| Submit your comments on this article |
| Britain |
| Banned cleric Bakri still lectures British followers online |
| 2008-12-13 |
| A militant Muslim cleric banned from living in this country is continuing to lecture to his followers in the UK twice a day. Omar Bakri Mohammed has been delivering sermons on the internet chat room PalTalk from his home in Lebanon, where he is exiled. Between 30 and 50 users log on every morning and evening to listen to what is usually a 30 minute speech. He then opens the discussion board up for questions, which he answers directly. While monitoring this chat room Sky News heard Bakri tell his followers that no Muslim should join the Pakistan Army, but rather should support the Mujahideen - Muslims fighting a jihad, or Holy war. He also told them it was "haraam" (or prohibited) to wish work colleagues "Merry Christmas". In other recent sermons Bakri called on his followers to "disobey British law" and to "fight and die for islam", in order to step up an Islamic state in the UK. Syrian-born Bakri was banned from re-entering the UK in 2005, after his presence was deemed by the Government not to be "conducive to the public good". Authorities believe the 50-year-old founder of the now-outlawed radical group al-Muhajiroun is a direct threat to national security. His use of the internet to continue to address his British followers has raised questions over the relevance of UK anti-terror legislation. Logging on to the chat room, SkyNews asked Bakri if addressing his followers in the UK via the internet made a mockery of current terror legislation? "The terror legislation of the British Government, of any government, is irrelevant, unimportant, insignificant for me", he said. "They deport me, or they they prevent me from returning back to Britain, or prevent people entering the UK, they think that [is] going to make them stop communicating? If they stop the internet we will communicate by phone. Will they stop every call in the world?" Bakri also gives regular speeches to gatherings in London via video link or over the phone. Two weeks ago he spoke to around 60 followers at a meeting in a restaurant in Southall, West London. The gathering had been due to take place at a council run building in Southall, but the local authority was tipped off that he was to address the meeting and decided to withdraw permission to use the building. Police were posted outside, looking for those handing out leaflets, but despite the last minute change, organisers were quickly able to rearrange the meeting at the alternative venue. A previous event in a council-run venue in Tower Hamlets, East London, had gone ahead without intervention from the local authority. However, because Bakri now lives abroad, he is free to say almost anything he likes without fear of prosecution here. Intelligence analyst Crispin Black warned that this is a dangerous scenario: "It's always been difficult, but it was previously less difficult because he was here, and they could count the number of people at his meetings and find out who they were. But now this is growing exponentially, it's much more difficult for the authorities to keep track of." At the latest meeting Anjem Choudary, a London-based lawyer who is an organiser and spokesman for Bakri, said the Government could not stifle the voice of Muslims. Mr Choudary said: "He is now accessible every morning on chat rooms and in the evening, as well as addressing people at conferences, seminars and lectures. The authorities will try their best to try to silence his voice, however, need is the mother of all creativity." A Home Office spokesman said the gatherings must still remain within the law - and if speakers crossed the line between free speech and incitement, the organisers risked being prosecuted. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #1 Sorry, this should have been posted to page 2. |
| Posted by: ryuge 2008-12-13 06:11 |