Author: Damien Mcelroy in Damascus
Publication: The Telegraph
Date: May 11, 2003
URL: http://www.portal.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2003%2F05%2F11%2Fwsuic11.xml
British muslims studying at a radical
Islamic teaching centre in Syria have admitted that they support suicide
attacks against Israeli targets.
Two men, who gave their names as
Amir Aziz and Tahir Sharaf, told The Telegraph that they admired the action
taken by Asif Mohammed Hanif, the Briton who blew himself up in a Tel Aviv
bar almost two weeks ago, and his alleged accomplice, Omar Khan Sharif.
"What [Hanif] did was right," said
Aziz, in a thick Birmingham accent. "The Muslim people are under jihad
- they have an obligation to carry out martyrdom operations against the
state of Israel. The Jews have occupied our lands and killed our people."
Aziz, 25, and Sharaf, 23, both from Birmingham, spoke last week after I
met them outside the Ommayad mosque in central Damascus. They said they
were part of a group of 20 British students, from the Midlands and the
South, studying together in the Syrian capital.
Aziz said he had been in Damascus
since May last year and Sharaf since the start of the year. Although both
Britons have thick beards and wear white skullcaps, they stood out from
locals because of their well-pressed shirts, creased chinos and accents.
Although they claimed that they
had not rejected their home country, they were angry about the British
Government's decision to invade Iraq. "I know people who went to Iraq to
fight off the aggression," said Sharaf. "I support them because Iraq is
a Muslim country that is being violated by America and Britain."
The two proved evasive when asked
about their plans or whether they had visited the offices of militant groups
such as Hamas. Sharaf admitted to having known Hanif, however. "He was
a good boy," he said. "He used a British passport. Smart. Done well."
Obtaining details of their life
in Damascus became progressively harder. First they claimed that they were
studying at Damascus university, the official seat of learning that Hanif
attended. Then they claimed that they were studying privately. Aziz said
his tutor would not permit a stranger to visit his flat and Sharaf gave
a false telephone number.
Eventually, I tracked both down
to the Sheikh Ahmad Kuftaro Foundation, an Islamic teaching college named
after the Grand Mufti of Damascus. After assembling for Friday prayers,
Aziz and Sharaf had clearly been told they had been wrong to speak to a
journalist.
Aziz said he could no longer discuss
his views and referred me to the leader of the British students, a man
called Rafiq. Rafiq claimed to be an African and warned other students
not to speak to outsiders.
The administrator of their course,
Mohammed Sharif al- Sawaf, admitted that his British students were generally
more radical that most foreign students but he defended their views. He
said: "America and Britain are attempting to create a new world order by
annihilating our God, but they will not be successful."
He praised students who wanted to
carry out attacks on Israel. "Do not call these people suicide bombers,"
he proclaimed. "Suicide is a negative action, whereas martyrdom is a glorious
fulfilment of the requirements of Allah.
"They are defending themselves against
an enemy who kicked them out of their house, killed their children and
exploded their dreams. Arabs have tried every means possible to get Israel
out of Palestine but they will not go. This is the only option we have
left."
The revelation of the British would-be
terrorists will embarrass Syria, which is under pressure from American
and Britain to stop harbouring such people. Foreign diplomats in Damascus
estimate that there are dozens of British students taking Islamic studies.
One Western diplomat said: "There's
no doubt that British students coming here with the right connections are
being absorbed into terrorist organisations and sent on operations against
Israel that are planned and directed from Syria."
Aziz and Sharaf could face charges
if they return to Britain; both appear to have contravened the Terrorism
Act 2000, which makes it an offence to "support or incite" terrorism overseas,
with a penalty of up to 10 years.
Tom Watson, the Labour MP for West
Bromwich East and a member of the Home Affairs select committee, said yesterday:
"Hopefully the security services will have these two in their sights. If
they are really saying that they want to commit terrorist offences, they
are committing crimes and the full force of the law should be brought down
on them."
A Home Office spokesman said: "We
are constantly keeping organisations and individuals under review."
