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| Britain |
| British terror preacher out by Christmas? |
| 2008-10-12 |
| A terror preacher convicted of raising funds for suicide bombers could be free by Christmas, the Sunday Mercury has learned. An appeal by lawyers for Muslim cleric Abu Izzadeen, who was caged in April for a string of violent jihadi rants, casts doubt on crucial evidence filmed at a community centre in Small Heath, Birmingham, and at mosques in London. Izzadeen, 32, whose real name is Omar Brooks, was convicted of terrorist fund-raising and inciting terrorism overseas after jurors at Kingston Crown Court were shown video clips of extremist speeches. He was jailed for four-and-a-half years. Today, the Sunday Mercury can reveal that the authorities were alerted as early as November 2005 to images of Izzadeen calling for jihad and holding bile-filled lectures. The clips from his rants in Small Heath were handed over in July 2006, but the hate preacher was not arrested until April 2007. The Birmingham videos formed the evidence for his arrest, but were not shown in court. A source close to the law firm acting for Izzadeen, Ahmed and Co, outlined the significance of the Metropolitan Police’s decision not to follow up on footage of the Birmingham hate speeches earlier. “The concern that we have is that these videos were in the possession of the police for a long time,” he said. “The prosecution did convince a judge that they had to do work on the footage and that is why it took so long from the first reports of these speeches to the arrest and charge of Mr Brooks. “We’re concerned that they had it for this long. If it was that sinister surely they would have launched an inquiry earlier? The appeal will ask why there was such a gap between this material being submitted and him being taken in for questioning. We will also present fresh evidence.” Izzadeen is currently being held on the Isle of Wight at maximum-security Parkhurst Prison, referred to by inmates as Britain’s Guantanamo Bay. The appeal against his conviction could cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of pounds as the authorities defend their tactics in gathering information. Videos handed to the Sunday Mercury show the radical Islamist preacher laughing at the victims of terrorist attacks, and warning that Britain faced more death and destruction unless our troops left Muslim lands. In the exclusive clips, filmed in 2006 just days before the first anniversary of the 7/7 tube bombings, Izzadeen tells supporters at a community centre in Small Heath to listen to the words of plot ringleader Mohammed Siddique Khan. He says: “If we take the time to read Mohammed Siddique Khan’s will we can see the answer for our problems. If you stop (the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq), you will be saved, if you don’t stop we’re going to kill you – indiscriminately. Now you take the bus, you take the train, you could be the next target, you could be burned alive. Are you prepared to die?” Last night, a security investigator who alerted police to the terror preacher’s rants said he is worried that anti-terror cops do not pay enough attention when contacted by members of the public. He told the Sunday Mercury: “I rang the anti-terrorism hotline in November 2005 in relation to a number of videos downloaded from a password-protected website. In July 2006 a number of people alerted police to videos taken at a community centre in Small Heath, Birmingham, after I posted them across the web to raise awareness. “I was led to believe that the evidence would be followed up and I also forwarded emails containing links to the videos to MI5. The police had films from a London Mosque in November 2005 and never acted. The Birmingham videos were handed to detectives in July 2006, but Izzadeen was not arrested until April 2007. I believe the police should act on information given to them by the public. If this appeal is successful it could have a massive impact on how anti-terror operations are conducted.” A spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Police, the force that led the initial investigation into Izzadeen, refused to comment on the appeal. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #1 Care to deport Omar back to the US? The American gov may have something to say about his accessory to murder. |
| Posted by: ed 2008-10-12 10:01 |