muhammad Sulaiman, president of the Islamic Cultural Society, the largest of the 14 mosques in Luton, dismisses al-Muhajiroun as "verbal diarrhoea". "They are an extreme Right-wing group - the Muslim version of the BNP," he says disdainfully. "They think Muslims should dominate, just like the BNP thinks whites should dominate. They use Islam as a vehicle to promote their distorted beliefs, particularly to unemployed young bloods who are vulnerable." ALTHOUGH unemployment in Luton is just six per cent, the rate among Muslim youths is estimated at 25 per cent. "They are no more representative of our Muslim community than the BNP are of the white community." Sulaiman insists that Sayful Islam and his crew are not welcome at the mosque. He cannot prevent them praying there, but he will never give them a platform. "I've told Sayful to bugger off and ejected him many times," he says brusquely. "Even Sayful's father, who I know well, thinks his son has been brainwashed." But Sayful and his friends laugh at the idea that they are local pariahs. "The mosques say one thing to the public, and something else to us. Let's just say that the face you see and the face we see are two different faces," says Abdul Haq. "Believe me," adds Musa, "behind closed doors, there are no moderate Muslims." They also mock the idea that they are attracted to al-Muhajiroun because they have suffered alienation from white society. "Do we look like scum?" they ask. "Do we look illiterate?" As they call for the bill, Abu Malaahim flicks open his 3G mobile phone and, with a satisfied grin, displays the image, downloaded from the internet, of an American Humvee burning in Iraq. Abu Yusuf says: "That's nothing. I downloaded the picture of the four burnt Americans hanging from the bridge." It's oneupmanship, al-Muhajiroun style. Sayful, the only married one in the group, prepares to go home to his wife and children. Before he departs, he says he has a message to deliver. "I want to warn that the police raids - if repeated - could create a bad situation. "Islam is not like Christianity, where they turn the other cheek. If they raid our homes, it could lead to the covenant of security being broken. "Islam allows us to retaliate. That would include" - he tugs his "Jihad" coat tight against the night air - "by violent means." |
Kier - December 26, 2006 04:11 PM (GMT)
You're right, Numeral - it's very odd that all of this was said so very openly. Dhiren Barot was punished more for saying less, wasn't he? The only thing I find more surprising is that it wasn't carried in the Daily Mail....especially with the extra-insulting angle of him being a 'benefit scrounger' on top of it all ;)
freedomfiles - February 4, 2007 02:07 PM (GMT)
Ex-UK cleric 'inspired plot to kidnap soldier'
Andrew Alderson, Chief Reporter, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 12:46am GMT 04/02/2007
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml...04/nterr104.xml
A radical Islamist cleric banned from Britain has been secretly recorded in a series of rants in which he calls on Muslims to behead their enemies and kidnap Westerners.
The speeches of Omar Bakri Mohammed are suspected of inspiring the alleged plot, made public last week, to seize and kill a Muslim soldier serving in the Army.
Muslims in police will rise up: Omar Bakri Mohammed
Sunday 21 January 2007
http://www.judeoscope.ca/breve.php3?id_breve=3099
for more information on the Birmingham plot see http://z13.invisionfree.com/julyseventh/in...451&st=21&#last
More on Omar Bakri Mohammed :
WikiPedia: Omar Bakri Muhammad
Andrew Alderson, Chief Reporter, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 12:46am GMT 04/02/2007
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml...04/nterr104.xml
A radical Islamist cleric banned from Britain has been secretly recorded in a series of rants in which he calls on Muslims to behead their enemies and kidnap Westerners.
The speeches of Omar Bakri Mohammed are suspected of inspiring the alleged plot, made public last week, to seize and kill a Muslim soldier serving in the Army.
Muslims in police will rise up: Omar Bakri Mohammed
Sunday 21 January 2007
http://www.judeoscope.ca/breve.php3?id_breve=3099
for more information on the Birmingham plot see http://z13.invisionfree.com/julyseventh/in...451&st=21&#last
More on Omar Bakri Mohammed :
WikiPedia: Omar Bakri Muhammad
Bridget - February 6, 2007 05:27 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE |
| Omar Bakri denies inspiring kidnap plot Sunday, 4th February 2007, 14:02 Radical cleric Omar Bakri today supported Muslims fighting the British army in Iraq - but angrily denied that he inspired an alleged plot to kidnap and behead a British soldier. Speaking from his bolthole in Lebanon, Bakri said British soldiers in Iraq had no "sanctity of life" - but added that Muslims in Britain were not permitted to attack anybody. He described reports that he had called for British soldiers to be kidnapped and beheaded "complete fabrication" and said he knew nothing about the men arrested in the alleged plot in Birmingham. Bakri said: "What has been written in the newspapers is utter fabrication. I think you people, the western media, are the weapon of the crusade and you want to pick on Omar Bakri. You are wasting your time. "Whoever the man, Muslim or non Muslim, who joins the British army and comes to Iraq, this man has no sanctity for his life and property in Iraq and the Muslims there have the right to fight them back. "But for Muslims living in Britain, it's no allowed for them to attack anybody, whether he is a soldier or not. "Everything that has been written about me is utter fabrication. The reporters want to say 'Omar Bakri calls for killing' but I didn't call for anything. "I didn't know about these people being arrested, although I do think the government is fabricating the allegations. "I do my talks openly and publicly and people record everything I say. Everything I stand for is there." |
freedomfiles - May 17, 2007 09:29 AM (GMT)
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| Cleric preaches violence is part of Islam Daily Times Monitor http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?p...2-5-2007_pg7_36 LAHORE: The “fertiliser bomb plotters” recently imprisoned in Britain were influenced by a radical cleric who preaches that violence and terrorism are “a part of Islam”, according to a report in The Daily Telegraph. Omar Bakri Mohammed “encouraged his small band of followers to turn their ideological zeal to violence, training them in boxing and urging them on,” writes Duncan Gardham in the Telegraph report. “It was at one such meeting that Omar Khyam, the leader of the fertiliser plotters, first came into contact with radical Islam as an impressionable teenager. It was Bakri’s boundless energy that drew together the various parts of the radical group he had founded,” writes Gardham. Living on disability benefit in north London, Bakri drove round the UK encouraging members of radical group al-Muhajiroun. His radical ideology called for the establishment of a worldwide Muslim Caliphate and the black flag of Islam flying at No 10. Bakri helped organise a seminar after the September 11 attacks in favour of the “Magnificent 19” and went on to call the July 7 bombers the “Fantastic Four”. In documents seen by The Daily Telegraph, al-Muhajiroun claimed: “Terrorism is a part of Islam” and “Allah made it obligatory to prepare and to terrify the enemy of Allah”. The article advised: “The kuffar of USA and UK are without doubt our enemy. There is no such thing as an innocent kafir, innocence is only applicable for the Muslims. Not only is it obligatory to fight them, it is haram [forbidden] to feel sorry for them.” Al-Muhajiroun included several distinct groups – the fertiliser plotters Omar Khyam and Waheed Mahmood became involved in Crawley, Anthony Garcia in east London and Salahuddin Amin in Luton. In Pakistan, after September 11, those groups came together under the guidance of Mohammed Babar, an al-Muhajiroun member from New York, and others, including allegedly Hassan Butt from Manchester, says the Telegraph report. Babar and Butt allegedly set up an “AM” office in Lahore, with Butt said to have boasted of sending British recruits to fight allied forces in Afghanistan. Another young man inspired by Bakri was Omar Sharif, from Derby, a student at King’s College London who went on to become a suicide bomber in Israel. Six months after the arrest of the fertiliser plotters in 2004, Bakri announced that he was closing down al-Muhajiroun but other organisations have been set up by his followers. The New York Police Department said last year it believed that al-Muhajiroun and its successors had connections with Islamic societies in 21 British towns and cities as well as student bodies, publishers and a software company. In a recent article in the London-based Arabic newspaper Al Sharq al-Awsat, a former leader of one group said: “The students of Omar Bakri continue to preach on campuses.” Bakri now lives in the Lebanon and has been banned from returning to Britain, although his wife and seven children still live in London. In a sermon in English, given over a secure Internet site by Bakri last week, he talked of anti-terrorism arrests as a “good sign”. He said: “When you put people under pressure everywhere, I think you are leading to explosion.” |
Here another article on links between Omar Bakri Mohammed and the 7/7 bombings :
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| Was Exiled Radical Islamic Cleric Linked to London Bombings? Jeremy Reynalds - 10/6/2006 New information is emerging about exiled radical Islamic cleric Omar Bakri Mohammad and his possible involvement with the deadly London bombings. The attacks on July 7 2005 killed 52 innocent people in addition to the four suicide bombers. On recordings made of an Islamic discussion group (held nightly on Paltalk.com), answering a question about whether he was linked to the bombings, Bakri for the first time admitted going to Leeds, where two of the London bombers originated. He also confirmed that the bombers attended talks given by himself, jailed Islamic cleric Abu Hamza, Abu Qatada and Abdullah el-Faisal. However, following his disclosure and presumably aware that he was being monitored, Bakri said just because he traveled to the area was not an admission that he organized the bombings. http://globalpolitician.com/articledes.asp...09&cid=3&sid=74 |
When will UK authorities ask Lebanon for the extradition of "banned cleric" Omar Bakri Mohammed ? Or is his alleged involvement in the London bombings and the "liquid terror plot" no reason to bring him to justice ? Why don't Lebanese authorities detain him ? Or did the UK make a deal with Lebanon to protect Bakri's interests, similar to the deal the UK made with Jordan regarding amongst others Abu Qatada, a supposed European Al Qaeda leader ?
Why are these people left alone, even to the point that a political deal is brokered to grant these people legal immunity after being expelled from the UK ?
The Antagonist - September 20, 2007 01:53 AM (GMT)
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| 3.3 Al-Muhajiroun, recruited by British military intelligence Bakri has not been arrested or even investigated in connection with 7/7. Although al-Muhajiroun and its successor organizations have been repeatedly proscribed by the government, these measures have been wholly ineffective. The network remains fully intact and continues to operate relatively unimpeded across the UK. Despite being exiled to Lebanon, Omar Bakri maintains regular communications with this network inside the UK. Security sources confirm that al-Muhajiroun, including extremist clerics Omar Bakri and Abu Hamza, was hired by MI6 as early as 1995 to recruit British Muslims to fight alongside MI6-CIA sponsored KLA guerrillas in Kosovo. The KLA was simultaneously financed and trained by al-Qaeda. Despite this, as European security sources report, the KLA has continued to receive covert sponsorship from NATO up to January 2003 in its new incarnation as the NLA in Macedonia. |
Source: Inside the Crevice
numeral - November 15, 2007 01:48 PM (GMT)
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| Radical Muslim cleric says he stopped UK violence Thu Nov 15, 2007 9:16am GMT By Michael Holden LONDON (Reuters) - Two years ago, Omar Bakri Mohammed was banned from Britain after the government ruled that the so-called "preacher of hate" was not conducive to the public good in the aftermath of the July 2005 London bombings. Bakri, who gained notoriety when he referred to the hijackers behind the September 11, 2001 attacks as the "magnificent 19", had become the embodiment of the radical clerics the government believed were poisoning the minds of young Muslims. Even from his new home in Lebanon, the Syrian-born Bakri's influence is still regularly mentioned in newspaper articles and prosecutors have described him as a leading influence for many convicted of terrorism offences in recent British trials. Outlining new counter-terrorism measures on Wednesday, Prime Minister Gordon Brown made "tackling radicalisation and those promoting hate" a major focus point. However the bearded and bespectacled Bakri, a 49-year-old father of six, says his absence, rather than helping Britain to stop the radicalisation of Muslims, has made matters worse. He claims the British government and security services had failed to realise that preachers from groups such as his banned al-Muhajiroun (AM) and al-Gurabaa organisations had held back disaffected young Muslims from violence. "I was able to control the youth for years after the Bosnia war, Chechnya war, Kashmir war, Iraqi war, Afghan war -- I was always able to channel the anger in demonstration, in talks, in confrontation," he told Reuters by telephone. "The government should benefit from my services there. They should benefit that somebody is able to control the youth not by saying to them 'love the queen, long live the queen'. "No, they would never respect me, not by saying obey God and do not violate the sanctity of people, Muslim or non-Muslim." Bakri had lived in Britain for 20 years before the government announced he was not welcome back after he left for a holiday in August 2005. The British and U.S. authorities say that for years Bakri and his AM colleague Abu Hamza al-Masri, currently serving a seven jail term for inciting his followers to commit murder, spread hatred from London's Finsbury Park Mosque. Just some of those said to have been influenced by the duo are convicted September 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui and jailed shoe-bomber Richard Reid. A group of Britons jailed earlier this year for plotting to carry out fertiliser-based bomb attacks on clubs and shopping centres were radicalised by Bakri, their trial was told. Despite this, Bakri has sometimes been presented in the media as a joke, partly because of his heavy Middle Eastern accent. However Ed Hussain, a former follower of Bakri who wrote a book on how he had been radicalised, said his message was sinister while a British security source said the cleric would not have been excluded if he wasn't taken seriously. "That's not something that's done lightly. You belittle the harm that people like that can do if you just write them off as a loudmouth," the source said. "Even sitting in Lebanon, he (Bakri) is still regarded as a senior person in al-Gurabaa." Despite this, Bakri insists his message is peaceful, saying his controversial "magnificent 19" comment was a stunt. He is also keen to stress that no criminal charges have ever been brought against him. "When Omar Bakri in a conference called them the magnificent 19, it was to attract people like the media to come to listen to the cause and effect of 9/11. Otherwise why do you want to come to Omar Bakri?" he said. "I am not a person who is going to be in the camp of (U.S. President) George Bush nor am I in the camp of (Osama) bin Laden. I believe we can live together and co-exist. There's no need to be fundamentalist." Bakri also says his enforced exile was meaningless as he has regularly contacted his followers via the Internet while his followers have set up dozens of Web sites dedicated to him. "They should open debate, discussions, dialogue with the Islamists. There is no need to censor. If you think it is bad, why do you not debate it and destroy it in national newspapers, in national media?" Meanwhile he says other violent jihadists were able to fill the vacuum caused by his and other radical preachers' absence. "As far as the London (7/7) bombing is concerned, the people who were involved were not the radical members of al-Muhajiroun or any other members of radical groups. It was moderate Muslims," he said. "Those who carry violence against British society were not the radical preachers or radical Muslims, it was the radical jihadists (who) used to be moderate. Why did they change? It was not because of Omar Bakri." The London bombings did prove the tipping point for the-then government of Prime Minister Tony Blair after Bakri appeared in interviews saying he would not tell police if he knew Muslims were plotting attacks. Unsurprisingly, he predicts further attacks. "I believe the al Qaeda threat is very genuine and al Qaeda is not going to rest," he said. "I believe they are part and parcel of the Muslim community in Britain, via the internet and individuals who go abroad (to places like Pakistan). "I used to see them there I used to hear them. The way out is for Muslim youth in Britain to have strong preachers who they trust." (Additional reporting by Mark Trevelyan) |
Bridget - September 11, 2008 11:16 AM (GMT)
The ever useful Bakri presumably sent out a press release:
| QUOTE |
| Video link hate cleric Omar Bakri Muhammad to hail 9/11 in speech Exclusive by Stewart Maclean 11/09/2008  Bakri Muhammad Banned hate cleric Omar Bakri Muhammad has vowed to praise the 9/11 killers in a sick speech to British radicals today - the seventh anniversary of the terror outrage. Bakri, 59, was kicked out of Britain after the July 7 2005 London bombings because of his activities. But last night it emerged he will use a live video link from Lebanon to address radicals meeting in London. He boasted on a website: "I'm going to praise the magnificent 19 martyrs and the glorious raiders of the London bombers." Yesterday the dad-of-six, who lived in Britain for 20 years, told the Mirror: "They are martyrs and I will not condemn them." Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve called for action, saying: "Having banned him and outlawed the glorification of terrorism, what will the Government do to prevent him preaching vitriol and violence in this country via video link-up?" Mirror |
The Antagonist - September 18, 2008 08:39 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE |
| Banned cleric's son reclaims cash The son of a Muslim cleric banned from the UK has won his bid to reclaim £14,400 seized by police. Abdul Fostock, 25, was stopped at Heathrow Airport in October 2006 as he tried to fly to Beirut to visit his father Omar Bakri Mohammed. Mr Bakri Mohammed was ordered out of the UK after the 7/7 terror attacks. Police believed Mr Fostock's cash would be used for "terrorist purposes", but Southwark Crown Court supported his assertion that the money was a gift. In his ruling, Judge David Higgins also criticised police evidence concerning Mr Bakri Mohammed's involvement in terrorist groups. He said the evidence was "unreliable" as it relied heavily upon "open sourced material", namely entries in online encyclopedia Wikipedia. 'Intended for crime' Mr Fostock, from Enfield, north London, was carrying £14,420 in a series of envelopes marked "daddy", "mum", "sheikh" and "spending money" when police stopped him. He told officers he received the money from "friends and family" and intended to distribute it as an "Eid present" when reunited with his parents in Lebanon. But Det Sgt Russell Hughes told the court that there were "reasonable grounds" to suspect that the money was "intended for the purposes of crime". However Judge Higgins said he was satisfied that the cash was "an Eid gift, it was not for the purposes of terrorism". "It was an act of humanity given at the end of the month of Ramadan when the minds of Muslims turn to such matters," the judge said. The Met was ordered to repay the money within 14 days and to cover Mr Fostock's court costs of £4,000. Judge Higgins also noted that Mr Bakri Mohammed had "never been charged with or convicted of anything" despite his exclusion from the UK in 2005. Mr Bakri Mohammed's home was searched by police in the wake of the 7 July 2005 bombings on London's transport system in which 52 people were killed by four suicide bombers. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_n...don/7623952.stm Published: 2008/09/18 19:17:20 GMT |
The Antagonist - September 19, 2008 12:16 PM (GMT)
^ That was the lead-in, here's the guts:
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| Islamist sect banned as security threat 'is recruiting teenagers' Robert Mendick, Chief Reporter 19.09.08 A militant Islamic sect banned by the Government as a threat to national security has launched a campaign to radicalise teenagers in east London, the Evening Standard can reveal. Al-Muhajiroun, headed by exiled cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed, tonight begins a recruitment drive targeting young Muslims - despite being outlawed under terror laws introduced in the wake of the 7/7 suicide bomb attacks on London. Several members of the sect have been jailed in recent years for terror-related offences but there are fears the group is thriving again under a new name. The group has launched a website, Islam4uk.com. It is advertising its first youth conference, entitled Muslim Youth: The Spark of the Fire, at a community centre in Walthamstow - close to the homes of six men who face a retrial over a plot to blow up transatlantic airliners. Islam4uk.com is a reincarnation of al-Muhajiroun in all but name. It is headed by Bakri Mohammed, now living in Lebanon, and his deputy Anjem Choudary, its official spokesman. The two have kept a relatively low profile since the 7 July attacks on London in 2005 but have become emboldened in recent weeks. The youth conference tonight is being addressed by two notorious extremists, Abu Uzair and Abu Waleed. Uzair, 40, who was a follower of jailed preacher Abu Hamza at Finsbury Park mosque, sprang to prominence when he praised the 9/11 hijackers as " magnificent" and claimed that if he knew terrorists were planning a suicide attack, he would not alert police. In an interview with the BBC, Uzair declared: "We don't live in peace with you any more. The banner has been risen for jihad inside the UK, which means it's allowed for bombers to attack." Waleed, another disciple of Hamza's, was caught on video earlier this year making a joke about Muslims taking backpacks on to the London Underground. Having laid low for the past three years - since Bakri was forced to live in exile in Lebanon - there is concern al-Muhajiroun is growing in strength. At a meeting last Thursday - as first reported by the Standard - almost 100 Muslims attended to hear a live video link-up with Bakri. Andrew Dismore, the Labour MP for Hendon, who first called for al-Muhajiroun to be banned 10 years ago, said today: "This new group needs to be banned. Islam4uk is clearly just another side of the same coin. "This shows the real difficulty with these splinter groups. The fact they are now getting 100 people to their meetings is very alarming." |
Bridget - September 30, 2008 09:25 AM (GMT)
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| Bakri denies he knew his daughter was a pole dancer Beirut (dpa) - Radical Muslim cleric Sheikh Omar Bakri, who has been living in Lebanon since he was exiled from the Britain three years ago, said Monday he had no idea that his daughter was working as a pole dancer in London. "If this is true, I am deeply shocked," Bakri said in Tripoli northern Lebanon. "I brought her up properly according to the Muslim faith, but she is free to make her own choices in life. But I am still shocked," Bakri said. Bakri said he had not spoken to his daughter for a long time, and he thought she was living with her husband in Turkey. Bakri's daughter who changed her name from Yussra to Yasmine, has has a three-year-old son who was conceived during an arranged marriage to a Turkish man, has admitted that she works as a topless pole dancer in nightclubs. "May God forgive her is if she is doing this, because only God will forgive her, not me," he said. She was quoted as telling British newspapers that she does not get along with her father or support his radical views. Bakri caused a media storm after the London bombings in 2005, declaring that the only people he blamed for the London bombings were the British government and public. Born in Syria in the late 1950s, he became involved in the Muslim Brotherhood, a revolutionary organization that provided the foundations for Islamist political ideology. He is the founder of the London branch of Hizb al-Tahrir (the Islamic Liberation Party), and of the organization Jama'at al- Muhajirun or the School of the Emigrants, in reference to those who accompanied the Prophet Muhammad on his flight or hegira from Mecca to Medina. source |
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| Terrorists Call Paul McCartney Death Threats Bogus Last update: 2:17 p.m. EDT Sept. 17, 2008 JERUSALEM,, Sept 17, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- There is no credible threat against Paul McCartney ahead of his concert this month in Tel Aviv, according to Aaron Klein, a terrorism expert and author who called Palestinian terrorists about the former Beatle. An Islamic militant leader in Lebanon had warned McCartney could be the target of a suicide bombing unless he canceled his first concert in Israel, scheduled for Sept. 25, Britain's Sunday Express reported this weekend. But Klein, WorldNetDaily's Jerusalem bureau chief and author of the book, Schmoozing with Terrorists, said in response to the threat he called senior leaders from every major Palestinian terror organization, and not one had heard of McCartney or the Beatles. Klein said he proceeded to sing to the terrorists top Beatles songs, including "Yesterday," "Let It Be" and "She Loves You," but the tunes didn't ring a bell for a single one. "I don't know any of this," said Muhammad Abdel-Al, spokesman and senior leader of the Popular Resistance Committees terror group. Abu Ahmed, a senior leader of Islamic Jihad in Gaza, told Klein, "We don't know these Beatles." Ala Senakreh, chief of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in the West Bank city of Nablus, told Klein he, too, is unfamiliar with the star singer and his former group. "Listen, I have a friend at the University [of Nablus]. I can call him. Maybe he knows of McCartney," Senakreh told Klein. Senakreh recently was granted amnesty in a deal between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Klein said he also called members of Hamas, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and a lesser-known group, the Army of Islam. Those terrorists also drew blanks when asked if they were familiar with McCartney. The threats against McCartney came from Omar Bakri, also known as Omar Bakri Mohammad, who was the leader of Al-Muhajiroun, a London-based Islamist organization with the stated goal of creating a worldwide Islamic state starting in Britain. "If he values his life, Mr. McCartney must not come to Israel," Bakri was quoted as saying. "He will not be safe there. The sacrifice operatives will be waiting for him." Bakri added: "Instead of supporting the people of Palestine in their suffering, McCartney is celebrating the atrocities of the occupiers. The one who is under occupation is supposed to be getting the help." Klein has interviewed Bakri numerous times. In 1999, Klein spent a weekend with Bakri and his group, penning an article entitled, "My Weekend with the Enemy," published in newspapers, including the Jerusalem Post and Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Klein called Bakri a "notorious media attention seeker" who is "more talk than action." He said Palestinian terror groups "pay little to no attention to anything Bakri says or does. They don't take Bakri seriously." Meanwhile, McCartney has made clear his concert in Israel will go on as planned. source |
The Antagonist - September 30, 2008 12:48 PM (GMT)
The Daily Mail does it with pictures:
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| Revealed: Radical cleric Bakri's pole-dancer daughter By Michael Seamark and Emily Andrews Last updated at 1:18 AM on 27th September 2008 As the daughter of firebrand cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed, Yasmin Fostok might be expected to share his fanatical beliefs. But the radical Muslim's daughter has ditched his extreme interpretation of Islam - as well as most of her clothing. The busty blonde has been revealed as a topless, tattooed pole dancer.  Raunchy: Radical Muslim cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed's daughter Yasmin Fostok is a topless, tattooed pole-dancer The 26-year-old single mother has been displaying her charms in London clubs and touring as a 'podium' dancer with a troupe called Ibiza Untouched. Hundreds of youngsters go wild over the daughter of the preacher of hate who rants against Western 'depravity'. Yasmin shrugged off the secret life that her father would abhor. 'I don't agree with his views - I just get on with my life and that's it,' she said.  Parents: Radical Muslim Omar Bakri Mohammed and his wife Hanan Fostok Perhaps predictably Bakri, now exiled to Lebanon, dismissed the news as a ' fabrication' and described it as an attack on him and Islam. 'The more you put pressure on me, the stronger I become. Islam will conquer Britain,' he said.  Galmour girl: Yasmin Fostok in Catford yesterday; she grew up a devout Muslim and wore a veil in her teens 'I have not seen my daughter for nine years, but because she is a member of my family people want to make things up about her. 'You are going to pay a heavy price. You can read it any way you like. The time is now.' Bakri, who said the British people brought the 7/7 outrages on themselves and praised the ' magnificent' September 11 hijackers, raised his six children on benefits totalling £300,000, and his daughter is following suit. She lives with her three-year-old son in a ground-floor flat in Catford, South East London. Her rent and council tax are paid by the state and she receives child benefit and income support. She grew up a devout Muslim and in her teens wore a veil. She left school in Enfield at 16 after her parents arranged a marriage to a Turk but the couple separated. She told The Sun: 'I've done pole dancing, but I like to keep it quiet. 'I don't normally do topless work, but I'm willing to go topless if the venue is right.' She said she did not get on with her father. 'His views are nothing to do with me,' she added. 'I am an adult, my own person. I do my business and he does his.' One friend told the newspaper: 'Bakri would have a heart attack if he saw his daughter on stage. 'She was brought up a strict Muslim and had all of his extreme teachings about morality drummed into her head. 'But she has been leading a wild double life thrashing about on stage in pole dancing clubs and drinking and partying like there's no tomorrow.' Bakri initially reacted with horror when confronted with Yasmin's lifestyle. 'If this is true I am deeply shocked,' he said. 'She was brought up properly in the Muslim faith, but she is free to make her own choices in life. 'I have no control over her because as far as I know she is still married. Her behaviour should be the responsibility of her husband.' Syrian-born Bakri, whose leave to remain in Britain was revoked after the 7/7 London attacks, changed his tune and claimed: 'I have no daughter doing anything like this - all my children are practising Muslims. 'I spoke to my daughter. She told me it was all lies.' The 'Tottenham Ayatollah' then claimed the story was part of a plot to get back at him after police were forced by a judge to hand back £14,000 in cash they confiscated from his son Abdul. 'They are using members of my family to get back at me, because I have won. They are jealous because my son Abdul has got back the money that the police stole from him. 'Islam has prevailed and you are defeated. The lowest people on earth are non-Muslims and that is why we have to put up with these fabrications and lies.' Miss Fostok was keeping a low profile yesterday at her dingy flat on the busy South Circular Road. Police spent half an hour there and later said they were advising her on security. They would not comment on whether she had received threats from religious fundamentalists. One neighbour said: 'She's a very quiet girl, a good girl. I see her most days with her little boy and she seems like a very good mum. 'She doesn't smoke or drink so I'm surprised to learn that she has been pole dancing in clubs.'  Early years: Yasmin, pictured far right with father Omar Bakri, and brothers Mohammed and Abdul, admits to working as a pole-dancer Yasmin told The Sun: 'I've done pole dancing, but I like to keep it quiet. 'I don't normally do topless work, but I'm willing to go topless if the venue is right.' One friend told the newspaper: 'Bakri would have a heart attack if he saw his daughter on stage. She was brought up a strict Muslim and had all of his extreme teachings about morality drummed into her head. 'But she has been leading a wild double life thrashing about on stage in pole dancing clubs and drinking and partying like there's no tomorrow. 'Yasmin has no time for Bakri's evil views.' One of a string of boyfriends Yasmin has apparently been with since her marriage break up told the paper: 'She's a million miles away from the daughter her daddy would have wanted and is very adventurous in bed. 'She likes to dress up in kinky gear and has worn a police uniform, a French maid's outfit and various office clothes.' Bakri initially reacted with horror when confronted with Yasmin's lifestyle. 'If this is true I am deeply shocked. She was brought up properly in the Muslim faith, but she is free to make her own choices in life,' he said. 'She should not seek forgiveness from me, she should seek forgiveness from God. 'It is his forgiveness which is important. If she has done these things she will be judged on Judgment Day. 'But God will forgive her anything except becoming a non-Muslim. I have no control over her because as far as I know she is still married. Her behaviour should be the responsibility of her husband.' Yesterday Syrian-born Bakri, whose leave to remain in Britain was revoked after the 7/7 London attacks, changed his tune and claimed: 'I have no daughter doing anything like this - all my children are practicising Muslims. 'I spoke to my daughter. At first I told her I was shocked at the stuff I was hearing. But then she told me it was all lies.' The 'Tottenham Ayatollah' then claimed the story was part of a plot to get back at him after police were forced to hand back £14,000 in cash they confiscated from Bakri's son Abdul after a judge ruled the cash was not intended for 'terrorist purposes'. 'They are using members of my family to get back at me, because I have won. They are jealous because my son Abdul has got back the money that the police stole from him. 'Islam has prevailed and you are defeated. The lowest people on earth are non-Muslims and that is why we have to put up with these fabrications and lies.' Yasmin was keeping a low profile yesterday at her dingy flat on the busy South Circular Road in London. The flat is in a row of Victorian terraces currently covered with scaffolding. Satellite dishes adorn the walls, the paint is peeling and the windows are dirty. One neighbour, who did not wish to be named, said: 'She's a very quiet girl, a good girl. I was very surprised to learn of what she's been up to. I see her most days with her little boy and she seems like a very good mum. 'I had no idea that she was Omar Bakri's daughter - all I knew was that she had returned to the UK from living in Turkey. She doesn't smoke or drink so I'm even more surprised to learn that she has been pole dancing in those clubs.' When first confronted by The Sun, Yasmin said she didn't get on with her father. 'He is not around here at the moment, is he?' she asked. 'His views are nothing to do with me. I am an adult, my own person. I am an individual. I do my business and he does his.' But last night Bakri's protests he know nothing about his daughter's new lifestyle were undermined by claims he personally paid for her to have a breast enlargement operation. According to The Sun, he paid £4,000 in cash to a clinic in London for the operation that launched her career as a pole dancer. A friend told the newspaper: 'Her dad's ashamed of her behaviour but she'd never have become a pole dancer if he hadn't paid for her bigger boobs. 'She was always self-conscious about her size and managed to convince him she should have it done. 'She played the daddy's girl and said it would make her feel more of a mother when she was breast feeding her children. 'He went along with it and even went to the top London clinic with her where he paid for the surgery in cash. The rest of the family were set against it but he insisted she should have her way if it would make her a better mother.' The friend said it backfired when she developed the courage to flaunt her body and become a lapdancer. The friend said: 'She'd never have done it if it wasn't for those boobs - which were paid for by her father. It's all his fault.' |
The Antagonist - October 21, 2008 02:27 AM (GMT)
^ First the set-up, then the punchline:
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| X Fatwa: 'Terror alert' as hate cleric Bakri slams Cowell's show's support for troop charity By Daily Mail Reporter Last updated at 2:22 AM on 21st October 2008  Rant: Omar Bakri Mohammed hit out at the show aiding Help for Heroes TV talent contest X Factor is set to increase security at this weekend’s live show after threats from Muslim hate preacher Omar Bakri Mohammed, it has been claimed. The exiled radical cleric hit out against the ITV1 show for supporting the Help for Heroes charity, which aids injured troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Police fear his extremist followers will view his internet rant as a fatwa – a religious ruling – and target the show’s stars and judges, including Simon Cowell. Bakri, 50, also criticised Muslims who wear the wristbands or sell the single Hero, which has been recorded by the dozen X Factor finalists to raise cash for the organisation. The firebrand preacher said: ‘Some Muslims in Birmingham are wearing the armbands in support of British troops in Afghanistan. ‘This is a form muadaat (hatred) of the kuffar (non-believers) against the Muslims and it has dangerous implications.’ Bakri, who who exiled to Lebanon from Britain, added: ‘Some people may find excuses for those people – ignorance and so on. ‘If after three days, if they continue, you are barred from these people and their deeds. ‘Even watching the show – those people are committing a form, a type, of muadaat (hatred). And that action is a form of kufr (non-belief).’  Risk: Police fear X Factor judges, including Simon Cowell, right, could be targeted Security at the X Factor studios in Wembley, northwest London, usually involves a bag search and name checks for guests. But a show source told the Sun there were plans for x-ray scanners and a police presence on Saturday when finalists perform the the Mariah Carey single. A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: ‘We are aware of the recording and it will be assessed to see if any offences have been committed.’ Syrian-born Bakri has in the past provoked outrage by praising the 9/11 terrorists and blaming the British public for the 7/7 blasts in London that killed 52 people in July 2005. His dislike of British society, however, didn’t stop him from raking in £300,000 worth of state funds by raising his family here on benefits. Austin Drage  Giving: Finalists, including Austin Drage, above, have recorded a charity single He was eventually forced out of Britain in 2005. His rant comes just weeks after revealed that the radical cleric has a pole-dancing daughter and a second wife nearly half his age. His daughter Yasmin dances topless in bars and his new Lebanese wife, Ruba, is 26. |
As if the talentless idiots on X Factor haven't got enough to worry about already!
justthefacts - October 28, 2008 12:35 PM (GMT)
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| http://jihadwatch.org/archives/006399.php |
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| Muslim Protestors Burn Cross on Streets of London From Barnabas Fund, with thanks to Nicolei. More than 300 Muslim protestors set fire to a wooden cross outside the American Embassy in London last Friday 20th May. [2005] 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... |
Nice little psy-op just before 7/7 to help create the "Islamo-fascist" meme. Then he had played his role and was just being embarrassing, hence the expulsion from the UK.
amirrortotheenemy - November 12, 2008 11:39 AM (GMT)
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| http://trackingalqueda.blogspot.com/2005/05/protest-coming-friday-may-20-in-front.html |
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| Tuesday, May 17, 2005 Protest coming Friday, May 20, in front of US Embassy in London link: http://www.22lajnah22.co.uk/forums/showthr...?threadid=33911 Whosoever honors the Symbols of Allah, then it is truly from the piety of the hearts. “ - The Quran, Chapter 22, verse 32. Protest rally and Friday prayer outside The US Embassy, London. 24 Grosvenor Square London, W1A 1AE Friday 20th May 2005 Calling all free, justice loving peoples… We must stand bravely against oppression and injustice… Let us raise our voices in defense of the Sacred Word of Allah… You are invited, as individuals, groups, and organizations, to join the protest rally organized by the Islamic Observatory Center, with the co-operation of Shaykh Abdulmun ' em Mustafa Halimah “Abu Basir al-Tartusi”, and other organizations and individuals. O Muslims we have all learned how the interrogators at the camps of Guantanamo Bay have dived even deeper in their arrogance and oppression by violating and dishonouring the Noble Quran, as a further means of insulting, persecuting and humiliating Muslims prisoners. This kind of behavior cannot take place without it being sanctioned and authorized by the powers in Washington. They are fully responsible for all action perpetrated by their officials in Guantanamo Bay. We therefore call upon all the Muslims in the UK, to demonstrate their anger and dismay at the desecration of the Word of Allah by all means possible, so that a clear message reaches the oppressors of the American regime that the Muslims will not tolerate their beliefs and religion belittled in any way! Therefore the Islamic Observatory in association with Shaykh Abdulmun ' em Mustafa Halimah “Abu Basir al-Tartusi” and other organizations calls a protest rally outside the American Embassy in London, on Friday 20th May 2005, at 12:30 pm and until 3:00 pm. Friday prayers will be performed there. We call upon all Muslims to attend, and this is the weakest of faith. Islamic Observatory Center marsad@tiscali.co.uk 07956808153 |
amirrortotheenemy - November 12, 2008 12:03 PM (GMT)
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| Author: CAGEPRISONERS (---.range217-44.btcentralplus.com) Date: 18-05-05 20:27 Demonstration Outside U.S. Embassy The Islamic Observation Centre Demonstration Date of Event: FRIDAY 20 MAY 2005 AT 12:30 NOON (SALAT UL JUMAH WILL BE HELD 12:30 - 15:00) <<<<<< DEMONSTRATE AND SHOW YOUR SOLIDARITY WITH THE CAGE PRISONERS>>>>>>> www.cageprisoners.com GENERAL DETAILS The Islamic Observation Centre has organised a protest outside the US embassy this Friday as a response to the mistreatment of the Quran in Camp X-Ray. You are invited, as individuals, groups, and organisations, to join the protest rally organised by the Islamic Observatory Centre, with the co-operation of Shaykh Abdulmun’em Mustafa Halimah “Abu Basir al-Tartusi”, and other organisations and individuals. We have all learnt how the interrogators at the camps of Guantanamo Bay have dived even deeper in their arrogance and oppression by violating and dishonouring the Noble Quran, as a further means of insulting, persecuting and humiliating Muslims prisoners. This kind of behaviour cannot take place without it being sanctioned and authorised by the powers in Washington. They are fully responsible for all action perpetrated by their officials in Guantanamo Bay. We therefore call upon all people to demonstrate their anger and dismay at the desecration of the Quran by all means possible, so that a clear message reaches the oppressors of the American regime that the Muslims will not tolerate their beliefs and religion belittled in any way! Salat al-Jum'ah will be held, from 1230-1500. SPEAKERS Moazzam Begg and Martin Mubanga (confirmed) should be attending, amongst others. VENUE U.S. Embassy 24 Grosvenor Square London W1A 1AE TIME 1230-1500 CONTACT DETAILS Phone:07956808153 email:marsad@tiscali.co.uk TRAVEL DETAILS Nearest tube: MARBLE ARCH / BOND STREET Author: Abu Ahmed (---.server.ntli.net) Date: 18-05-05 22:04 Be careful this organisation 'The Islamic Observation Centre' is well known to have extremist tendencies and is a dangerous organ of fundamentalism in the UK. While we should sympathise with muslim detainees anywhere we should not allow this organisation to hijack important issues. The main organ of this organisation is Arab immigrants who are stiring trouble in their countries and in the UK and possibly supporting terrorist cells around the world. So please shun them and avoid them like plague. Author: CAGEPRISONERS (---.range81-154.btcentralplus.com) Date: 19-05-05 18:23 I am not linked to this organisation. This info. about the demonstration was obtained from www.stoppoliticalterror.co.uk. Many other organisations will be joinging this demonstration too. As muslims we should be protesting against the inhumane treatment the detainess at guantanamo are receiving regardless of this organisation. I am only conveying the message/demo details. Source |
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| British protest reported Quran abuse by Aljazeera (reposted) Friday May 20th, 2005 8:39 AM More than 200 people have gathered outside the US embassy in the London to demonstrate against what they call systematic and institutionalised abuse of the Quran. Muslim and non-Muslim groups alike heard former Guantanamo Bay detainee Martin Mubanga on Friday talk about frequent instances of disrespect for Islam's holy book during his time at the US prison camp. "The soldiers thought I was a dangerous man, a martial artist, so they liked to fight me," the former prisoner said. Released in January, Mubanga was held in Camp Delta's Charlie Block for more than two years "This was one of the methods they used, throwing the Quran, my Quran, on the floor in my cell. This was in the first month at Camp Delta, but it is not something that stopped, rather continued and increased," Mubanga said. Mubanga said prisoners had asked for notices to be posted warning US soldiers that copies of the Quran should not be thrown on the floor. "We were not asking to have a gymnasium, we weren't asking to have swimming pools, only that they did not touch the Quran," he said. Mubanga added: "It's a shame we have had to wait for a magazine to publish and then retract a story concerning the treatment of the Quran." Demonstrator comment Among the groups at the protest, veteran journalist and patron of Stop Political Terror – Yvonne Ridley – told Aljazeera.net that it was wrong to associate a basic respect for religion with extremism or unreasonable demands. "Quite frankly, there is only one group of religious fanatics that should be ashamed of themselves. And they are the Christian Zionists that form and advise the government in Washington," she said. No member of the US embassy came out of the building to address the demonstration. More demonstrations Meanwhile, thousands of Somalis also gathered in downtown Mogadishu and denounced the alleged desecration. The demonstrators chanted anti-American slogans and Islamic prayers in what many described as the largest gathering in the ravaged capital since the central government collapsed in 1991. And in the occupied West Bank, about 2500 Palestinians streamed out of mosques in Nablus on Friday, also in protest over allegations of Quran desecration. Abuse report In a related development, a UK Islamic human rights group has published statements from former Guantanamo Bay detainees about conditions at the concentration camp. Feroz Abbassi, Moazzam Begg and Jamal al-Harith are among the eight ex-prisoners of war who have given their accounts of Quran abuse. In the report, Feroz states that a US interpreter of Lebanese Maronite origin repeatedly slapped and physically degraded the Quran. He said that copies of the Quran were placed in buckets of faeces and urine by US forces and that the interrogators used the book as a tool to humiliate and abuse detainees. Begg corroborates Feroz's account and said there were inaccuracies of US spokesman Richard Boucher's statement that the detainees were given the Quran and the opportunity to worship. Al-Harith adds that the reason for the first hunger strike in Camp X-ray, which involved about 75% of the detainees, was due to a guard who kicked the Quran onto the floor and another who kicked a copy into a toilet. Aljazeera + Agencies Al Jazeera original event announcement by reposted Friday May 20th, 2005 8:53 AM Protest Rally: US Desecration of Qur'an The Islamic Observation Centre has organised a demonstration/picketing outside the US embassy this Friday as a response to the mistreatment of the Quran in Guantanamo. Salat al-Jum'ah (Friday prayers) will be held, from 12.30pm - 3pm. “Whosoever honours the Symbols of Allah, then it is truly from the piety of the hearts.” - The Quran, Chapter 22, verse 32. Calling all free, justice loving peoples… We must stand bravely against oppression and injustice… Let us raise our voices in defence of the Sacred Word of Allah… You are invited, as individuals, groups, and organisations, to join the protest rally organised by the Islamic Observatory Centre, with the co-operation of Shaykh Abdulmun’em Mustafa Halimah “Abu Basir al-Tartusi”, and other organisations and individuals. O Muslims we have all learnt how the interrogators at the camps of Guantanamo Bay have dived even deeper in their arrogance and oppression by violating and dishonouring the Noble Quran, as a further means of insulting, persecuting and humiliating Muslims prisoners. This kind of behaviour cannot take place without it being sanctioned and authorised by the powers in Washington. They are fully responsible for all action perpetrated by their officials in Guantanamo Bay. We therefore call upon all the Muslims in the UK, to demonstrate their anger and dismay at the desecration of the Word of Allah by all means possible, so that a clear message reaches the oppressors of the American regime that the Muslims will not tolerate their beliefs and religion belittled in any way! Therefore the Islamic Observatory in association with Shaykh Abdulmun’em Mustafa Halimah and other organisations calls a protest rally outside the American Embassy in London, on Friday 20th May 2005, at 12:30pm and until 3:00pm. Friday prayers will be performed there. We call upon all Muslims to attend, and this is the weakest of faith. SPEAKERS INCLUDE: Moazzam Begg, former Guantanamo detainee Martin Mubanga, former Guantanamo detainee Shaykh Abdulmun’em Mustafa Halimah TIME: FRIDAY 20th MAY 12.30pm - 3pm VENUE: U.S. Embassy, London 24 Grosvenor Square London, W1A 1AE CONTACT: Islamic Observatory Centre marsad [at] tiscali.co.uk 07956808153 Cage Prisoners Source |
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| LONDON, England (CNN) -- About 300 people have taken part in a noisy protest over the alleged desecration of the Quran outside the U.S. Embassy in central London. Their demonstration was held Friday near the steps of the embassy in Grosvenor Square, which was guarded by a small detail of police. A British policeman said the language was offensive and unpleasant in the extreme. But police overlooked that and the fact that more than a few of the young men in the crowd covered their faces, technically a violation of British law, according to the police. Shouting, "Down, down USA; down, down USA," the protesters called for the killing of Americans, the death of the U.S. president, the death of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the bombing of Britain, and the annihilation of the U.S. capital: "Nuke, nuke Washington; Nuke, nuke Washington! Bomb, bomb the Pentagon." Some of the militant Islamic rhetoric smacked of incitement to commit murder, CNN's Senior International Correspondent Walter Rodgers reported. "Death, death Tony Blair; death, death Tony Blair. Death, death George Bush," the protesters chanted. "The only language we speak today is the language of jihad," said one protester. While Newsweek magazine has withdrawn the story it published saying American soldiers intentionally committed acts denigrating the Quran, a man who said he was a former detainee at Guantanamo said he saw the Muslim holy book defiled. Martin Mumbanga told CNN: "The soldier picked up the Quran and threw it on the floor." Holding their Qurans high, they called for death and mayhem, praising the destruction of New York's twin towers on September 11, 2001, and saying the White House is next. Before they broke up, the protesters joined in meditation, and then they all prayed. Demonstrations have taken place around the world over Newsweek's report. There is still anger in parts of the Muslim world where some people are skeptical about the magazine's retraction. The White House has blamed the report, at least in part, for violence in Afghanistan and elsewhere in the region that left at least 15 people dead. The White House on Tuesday said it expected Newsweek to help "repair the damage" to the U.S. image in the Muslim world caused by its report. The magazine has apologized for its story. "Newsweek can clearly explain what happened, why they got it wrong, particularly to people in the region," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan. The International Committee of the Red Cross said Thursday it had gathered "credible" reports about U.S. personnel at Guantanamo Bay disrespecting the Quran and raised the issue with the Pentagon several times. Group spokesman Simon Schorno said the allegations were made by detainees to Red Cross representatives who visited the detention facility throughout 2002 and 2003. CNN |