Author: Robert Mendick
Publication: ThisIsLondon.co.uk
Date: September 19, 2008
URL: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23557570-details/Islamist+sect+banned+as+security+threat+'is+recruiting+teenagers'/article.do
A militant Islamic sect banned by the Government
as a threat to national security has launched a campaign to radicalise teenagers
in east London, the Evening Standard can reveal.
Al-Muhajiroun, headed by exiled cleric Omar
Bakri Mohammed, tonight begins a recruitment drive targeting young Muslims
- despite being outlawed under terror laws introduced in the wake of the 7/7
suicide bomb attacks on London.
Several members of the sect have been jailed
in recent years for terror-related offences but there are fears the group
is thriving again under a new name.
The group has launched a website, Islam4uk.com.
It is advertising its first youth conference,
entitled Muslim Youth: The Spark of the Fire, at a community centre in Walthamstow
- close to the homes of six men who face a retrial over a plot to blow up
transatlantic airliners. Islam4uk.com is a reincarnation of al-Muhajiroun
in all but name. It is headed by Bakri Mohammed, now living in Lebanon, and
his deputy Anjem Choudary, its official spokesman.
The two have kept a relatively low profile
since the 7 July attacks on London in 2005 but have become emboldened in recent
weeks.
The youth conference tonight is being addressed
by two notorious extremists, Abu Uzair and Abu Waleed.
Uzair, 40, who was a follower of jailed preacher
Abu Hamza at Finsbury Park mosque, sprang to prominence when he praised the
9/11 hijackers as " magnificent" and claimed that if he knew terrorists
were planning a suicide attack, he would not alert police.
In an interview with the BBC, Uzair declared:
"We don't live in peace with you any more. The banner has been risen
for jihad inside the UK, which means it's allowed for bombers to attack."
Waleed, another disciple of Hamza's, was caught
on video earlier this year making a joke about Muslims taking backpacks on
to the London Underground.
Having laid low for the past three years -
since Bakri was forced to live in exile in Lebanon - there is concern al-Muhajiroun
is growing in strength.
At a meeting last Thursday - as first reported
by the Standard - almost 100 Muslims attended to hear a live video link-up
with Bakri.
Andrew Dismore, the Labour MP for Hendon,
who first called for al-Muhajiroun to be banned 10 years ago, said today:
"This new group needs to be banned. Islam4uk is clearly just another
side of the same coin.
"This shows the real difficulty with
these splinter groups. The fact they are now getting 100 people to their meetings
is very alarming."
