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Europe
Britain Bars Radical Cleric From Returning
2005-08-12
I think this means they won't mail you the checks, Omar.
LONDON - Britain on Friday barred radical Muslim cleric Omar Bakri from returning to the country that was his home for the past 20 years, saying his presence was no longer "conducive to the public good."
Was it ever?
The decision came as the country's top legal official defended plans to deport another radical Muslim cleric and nine other foreigners suspected of posing a threat to national security.
Jordan said Friday it would ask Britain next week to extradite one of those detained, cleric Omar Mahmoud Othman Abu Omar, also known as Abu Qatada. Spanish officials have described him as Osama bin Laden's "spiritual ambassador in Europe."
Jordan looks forward to...seeing him.
Bakri, 45, left Britain on Saturday, one day after Prime Minister Tony Blair proposed tough new anti-terrorism measures including the deportation of extremist Islamic clerics who preach hate. Bakri was arrested in Lebanon on Thursday. Bakri, who has dual Syrian and Lebanese citizenship, had come under increasing pressure from the British government for his hardline rhetoric after last month's transit bombings. He had insisted that he planned to return to north London, where his wife and children live.
Oh, yeah? Could you get their leaching asses out of here too please?
Home Secretary Charles Clarke had written to Bakri to inform him he would not be allowed back into Britain. The cleric has 14 days to appeal."The Home Secretary has issued an order revoking Omar Bakri Mohammed's indefinite leave to remain and to exclude him from the U.K. and the grounds that his presence is not conducive to the public good," the Home Office said in a statement. Bakri founded the now-disbanded radical Islamic group al-Muhajiroun, which came under scrutiny in Britain, particularly after some of its members praised the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. A spokesman for Britain's Crown Prosecution Service said Thursday prosecutors were looking at Bakri's recent remarks to assess whether he could be charged with solicitation of murder or incitement to withhold information known to be of use to police.
A little incentive to make sure he doesn't even think about coming back?
Meanwhile Britain's plans to deport the 10 foreigners have sparked fears for their safety in their destination countries.
Oh no!
The Home Office did not identify the detainees. But a government official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, confirmed that Abu Qatada, a Palestinian cleric who carries a Jordanian passport, was among them. A statement from Abu Qatada's lawyer said the detainees were "primarily Algerians."
Algeria welcomes you...OUCH! OW! OUCH!
Lord Chancellor Charles Falconer said it was necessary to balance the risk of a deportee being mistreated against the threat they pose to Britain. He added that the government may seek new human rights legislation to make the deportations easier. The measure would be among a raft of tough new anti-terrorism laws announced in the wake of the July bombings."The deportee has got rights, but so have the people of this country," Falconer told British Broadcasting Corp. radio. "If they are threatened in terms of national security, that is something that the government has got to protect them against as much as possible."
Looks like the game may be over in England? Play your little Jihadi poseur games somewhere else, holy men?
As a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights, Britain is not allowed to deport people to countries where they may face torture of mistreatment. The government has been trying to sign agreements guaranteeing humane treatment of deportees with 10 countries, including Algeria, Lebanon, Egypt and Tunisia. The first such memorandum of understanding was signed with Jordan on Wednesday. The detentions and are another indication of the dramatic impact of last month's bombings in a country until recently regarded as something of a safe haven for radicals."The circumstances of our national security have changed, it is vital that we act against those who threaten it," Home Secretary Clarke said.
Muslim persecution whines in 5...4...3...
Abu Qatada was granted political asylum in Britain in 1993. He has been in jail or under close supervision here since 2002, but now faces deportation to Jordan where authorities convicted him in absentia in 1998 and again in 2000 for involvement in a series of explosions and terror plots. British authorities believe Abu Qatada inspired the lead Sept. 11 hijacker Mohamed Atta and he is suspected of having links with radical groups across Europe. Jordanian Interior Minister Awni Yirfas said his country would request Abu Qatada's extradition next week. A spokesman for Britain's Home Office had no immediate reaction.
They were probably too busy writing up the paperwork.
The cleric's lawyer, Gareth Peirce, condemned the detentions. Her firm said in a statement that the detainees had not been allowed to see their lawyers.
You can see them all you want in a few weeks...in Algeria and Jordan.
Like Abu Qatada, some of the foreigners detained Thursday had spent up to three years in jail without trial under sweeping anti-terror legislation until their release in March after Britain's highest court ruled the detentions unlawful. Since then, they have been supervised under so-called control orders, such as curfew or house arrest, and banned from using the telephone or Internet. The Home Office said the detainees had five working days to appeal deportation — a process that could drag on for months. A spokeswoman insisted they would not be deported until the British government gained assurances from the destination countries that they will not be treated inhumanely.
Yeah, sure. No problem.
Civil rights campaigners and the U.N. special envoy on torture, Manfred Nowak, have warned, however, that such assurances carry no weight in international law and would not sufficiently protect the deportees.
Like we said, yeah, sure. No problem.
"The assurances of known torturers, many of whom deny the use of torture even when it is widely documented, are not worth the paper they are written on," said Mike Blakemore, a spokesman for Amnesty International.
Hey, all the British can do is take them at their word. Once they're out of the country, it's beyond their control. Sorry, Mr. AI.
Posted by:tu3031

#12  he seemed Ok to me
Posted by: Frank G   2005-08-12 22:53  

#11  shistos: Count backward from 20 by threes. Take a deep breath. Again. Feel better now?
Posted by: mom   2005-08-12 22:36  

#10  None of that man, this is RantBurg!
Posted by: Col Flagg   2005-08-12 19:16  

#9  I know this supposed to be well reasoned, but I cant help myself,
ha fucking ha, you scrounging, hate mongering, lazy parasite, you have taken your last step on English SOIL. FUCK OFF AND TAKE YOUR MATES! and I forgot to add self righteous!
Posted by: Shistos Shistadogloo   2005-08-12 15:01  

#8  I know this supposed to be well reasoned, but I cant help myself,
ha fucking ha, you scrounging, hate mongering, lazy parasite, you have taken your last step on English. FUCK OFF AND TAKE YOUR MATES!
Posted by: Shistos Shistadogloo   2005-08-12 14:59  

#7  Anjem Choudray :


or should I say, Grima,
Saruman Omar Bakri is in
the Eisengard towerBeiruit , and is "unavailable" for comment...

Posted by: BigEd   2005-08-12 12:46  

#6  Additional from BBC;

A Home Office spokesman said the decision to bar Mr Mohammed would not affect his family. He has seven children who were born in Britain. They would continue to receive their State benefits, he said, although those paid to the cleric would cease.

And from his butt boy:
The cleric's spokesman, Anjem Choudray, described the UK move as "completely outrageous" and a "failure" of the principle of free speech. "He has been a great asset for the Muslim community here.It is going to be a great loss for the British public and the Muslim community, I believe, and I think that this is indicative of the oppressive nature of the Blair regime."

Are you next, Anjem?
Posted by: tu3031   2005-08-12 12:30  

#5  He's angry that Blair took notice.

Verse 2 line 5. Typo. Sorry.
Posted by: Ogeretla 2005   2005-08-12 12:23  

#4  BAKRI’S DIELEMMA
Sung to
“Fool on the Hill”
Lennon & McCartney

Day after day, alone in Beiruit,
Imam with a crazed look is spouting violence still
Jihadis all want to know him,
Because he’s still on the loose,
And he always gives an answer.
But Imam in Beiruit, makes Jihad as the way
With his evil black heart, to make his power play.

Well on the way, distorting The Book,
The man of a thousand voices talking every which way.
But only the evil hear him,
And the venom that he spews forth,
He angry that Blair took notice.
But Imam in Beiruit, makes Jihad as the way
With his evil black heart, to make his power play.

His tickers not good, must have surgery
His third-world hideout can’t provide the doctor he needs,
In London he gets a surgeon,
But he knows he’s an arrestee,
And this is his big dilemma,
But Imam in Beiruit, makes Jihad as the way
With his evil black heart, to make his power play.

Young eager minds, absorb what he says,
72 in paradise means you’re better off dead,
He easily convinces,
He knows that they’re just some fools,
They do pay close attention,
But Imam in Beiruit, makes Jihad as the way
With his evil black heart, to make his power play.

Posted by: Ogeretla 2005   2005-08-12 12:18  

#3  and speaking of torture, I understand the Syrians want to speak to Omar - In Syria
Posted by: mhw   2005-08-12 12:05  

#2  HA HA!
Posted by: Nelson Muntz   2005-08-12 09:56  

#1  Hey? Whaddabout his heart operation? Can he still come back to have that done for free, on the backs of the British citizens he so hated?
Posted by: Bobby   2005-08-12 09:39  

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