A secret meeting of senior Islamic activists held in London last month took the decision to âstir the the Iraqi Shiite resistanceâ against the US-British led occupation of Iraq which led to the major escalation of hostilities over the last week to coincide with the first anniversary of the fall of Baghdad.
| So much for the "spontaneous uprising" theory, if it's even appeared yet... |
Delegates with affiliations to militant Islamic groups from across the Middle East, including many that are banned as terrorist organisations, travelled from all over Europe for the confidential closed-door sessions at various Islamic centres in central London. Representative from both Sunni and Shiite groups and from countries such as Syria, the Gulf States and Saudi Arabia attended the conference. According to an Arab source in Paris, among them were representatives of active terrorist organisations, like Lebanese Hezbollah, and some figures close to firebrand young Shiite leader Moqtada al-Sadr who is behind the current uprising in Iraq and now hunted by the US authorities in Iraq as an âoutlaw and fugitive from justiceâ. They also agreed to avoid any armed clashes between Sunnis and Shiites after the handover of power scheduled for June 30, and to grant al-Sadr a greater margin of manoeuvrability on the ground allowing his al-Medhi militia army to confront coalition forces and exacerbate the crisis.
| The more reason to wipe them out to the last man... |
A source in Europe, who asked not to be named, said âthe secret debate and decision to move the Shiite front against the the American occupation in Iraq marked the the most prominent among the recommendations finalised at the conference held on March on 13 and 14â. The Sunday Herald last night asked the Home Office if it was aware of the meeting and its repercussions. A spokesman would only restate their policy of not commenting on any matter involving intelligence agencies. It is highly unlikely that such a gathering would have gone unnoticed and unsupervised by Britainâs intelligence agencies. That points to both the UK and US governments being aware in advance of the timing for a potential escalation in violence â now being seen in Iraq. The meeting entitled âIslamic Movement and Iraq,â was instigated by the Iraqi Islamic Party without the knowledge or approval of the US-appointed governing council in Iraq, was subjected to a complete media blackout and held under maximum secrecy. The Iraqi Islamic party is London-based but works underground in Iraq, and is currently in contact with a number of Iraqi opposition factions inside Iraq to âcome together to stand up to the occupation and its agentsâ.
| I'm just guessing, but I'd guess the control ultimately lies in Soddy Arabia, assuming it's a wahhabi bunch, Iran if Shiites. The odor is reminiscent of wahhabi... |
âThose present at the meeting asserted that Sunni resistance alone was not enough for turning the balance of power with the occupying forces, so, they agreed to find the necessary means and move the Shiite resistance from peaceful protests to a much more effective role,â said the source. âSome were already resident in the UK, but many travelled from cities in Europe,â confirmed the French source. Asked how, given British security concerns, such movement would have been possible, the source said: âIt would have been easy for some because many represent legitimate moderate Islamic groups, but in reality are connected to militant organisations like Hezbollah to whom they would report back directly.â The source said that âdelegatesâ at the sessions clinched an agreement on a tripartite agenda, including the speeding up of Shiite inclusion in resistance operations against occupation forces. |