US should "end" Britain

In light of President Bush's call to "end" states which support terrorism,
the planners of the coming war intended to rid the world of evil would do
well to pay heed to the following article which appeared in the _Times_ of
London two days ago.  The article, which blames the Blair government for
harboring international terrorists has prompted the Home Office to launch
a serious investigation into the allegations.  Given Jerry Falwell's and
Pat Robertson's linkage between the Tuesday terrorist attack and
liberalism, the US should seriously consider demanding that Britain turn
over Tony Blair and other leaders of the Labour Party or face military 
retaliation.
--

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 15 2001

Muslims in Britain

Law fails to keep extremists at bay

BY MICHAEL BINYON AND DANIEL MCGRORY

LONDON is still a haven for Islamic extremists preaching global terrorism,
despite tough laws passed last year to curb their activities. 

Dozens of Islamic activists, wanted in their own countries on terrorism
charges, are still resident in Britain, and are active in movements
supporting the violent overthrow of pro-Western governments in the Middle
East. 

Embassies in London said that the law passed in the aftermath of the Omagh
bombing, designed to stop London being used to plot terrorism overseas, has
made little difference. 

At least nine governments have asked Britain to extradite terrorists who
they complain are operating freely in the UK. They are believed to include:
India, Yemen, Egypt, Turkey, Tunisia, Afghanistan, Algeria, Jordan and Sri
Lanka. 

Already this year, 16 men with alleged links to Osama bin Laden have been
arrested in Britain. One of them, Khalid al-Fawwaz, is alleged to have
bought the satellite telephone that was used to give the orders for the
bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. 

He was moved from Brixton to Belmarsh top security prison within hours of
the US attacks as he is still awaiting extradition to America. 
A senior Israeli diplomatic source said that known Palestinian militants are
sheltering in London. “Just because you put some groups on a banned list it
doesn’t mean that its members just sit at home knitting. They are still
active. They just are a bit more careful and operate under different names.”


Yemen has sent Britain a detailed dossier on the militant cleric Sheikh Abu
Hamza al Masri whom it accuses of masterminding a plot to bomb British
targets in the port city of Aden in 1998. 

Security sources in Sanaa have evidence that he sent his son, stepson and
others from his Supporters of Sharia (SOS) group to training camps in Yemen
run by the Islamic Army of Aden. 

His recruits confessed in a Yemeni court to handing £2,000 to a local
terrorist leader, Abu Hassan, to pay for weapons and their training. 

Abu Hassan led the kidnap of 16 western tourists and ordered his gunmen to
murder as many as they could when the Yemeni army attempted a rescue
mission. Four tourists, including three Britons were killed. 

While Abu Hassan was holding his hostages he contacted the Sheikh at his
London office using a satellite telephone provided by the SOS group. The
Islamic Army of Aden is on the banned list but Hamza’s own SOS group is not.


Tunisia, which has been demanding the extradition of several high-profile
extremists who have claimed asylum in Britain, said yesterday that the
entire leadership of the banned al-Nahda party was now in London. Tunisia is
calling for this party to be added to Britain’s list of banned
organisations. 

“There is a whole terrorist cell here with links with other extremist
groups,” Muhammad Bou Gamra, the press counsellor, said. “We have been
warning our partners in Britain and Europe, and a month ago we again asked
Britain for their extradition. We have still not received a reply.” 

A prominent Tunisian Islamist who heads the list was convicted in absentia
in Tunisia of masterminding a terrorist explosion that blew off the foot of
a British girl visiting Tunisia. 

Egypt also has demanded the extradition of Yassir Serri, whom it accuses of
responsibility for the Luxor massacre. Zaki Ghazi, the press counsellor,
said that there were a number of Egyptian Islamists living in London “and
the new law has not stopped their activities. 

They have linked up with other terrorists.” He said that Mr Serri had
recently published and distributed a book by an associate of Osama bin Laden
which encouraged Muslims to kill Americans, Christians and Jews. 

Egypt has been so angered by Britain’s refusal to expel Egyptian Islamist
activists that it has on several occasions summoned in the British
Ambassador in Cairo and warned him that Egypt would take diplomatic measures
if nothing was done. Islamic Jihad, one of the Egyptian militant
organisations, has been placed on a banned list. 

Turkey has also demanded the extradition of political and religious
extremists in London, but never succeeded. Two Kurdish groups, the PKK
Workers Party and HKPC, are now banned in Britain, but an embassy spokesman
said yesterday that its members were “still terrorising people and extorting
money in north London.” He said that some extremists had now established
legal businesses in Britain, but many were also involved in anti-Turkish and
terrorist activities. 

Before the law banning the collection of money for terrorism overseas and
making conspiracy to commit terrorism was passed Britain was seen as a haven
for any extremist wanting to hide from his government. 

Britain’s partners, especially France and Germany, were angered by the
number of Algerian and Kurdish militants who made London their headquarters
and co-ordinated operations overseas from there. 
John Major promised to make extremists unwelcome in Britain, but proposed
Conservative legislation to outlaw the advocacy for or support of terrorism
in Britain was defeated after Labour objections. 

Indian diplomats have evidence of young British Muslims being recruited by
UK-based groups to fight in Kashmir. A suicide bomber who attacked an Indian
army base in Srinigar in January came from Bradford. 

One diplomatic source said: “We have arrested a number of Britons trying to
infiltrate into Kashmir with explosives with the intention of carrying out
terrorist attacks. We know who is recruiting these people and they are not
on the UK’s banned list”. 

He added: “We have also listed mosques and colleges where money is raised
for terrorist activities in Kashmir”. Three groups including Jaish
e-Mohammed, Lashkar e Tayyaba and Harakat Mujahideen are on the banned list
A senior Indian diplomat said last night: “We now hope that Britain will
introduce tighter enforcement laws on militants operating in the UK and make
extradition a swifter process”. 

Last year two Sikhs, Mukhtiar Singh 27 and Paramjit Singh 26, successfully
fought extradition in the Appeal Court in London. They had been arrested for
plotting to smuggle explosives from Pakistan to India and planning terrorist
attacks, but a judge blocked their deportation saying the two were at risk
of torture if they were handed back to India. Both were members of the
International Sikh Youth Federation which has been outlawed. 

British security services found evidence the pair who arrived in Britain
illegally were using their base here to continue to plot terror activities
abroad. 

The Russian Government has also protested at the numbers of British passport
holders who have been recruited by extremist Islamic sects to fight in
Chechnya.





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