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| Europe |
| Family backs terror arrest men |
| 2004-03-31 |
| The family of three suspects held following raids by anti-terror police say the men have done nothing wrong. Ahmad Khan, 18, Omar Khyam, 22, and Shujah Khyam, 17, were arrested in Crawley, West Sussex, on Tuesday. Ansar Khan, father of Ahmad and uncle of Omar and Shujuah, said there was "absolutely no truth" in the allegations against them. The three men were among eight suspected Islamist terrorists arrested in raids across south-east England. Mr Khan accused police of "acting like terrorists" when they raided his house to arrest his son. He said: "They explained nothing. The warrant was shown after 20 minutes, and they wouldn’t even let me answer the phone." He said the raid had left him "very angry", and his son had had to be dragged from the house crying for his mother. Mr Khan said Ahmed was a "very quiet boy" and a "good Muslim". He said he had warned him about going to a local mosque, saying: "I said, you read books by scholars. [Those books] are true, what they tell you at the mosque is not. Mr Khan said Omar had been to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, but had no involvement with al-Qaeda. He said the family had flown out and brought him home after about six weeks. "My cousins are intelligence officers in the Pakistan army, and they helped us find him." Mr Khan said Omar had been a keen cricketer and had been tipped to play for England one day. Omar, who studied for his A-levels in Reigate, Surrey, once captained Sussex under-18s. Eight men were arrested in Tuesday’s raids in south-east England, and detectives seized half a ton of fertiliser, of a type used as explosive in the Bali and Istanbul bombings. About 700 officers from five forces carried out searches at 24 addresses early on Tuesday morning, following weeks of surveillance. |
| Posted by:Howard UK |
| #12 Mr Khan said Ahmed was a "very quiet boy"... Jeez, where have I heard that before? I think just about everytime they bust some serial killer. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2004-03-31 7:39:50 PM |
| #11 And Steve's ClueMeter (tm) is much wittier than mine... |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2004-03-31 2:19:11 PM |
| #10 My cousins are intelligence officers in the Pakistan army, and they helped us find him." "Army of Pakistan, Intelligence Brigade, al-Qaeda-Taliban Branch, Personnel Division. Col Mahmoud speaking, how may I help you?" |
| Posted by: Steve 2004-03-31 2:05:28 PM |
| #9 "My cousins are intelligence officers in the Pakistan army, and they helped us find him." My ClueMeter just pegged. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2004-03-31 1:25:21 PM |
| #8 Mr Khan said Omar had been to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, but had no involvement with al-Qaeda. It must just be a scenic vacation spot, not unlike our own Grand Canyon, or Monuments National Park. (smirk) |
| Posted by: eLarson 2004-03-31 11:55:51 AM |
| #7 'Looks like a duck ..... 'walks like a duck ....... 'quacks like a duck ..... hmmmmm - I wonder what this creature might be ??? Good little moslems? In the old American west, there used to be a saying about "Good Indians" ..... One step closer to the ultimate battle of annihilation that is slowly but surely approaching. Every day that goes by, the comparative fertility rates work against the west. Let's hope stark reality overcomes political correctness before it is too late. |
| Posted by: Lone Ranger 2004-03-31 10:14:32 AM |
| #6 Amazing. Just one phone call to my local Co-op and the truck arrives with a couple of tonne of fertilizer. Tis the season. |
| Posted by: john 2004-03-31 9:48:12 AM |
| #5 Do they perhpas maintain their own pitch? |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-03-31 9:46:24 AM |
| #4 Rip, tear, SNORT... |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2004-03-31 9:19:20 AM |
| #3 detectives seized half a ton of fertiliser These nice boys had developed a very keen interest in gardening. They wanted to grow some pretty flowers for their mothers. |
| Posted by: Mike Sylwester 2004-03-31 9:15:34 AM |
| #2 Howard, hon, you *knew* they would do this... Treat it as we do trolls on RB! (Ignore it!) Mr Khan said Omar had been to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, but had no involvement with al-Qaeda. He said the family had flown out and brought him home after about six weeks. There's a burning question I've had for a long time: how do these "poor, disadvantaged" Muslim terrorists get the money for the airfare from London to Pakistan-Afghanistan? In this case, the whole frickin family flew out there! Don't know about you, but I can't afford this and I'm not that hard up. |
| Posted by: Jen 2004-03-31 9:13:28 AM |
| #1 Grrr Grrrr... |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2004-03-31 9:06:24 AM |