Yesterday new details emerged from the terrorism trial of Mohammed Hamid, who styled himself 'Osama bin London', and four others who stand accused of a range of offences ranging from attending terrorist training camps to providing weapons training.
So far only Atilla Ahmet, 43, the 'amir' or leader of the group has pleaded guilty to soliciting murder and the others continue to assert his innocence. But despite this, the evidence already emerging from the trial raises several important points about Islamic terrorism in the UK:
- Atilla Ahmet is of Turkish origin. Previously most terrorist suspects in the UK have been South Asian or Arab. The Turkish community in the UK has been seen as overwhelmingly secular, loyal to the UK and largely immune to jihadist incitement.
- The group was infiltrated by an undercover police officer who claimed he wanted to convert to Islam. This shows that the police remain able to track emerging terrorist groups even though pro-jihadist groups no longer operate as openly as they used to.
- Songs sung by the group's members also give important insights into the group's views. One song, sung to the tune of The Banana Boat song begins:
"Come mister Taliban,
come bomb England,
before the daylight come
you wanna see
10 Downing Street done.
Come mister Taliban,
come implement shariah."
Such songs seem to indicate that the group's members were motivated less by the war in Iraq or Afghanistan, than by visions of global Islamic conquest.
- The group was able to operate and recruit relatively openly in the UK's Muslim community. Members of the group organised 'terrorist training' around the UK and in particular during 'Family Weekends' at the Jameah Islamic school in Crowborough, Sussex. Mohammed Hamid, the group's leader, also ran an Islamic stall on Oxford Street. It is clear from this that British Muslims needs to be quicker to tackle and challenge extremists operating among them.
Comments (3)
Perhaps one radicalising factor in the case of Atilla was that British people he came into contact with, looked on his name as one resonant of barbarism and villainy - or more likely, found it irredeemably comical. No doubt it is a common and respectable one in Turkish culture.
While the humorous aspects of this case should not blind us to the viciousness of these people's intentions, fate seems to have played an unfortunate joke on the Beeb. Mentioned on the blogsite 'Biased BBC' is the fact it came out in the trial that the BBC included footage of this outfit on one of their paintballing sessions in a 2005 documentary called 'Don't panic, I'm Islamic'. It was meant to show how ordinary British Muslims were and how any suspicions of them were unjustified. I notice the programme received a plug on the Islamophobia-watch site.
Posted by wallygreeninker | October 13, 2007 11:08 PM
Posted on October 13, 2007 23:08
The good news is that integration is working : these lyrics were sung to the tune of "The Banana Boat" song.
The bad news is the lyrics and the idea that paintball will suffice as military training : the result will be seige of an Oxford Street department store by heavily armed "irregulars".
As we reap......
Posted by anthony norman | October 13, 2007 1:14 AM
Posted on October 13, 2007 01:14
Re- your last sentence, I don't think we infidels can or should depend on "British Muslims".
Posted by Thomas Pellow | October 12, 2007 8:16 PM
Posted on October 12, 2007 20:16