Author:
Publication: BBC News
Date: November 14, 2006
URL: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6143632.stm
A banned cleric is still preaching support
for terrorism to young British Muslims by appearing incognito on the internet,
the BBC has learned.
The joint investigation by File on 4 and Newsnight
has found Omar Bakri Mohammed broadcasts hatred for the UK using a variety
of pseudonyms.
He was excluded from the UK last August on
the grounds that his presence was "not conducive to the public good."
On a recent broadcast he said the 7/7 London
bombers were "in paradise."
The BBC investigation has also revealed how
young British Muslims are being radicalised by extremists on university campuses
and in street gangs.
Omar Bakri Mohammed ran the radical al-Muhajiroun
group from Tottenham, north London, until it was proscribed last year.
The then Home Secretary Charles Clarke barred
him from returning to Britain while he was out of the country in August 2005.
But the BBC has learned that he broadcasts
online most evenings - a voice recognition expert confirmed that the voice
was that of the radical preacher.
In one broadcast he praised the 2005 London
bombers by saying: "How can you condemn those great men - it's not something
so bad, something so good. Something so good to be involved in."
A chatroom has been infiltrated by a group
called Vigil, which aims to disrupt radical groups and report back to police
and security services.
During an online question and answer session
a Vigil member asked Omar Bakri Mohammed if Dublin Airport should be a terrorist
target because US troops transit there on the way to Iraq.
The cleric replied: "Hit the target and
hit it very hard, that issue should be understood. Your situation there is
quite difficult therefore the answer lies in your question."
Terror hotline
Vigil claims the UK authorities have been
slow to deal with the broadcasts.
One academic, who is a member of Vigil, contacted
the Metropolitan Police's anti-terrorist hotline saying he had more than 100
hours of material from the chatroom only to be told to contact his local police
station.
"The anti-terrorist office showed no
sense of urgency to get this information," he said.
Home Office Minister Tony McNulty said he
would examine the details of the claim.
He also said: "Glorifying terrorism on
the internet is an offence and we are trying to deal with it and keep up with
it.
Mr McNulty added: "We do have to keep
these things under review."
