From the Chicago Tribune

Britain has been radicals' refuge

By Stephen J. Hedges Tribune staff reporter

October 29, 2001

LONDON -- In Egypt, Yasser al-Sirri is a wanted man, convicted in absentia for a terrorist bombing plot that inadvertently killed a 12-year-old girl.

In Britain for the past eight years, he has found freedom and safety. And, despite the death sentence hanging over him, he has been anything but anonymous.

Al-Sirri, 38, founded the Islamic Observation Center and fashioned himself as a supporter of master terrorist Osama bin Laden. His statements, pamphlets and press releases, though, always fell within Britain's right to free speech. Even after Sept. 11, when al-Sirri posted bin Laden's threats of further attacks on his Web site, he drew little attention.

But his protected life in Britain changed last week.

London police arrested al-Sirri on Tuesday during a dawn raid on his apartment and nearby office. Police say there is evidence that al-Sirri helped arrange press credentials for two bin Laden operatives, who, posing as a television crew, assassinated Gen. Ahmed Shah Massood, the leader of Afghanistan's Northern Alliance, on Sept. 1, just days before terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon.

Al-Sirri's arrest may signal the beginning of the British government's promised crackdown on known or suspected terrorists. But it also highlights a troubling contradiction in England: While no one has been a stronger supporter of the U.S.-led war on terrorism than Prime Minister Tony Blair, his nation has for years been a haven for the very extremists Blair now so forcefully condemns.

"London has eclipsed Paris as a natural mode for preaching to Arabs with propaganda," said Magnus Ranstorp, a terrorism expert at University of St. Andrews in Scotland. "It is a financial recruitment ground, and a good ground to recruit operatives. It provides the milieu for extremism."

A combination of complex asylum and extradition laws and, critics say, a lack of investigative zeal, has made England an attractive middle ground for extremist movements abroad.

Good intentions

Until recently, Britain granted asylum to many immigrants who claimed they would be persecuted if they are turned back to their home countries. That practice, although carried out with good intentions, has allowed dozens of wanted or suspected terrorists operating in places such as Egypt, Algeria, Saudi Arabia and Yemen to gain permanent residency in England.

Some of those who gain entry, people such as al-Sirri, are wanted for suspected crimes abroad. In al-Sirri's case, Britain didn't know about the allegations when it let him in. Wresting these suspects out of Britain has become a complex, years-long legal exercise. At least nine countries are trying to win the extradition of terrorist suspects living in Britain, according to a report by the French National Assembly.

That includes the U.S., which for three years has argued for the return of three suspects in the 1998 bombing by bin Laden's Al Qaeda organization of two U.S. Embassies in Africa. Two other fugitives wanted on charges of involvement in a plot to explode bombs in the U.S. during millennium celebrations are being held in Britain, months, perhaps years, away from extradition.

Because of America's use of the death penalty, defense lawyers have argued that British judges should not send defendants to the U.S.

Scotland Yard's anti-terrorism unit has had poor luck making cases that expose larger networks. The arrests of 11 suspected terrorists in February, for instance, resulted in only two being held. Another recent case that targeted credit card and ID fraud that police believed were the work of Muslim extremists fell apart when a key police informant balked at testifying for fear of retribution.

Since Sept. 11, Scotland Yard has been asked by the FBI to track down 24 people it suspects may be part of Al Qaeda in Britain, though none is believed to be directly involved in the hijacking plot. Police did arrest an Algerian pilot, Lotfi Raissi, on charges of helping train some of the hijackers.

But cooperation between Britain and other countries in fighting terrorism is not the norm, some critics say.

French deride `Londonistan'

The French report takes British banks to task for failing to help foreign governments in money laundering investigations. Prosecutors and legislators there have derisively referred to "Londonistan" as a place where terrorists are safe from the law's reach.

"Great Britain does not cooperate with European countries and offers a totally unacceptable haven for criminal funds," Arnaud Montebourg, a French legislator, said upon publication of the report.

At the heart of Britain's Muslim militancy are London's three radical clerics: Sheik Mohammed Omar Bakri, Abu Hamza al-Masri and Abu Qatada. Each fled the Middle East because of his radical views. Two of them--Hamza and Qatada--are wanted by other countries for suspected terrorist activity. All three live under protective asylum in Britain.

While in London, each has stepped up his fervent call for an end to secular, democratic rule in Britain and elsewhere and for new governments formed under Islamic principles and religious law.

Two of the sheiks, Hamza and Qatada, have indirect links to figures in the Sept. 11 hijackings investigation.

One of those arrested in the U.S., Zacarias Moussaoui, attended prayer sessions led by both men in areas of London. Moussaoui was seeking flight training in Minnesota and investigators say he may have been involved in the Sept. 11 plot. He was arrested in August when flight instructors in Egan, Minn., became suspicious.

Suspect at prayer sessions

Djamel Beghal, who was arrested in the United Arab Emirates in July on a passport violation, also attended the prayer sessions. Beghal, who was returning to Europe after a training session in Afghanistan, reportedly has told French investigators of planned bombing attacks on U.S. targets throughout Europe, including the U.S. Embassy in Paris.

Both suspects were among the hundreds of young men of Middle Eastern heritage who stream into the Finsbury Park Mosque, in North London, for Friday prayers and the fiery oratory of Hamza, the mosque's self-appointed imam and strong supporter of future jihad warriors.

Hamza has denied reports that he has actively recruited young men for training in Afghanistan, or for fighting in places such as Chechnya. Hamza claims to have fought in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Afghanistan, though his exploits were not clear. He declined an interview for this article.

He is wanted in Yemen on suspicion of having a role in a kidnapping and terrorist plot that began in late 1998, just a few months after terrorist bombs shattered the U.S. Embassies in East Africa.

In December that year, Yemeni police arrested five British citizens and a Frenchman who they say were planning to carry out terrorist attacks against American and British targets. All of the men were Muslim extremists; one of them was Hamza's son, another his stepson.

Several days later, a gang led by a terrorist named Abu al-Hassan kidnapped 16 Western tourists in Yemen's Abyan region in a bid to win the freedom of the six men arrested earlier. Police stormed the house where the tourists were held, and four of the vacationers died in a shootout. Two of the kidnappers were also killed, and three were arrested.

In the subsequent trials, Yemeni officials produced evidence that al-Hassan had made a satellite phone call to Hamza in London within an hour of taking his hostages. Most of those arrested were convicted and are still in prison. Al-Hassan was executed. But Yemen has been unable to win Hamza's extradition to try him for his alleged role in the plot.

"In both of these incidents, Mr. Abu Hamza was the main instigator," said Beshr Mohamed, a spokesman for the Yemeni Embassy in London. "The British government declined to extradite him because the crown prosecutors said there was no extradition treaty between the two countries."

British police did arrest Hamza in April 1999, apparently on the Yemen charges. But he was released several days later, and the matter was dropped. Scotland Yard and prosecutors refuse to discuss the particulars.

Qatada, another charismatic militant, found a forum to spread his message in the Four Feathers Youth Club in central London, not far from Sherlock Holmes' fabled 221b Baker St. address.

Two weeks ago, the U.S. Treasury named Qatada one of 39 people and organizations whose assets it seeks to freeze because of alleged links to bin Laden's Al Qaeda network. Chances of recovering any money from Qatada are slim; he lives in a modest London apartment on a British housing subsidy.

2nd Al Qaeda link

This wasn't the first time Qatada has been linked to Al Qaeda.

In April 1999, a Jordanian court convicted Qatada in absentia on charges of leading bomb attacks intended to destabilize the rule of the late King Hussein. Although secure with his asylum in London, he was sentenced to life in prison.

A year later, Qatada faced new charges that he was part of a failed Al Qaeda plot to carry out attacks on Jordanian tourist sites during millennium celebrations.

In February, Scotland Yard's special branch arrested Qatada and 10 suspected terrorist sympathizers, but the charges didn't stick. All but two of those taken into custody were released, including Qatada.

After the Sept. 11 attacks, Qatada told London's Observer newspaper: "George Bush has no respect for the Muslims of the world. This has been designed to make sure that he listens." Since then, Qatada has declined interview requests.

Bakri, London's third radical sheik, is more than willing to talk. He came to England in 1986 from Saudi Arabia, where he was exiled for his controversial views. Unlike Hamza and Qatada, he has not been tied to any suspected terrorist activity abroad.

Touting non-violence

He has, though, admitted raising money and men for Islamic fights in foreign lands, a claim that he has dropped after a new law last year made that activity illegal. Now Bakri says he is employing non-violent means to replace existing democratic governments with Islamic ones.

To distinguish himself from his colleagues, Bakri has founded his own group, Al-Muhajiroun, named after the group of early Muslim faithful who with the Prophet Muhammad were exiled from Mecca. It operates out of offices in a Northeast London industrial park.

Al-Muhajiroun gained notoriety two weeks ago when a spokesman suggested that Blair and his Cabinet members were targets for assassination.

Bakri said the spokesman was misinterpreted, but the sheik also had to explain his own, earlier comments that under Islamic law, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf deserved to be killed by one of his own generals. Bakri issued that order, or fatwah, after Musharraf agreed to let allied forces use Pakistan bases in their strikes against the Taliban.

Call for legal reforms

Bakri, Qatada and Hamza have come under renewed surveillance since Sept. 11. Arguments have grown more strenuous for legal reforms that will make it tougher for terrorists and their sympathizers to live and operate here.

"It is very difficult indeed to either deport or extradite people from the UK on the grounds that they are a danger to national security," said Martin Howe, a London barrister and a leading critic of the laws. "And the asylum system is completely out of hand. I think this country is mad the way it has allowed things to develop."

Last year Parliament adopted a new terrorism act that makes it illegal for those in Britain to support terrorist activities abroad, and that allows the government to produce a list of banned terrorist groups. The bigger problem, though, may be letting terrorist suspects into Britain in the first place.

Since the early 1950s, British courts have used European human-rights agreements as guides for the nation's asylum procedures. Gradually, the courts loosened the requirements, to the point of arguing that many of those denied asylum in France or Germany could acquire it in Britain.

Howe notes a recent case in the House of Lords in which it was found that 80 percent of Algerians requesting asylum in Britain are given it, compared to only 5 percent in France. Many immigrants arrive in Britain without the proper clearance, request asylum and then are released, often never to be seen again. About 43,000 people in Britain are awaiting government decisions on their asylum applications, according to the Home Office.

Extradition presents its own challenges. Britain turns down many such requests because the government or a British judge rules that there isn't enough evidence.

In other instances, British judges have ruled that provisions in the European Convention on Human Rights, which England has adopted, mean they cannot send someone to a country where the suspect faces, "a real risk of being subjected to torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment." Defense attorneys in Britain say defendants should not be sent to countries with the death penalty, such as the U.S.

Home Secretary David Blunkett recently promised new anti-terrorism measures that will allow police to hold suspected terrorists and speed extradition requests. "Our moral obligation and love of freedom does not extend to offering hospitality to terrorists," Blunkett told Parliament.

Those measures, though, have more support among conservatives than in Blunkett's own ruling Labor Party, and they are bound to face opposition from human-rights groups. Nor are they likely to affect cases under way.

-- Anonymous, October 29, 2001

Answers

ThisIsLondon.com

'British muslims fight for the Taliban'

by Danielle Demetriou and Patrick Sawer

Growing numbers of young British Muslims are trying to join the Taliban in its fight against the US-led coalition against terrorism, it is claimed today.

The London-based al-Muhajiroun group says the death of three men from Luton and one from Crawley during American raids on Afghanistan is not deterring recruiting.

According to al-Muhajiroun, nearly 1,000 British Muslims have travelled to Afghanistan since 11 September. One recruiter on the Pakistani border claims that 60 per cent of all foreigners fighting for the Taliban are from Britain. Hassan Butt, 21, from Manchester, is one of about 40 Britons in Lahore who is actively recruiting British Muslims for the Taliban.

He says: "I've been in contact with a thousand British Muslims who are going to the holy war. Hundreds have passed through here on their way. There are more fighters joining jihad from Britain than anywhere else in the West. News that the first Britons have been lost will not deter those who will follow. It will encourage many more. It should serve as a strong warning against the British Government."

The claims come as the father of one of the Britons killed in a Kabul air raid revealed today how he had forbidden his son to join the Taliban.

Aftab Manzoor, 25, a taxi driver from Luton, was one of four British men who were killed after travelling to Afghanistan to wage the "holy war".

All four died when the Taliban military base near Kabul was hit by a US missile.

While the Taliban hailed the men as "martyrs", Aftab's father, Chudry Manzoor, said he had not wanted his son to fight and had previously forbidden him from leaving. "I never wanted him to fight a holy war against anybody. It is an unbelievable shock for both me and my wife."

Mr Manzoor, a grocer, who has travelled from his Luton home to the village of Sakria, near Islamabad, in order to bury his son, added: "It was totally unexpected. He had told me three years ago that he wanted to fight a jihad and I told him not to. I said it was forbidden-and he obeyed me." Aftab Manzoor, who lived with his parents, two brothers and sister in Luton, married two years ago during a visit to Pakistan, where his wife and daughter remain.

He died alongside British Muslims Afzal Munir and Muhamed Omar, both 25 and from Luton, and Yasir Khan, 24, from Crawley, during last Wednesday's raid.

Munir is thought to have had close links with the al-Muhajiroun, which operates from Tottenham under the leadership of Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed and has publicly claimed the US attacks were "the work of Allah".

One friend, who would only give his name as Shahed, is the Luton representative of the group. He says: "Afzak was a lovely guy, shy and reserved. What triggered him to become a martyr I don't know."

Relatives' condemnation of the men's decision to join the fighting in Afghanistan is echoed by a key religious leader in Luton, where Muslims are fearful of a racist backlash.

The Islamic extremists who actively encourage youths to join the "holy war" but remain in Britain themselves are "whipping up problems", says Masood Akhdal, imam at Luton Central Mosque. "This is a very bad situation in Luton. There are some organisations here like al-Muhajiroun and they deliberately set out to excite the young men with talk of jihad. But they don't go themselves, they stay in Britain. Why don't they go themselves? They are just whipping up problems."

Khan, 24, was a regular visitor at the mosque in Crawley and had recently helped redecorate the building. He had family living in Pakistan. Mosque chairman Sharafat said he had no idea that Khan had been in Afghanistan.

-- Anonymous, October 29, 2001

well, if those four felt they had to die there, then so be it.

If anyone else wants to go there to die, I won't stop em. As far as I am concerned, anyone who sympathizes with the Taliban is welcome to go to Afghanickstan and die.

It would be less work than having to root em out of all the other countries.

Frankly, I think this planet would do well to eliminate the Taliban thinking completely. Theirs is not a religion, but a cult, a cult which is all the worse because of the way it treats women. We have no need for that sort of thing on this planet.

-- Anonymous, October 29, 2001