One of the unfortunate side effects of the disastrous state of British politics is that the murder of Edwin Dyer in Mali, Western Africa, is wiped off the front pages of the newspapers in less than 24 hours. His murder should, however, reminds us all - once again - of the severe nature the threat of Islamism poses to us all.
According to Al-Qaeda
in the Maghreb's (AQIM) statement, there were two reasons why they
killed the "British soldier" (AQIM makes no distinction between civilians and
soldiers), Edwin Dyer, a bilingual British citizen who worked in Austria. One
was because of the deaths of Muslims "every day at
the hands of the crusader coalition [in Afghanistan and Iraq]" and the Jews in
the "East and West of the world." The other was the expiry of the deadline for
the release of the Jordanian preacher of hate, Abu Qatada, described by Spanish
and British authorities as Osama Bin Laden's "spiritual ambassador" in Europe.
Dyer, who
was on music festival holiday in West Africa when his convey was hijacked in
February by AQIM, was with three other Europeans tourists. At the time of his
kidnap, locals who witnessed the kidnapping claimed that Dyer's nightmare began
when he was subjected to a sadistic mock execution in which gun rounds were let
off just inches away from his head.
Sky News reported that after months of incarceration by
AQIM he was beheaded. His body is yet to be found, adding further to his
family's anguish.
AQIM
operate in the North of Africa, but in a 2008 report Europol stated that the "threat level" posed by
AQIM in Europe is "high" due to AQIM's "geographical proximity" to North Africa.
Europe, according to the report, faces "the risk of terrorists linked to AQIM
attempting to enter the EU via Italy." (See Houriyah Ahmed's blog on the Spittoon
about the Algerian terrorist and police killer, Kamal Bourgass, who trained
with Al-Qaeda and planned a biological terrorist attack on London.) Islamist
groups in North Africa have had links with Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda since the
1990's, and many of AQIM's founding members trained in al-Qaeda's terrorist
training camps. The Council for
Foreign Relations says that AQIM's vocal support for global Islamist
movements around the world shows that its aims are "broader" than their name
may suggest.
Glen Jenvey went undercover recently posing as a British journalist, to speak with Omar Bakri, head of the British wing of Al Qaeda's Global Jihad that is now headed up in our country by Anjem Choudry.
This interview was a follow on from Part 1: Al Qaeda & Hostages after Edwin Dyer was beheaded by Al Qaeda in North Africa because the British government would not release Osama Bin Laden's European ambassador Abu Qatada who is currently in prison awaiting extradition back to Jordan to face terror charges there.
Omar Bakri has stated that any non-Moslems entering Islamic lands now face the risk of being kidnapped and imprisoned, with the risk of being beheaded like Mr Dyer.
Egypt, Morocco, and Turkey, all popular holiday destinations where British and Western tourists have already been targeted by Al Qaeda, have all been singled out as places that are now vulnerable for tourists.
Travel to these places, and any other Islamic country at your own peril.