Posted by NEWS on 9/9/2004, 20:16:39 The al Muhajiroun group led by Sheikh Omar Bakri says its long-term goal is to establish Islamic rule in Britain, but denies that it promotes violence at home. The group was widely denounced last year by mainstream Muslim organisations for advertising four conferences that seemed to praise the September 11 hijackers who killed nearly 3,000 people in the U.S. The meetings were cancelled after venue owners backed down from offers to provide facilities. Critics had said the events would have amounted to incitement of violence. A year earlier its first anniversary conference was called "A Towering Day" and was advertised with posters showing the World Trade Centre towers in New York ablaze. But Bakri said his goal was not to praise the attacks. "It is not a celebration. Islam does not permit us to hold celebration of the death of anybody," he told Reuters. "It is to remember the cause and the outcome, and to discuss the situation for the Muslims who are living in the West and are suffering because of September 11," he said. Most groups representing Britain's two million Muslims say radical groups such as al Muhajiroun represent a small fringe. British media frequently compare Bakri to radical clerics Abu Hamza al-Masri and Abu Qatada, both jailed in terrorism-linked cases. "ATTRACTIVE TITLE" Bakri acknowledged his conferences have caused controversy, but said the "Magnificent 19" posters were just "advertising". "Put on an attractive title, people will call us," he said. "I know some people do not like my style and means. But I do not incite people to kill anybody. Whether we like it or don't like it, people in the Muslim world see these men as heroes. We have to examine why." The location this year will be announced only at the last minute because "every time, whenever we book a venue, the authorities succeed in convincing the people to cancel". A spokeswoman for London's Scotland Yard police would not comment on specific plans. But she said police "routinely monitor the activities of a range of groups and individuals and would investigate any evidence of criminal activity". Bakri appeared on the front pages of newspapers this week after reports he had said killing British children could be justified in circumstances similar to Russia's deadly school siege. He said he was misquoted. "It's utterly fabrication," he said. "The police do not believe that, and that's why the police never even bothered to question me. They know that the tabloids in this country cannot be trusted."
UK radical Muslims to mark 9/11 anniversary
Tue 7 September, 2004 19:02
By Peter Graff
LONDON (Reuters) - A British radical Muslim group that once described the September 11, 2001 hijackers as "The Magnificent 19" will hold a conference to mark the anniversary of the attacks this weekend, its leader say.
Message Thread:
« Back to thread