-Caveat Lector- http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2001320005-2001321765,00.html
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. ===== http://www.house.gov/international_relations/105th/ap/wsap212982.htm http://www.americanfreepress.net/09_26_01/U_S__Army_Officers_Say___Mossa/u_s__army_officers_say___mossa.html http://www.portal.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/09/26/wdrug26.xml http://menewsline.com/stories/2001/september/09_25_6.html http://www.knoxstudio.com/shns/story.cfm?pk=SIEGE-COLLEGES-09-27-01&cat=AN __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Listen to your Yahoo! Mail messages from any phone. http://phone.yahoo.com <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! 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