Author: H.S. Rao, Press Trust of
India
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: September 13, 2001
London, September 13: Saudi dissident
Osama bin Laden's terrorist group, Al'qaeda which is suspected of involvement
in the American attacks, has supporters in Britain and has used London
as a centre for raising funds, reports said on Thursday.
Khalid al Fawwaz, 37, allegedly
one of bin Laden's lieutenants, is in jail in Britain awaiting extradition
to the US on charges in connection with the US Embassy bombings in Kenya
and Tanzania in which 224 people died.
A Saudi dissident and Afghan war
veteran who sought asylum in Britain in 1994, al Fawwaz was living in Dollis
hill, North London, before his arrest, The Daily Telegraph report said.
Under Human Rights laws, British
courts would not allow dissidents who have sought sanctuary to be repatriated
to countries that might kill them and such tolerance has given Britain
a reputation as a safe haven for world terrorism.
Militant groups from Kashmir, Sri
Lanka, Afghanistan, Egypt, Algeria and Turkey all raise funds, forge links
and disseminate propaganda in the UK.
Britain is routinely asked by countries
such as India and Sri Lanka to help to cut off the millions of Pounds raised
annually from sympathetic migrant communities in the UK and laundered through
London financial institutions.
There is also an Army of dissidents
and their supporters ready to raise funds and preach the cause from Islamic
centres, mosques and nondescript offices across the country.
Al'qaeda, or the base, is one of
the 16 Islamic groups on a list of proscribed terror organisations with
networks in the UK., the daily reported.
The Home Office said people from
Britain have trained with the group in Afghani camps. When American cruise
missiles were fired at the camps in 1998 after the bombing of US embassies
in Kenya and Tanzania, a number of British Muslims were listed among the
dead on "martyr" websites.
According to intelligence agencies,
the London office of a group called the Advice and Reformation Committee-with
which Al Fawwaz was connected-is the British arm of Al'qaeda. He is alleged
to have passed on orders for fatwas, including one declaring a holy war
against American citizens.
Al Fawwaz denies terrorist involvement
and has appealed against extradition to the House of Lords, claiming a
lack of evidence. His case will be heard next month.
The extent of bin Laden's British
network became apparent during the trial in New York this year of four
men in connection with the African bombings.
Much of the most crucial evidence
came from Britain. The court heard testimony alleging that dozens of telephone
calls were made to bin Laden operatives from addresses in London. A terrorist
handbook, military studies in the holy war against tyrants, was found in
a terrace house in Manchester.
The operation that gathered evidence
for the African case was a rare example of direct action against Muslim
militant groups. Normally, MI5, the British intelligence agency, and special
branch just keep a close watch on their activities.
The operation that gathered evidence
for the African case was a rare example of direct action against Muslim
militant groups. Normally, MI5, the British intelligence agency, and special
branch just keep a close watch on their activities.
Unless a case can be made out for
a prosecution or a country deemed safe demands their extradition, nothing
happens to them.
Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed, a Syrian
who has been in Britain since 1985 and lives on benefits provided by the
British social security lives in London with his six children. His Al-Muhajiroun
organisation is dedicated to the overthrow of western society and the establishment
of a Khilafah, an Islamic state.
Interviewed on BBC Radio 4's Today
programme on Wednesday, Mohammed said "What happened was a direct consequence
of the evil foreign policy of the USA. This is the compensation and payback
for its own atrocities against Muslims."
Mainstream Muslim organisations
were swift to condemn the bombings. Mohammed Shafiq, of the Muslim Council
of Great Britain, said evidence should be compiled and the perpetrators
brought to book. "The Muslim community wholeheartedly condemns this atrocity,"
he said.
But there are some within it who
are celebrating, the daily commented.
