UK: Third terror cell on loose

And there will be more after that one as well, until the ideology that motivates those in such cells is confronted and defeated. From the Times Online, with thanks to The One Who Must Not Be Named:

A THIRD Islamist terror cell is planning multiple suicide bomb attacks against Tube trains and other “soft” targets in central London, security sources have revealed.

Intelligence about a cell with access to explosives and plans to unleash a “third wave” of attacks was the trigger for last Thursday’s unprecedented security exercise. The operation saw 6,000 police, many armed, patrolling across London.

Senior police officers say that there was “specific” intelligence from several sources that an attack was planned for that day. The disclosure contradicts official statements by Scotland Yard that Thursday’s security exercise — the biggest since the second world war — was simply a precaution aimed at reassuring the public.

Youth wing of UK Muslim group calls for jihad

Here I go again, reporting on what jihadists are saying and doing. Don't I know that calling attention to such activity makes moderate Muslims angry?

I anxiously await Sir Iqbal Sacranie's response to this, and his unveiling of a comprehensive program to convert jihadists to Islamic moderation. I am confident that we will be getting this any day now -- right, Iqbal? Iqbal? Anyone?

From The Independent via the New Zealand Herald, with thanks to Designnut:

Children as young as 11 are being targeted by radical Muslims who appear to have infiltrated a mainstream Muslim website, The Independent on Sunday can reveal. Literature aimed at children between 11 and 18 on the youth section of the Islamic Society of Britain (ISB) website calls on them to "boycott those who openly wage war against Allah".

The article containing that quote, entitled "Imam Hassan al-Banna on jihad", goes on to say: "Jihad is a powerful invigorating yearning for Islam's might and glory ... which makes you cry when looking at the weakness of Muslims today and the humiliating tragedies crushing him to death everywhere. "

Jihad is to be a soldier for Allah. When the bugle calls ... you should be the first to answer the call to join the ranks for jihad."

Other articles on atheism and secularism appear to be against integration. One article is entitled "Zionism, a black historical record", and another, "Israel simply has no right to exist". The ISB immediately disowned this content after being informed of it by the IoS, and promised to remove it.

Mmm hmmm.

A note from a moderate Muslim

This afternoon I received this identical email 108 times, each with an obscene, unprintable subject line. The same person attempted to subscribe to the Daily Digest 113 times, using a non-working email address. Apparently he did both in order to try to shut down our system. (It didn't work, as you can see.) Judging from his IP address, I have heard from this gentleman before, and this is not the first time he has indulged his taste for repetition.

Here is the message:

you evil racist, hell is definetly your abode, when will you stop the work of satan, I am a muslim but I am against terrorism and extremism, you are turning average muslims into angry muslims, please stop this.

One thing I think is worth observing about this: "you are turning average muslims into angry muslims."

How am I doing this, if I am really doing it at all? Presumably by shedding light on jihadist activity, and on how jihadists use the Qur'an and Sunnah to justify their actions and make recruits. If this man is really against terrorism and extremism as he says, he should not be angry at me for reporting about this, but at the jihadists who are actually committing acts of terrorism in the name of Islam. And he should direct his energies to more worthwhile activities than filling up my inbox with abusive, obscene junk -- he could, say, try to formulate a comprehensive Islamic refutation of the jihadists, if he really believes that what they are doing is against Islam. I won't be holding my breath.

Spencer: The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades)

Don't forget to order your copy of Robert Spencer's new book, "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades)" if you haven't already. In fact, get a couple of copies so as to have one on hand to loan to friends.

U.S. evicted from air base in Uzbekistan

U. S. loses a strategic air base. From the Washington Post, with thanks to JS.

Uzbekistan formally evicted the United States yesterday from a military base that has served as a hub for combat and humanitarian missions to Afghanistan since shortly after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Pentagon and State Department officials said yesterday.

In a highly unusual move, the notice of eviction from Karshi-Khanabad air base, known as K2, was delivered by a courier from the Uzbek Foreign Ministry to the U.S. Embassy in Tashkent, said a senior U.S. administration official involved in Central Asia policy. The message did not give a reason. Uzbekistan will give the United States 180 days to move aircraft, personnel and equipment, U.S. officials said.

If Uzbekistan follows through, as Washington expects, the United States will face several logistical problems for its operations in Afghanistan. Scores of flights have used K2 monthly. It has been a landing base to transfer humanitarian goods that then are taken by road into northern Afghanistan, particularly to Mazar-e Sharif -- with no alternative for a region difficult to reach in the winter. K2 is also a refueling base with a runway long enough for large military aircraft. The alternative is much costlier midair refueling.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld returned this week from Central Asia, where he won assurances from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan that the United States can use its bases for operations in Afghanistan. U.S. forces use Tajikistan for emergency landings and occasional refueling, but it lacks good roads into Afghanistan. Kyrgyzstan does not border Afghanistan.

"We always think ahead. We'll be fine," Rumsfeld said Sunday when asked how the United States would cope with losing the base in Uzbekistan.

In May, however, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman called access to the airfield "undeniably critical in supporting our combat operations" and humanitarian deliveries. The United States has paid $15 million to Uzbek authorities for use of the airfield since 2001, he said...

New imam decries calls to reform Islam

Shaker Elsayed is still repeating his line, "The call to reform Islam is an alien call," at one of the largest mosques in our country. From AP, with thanks to Daryl and Andy.

The voice of the new imam at one of the largest mosques on the East Coast rang loud from the pulpit during Friday services recently: "The call to reform Islam is an alien call."

People who do not understand Islam are the ones seeking to change it, said Shaker Elsayed, the new spiritual leader at the Dar al-Hijrah mosque in the Northern Virginia suburbs. "Ignorance comes from outside circles who know nothing about us."

Though his role as the mosque's religious leader is a new one, Mr. Elsayed is well known as a civic activist in a large Muslim community that has been subject to sharp scrutiny ever since the September 11 attacks. His face is a familiar one at the federal courthouse in Alexandria, where he has lent support to area Muslims who have been prosecuted for everything from immigration violations to soliciting treason. He has been vocal in support of Muslims he believes are the victims of a federal witch hunt.

Mr. Elsayed, who assumed duties as imam on June 1, also has served as secretary-general of the Muslim American Society. Some federal authorities and U.S. Muslim leaders suspect the advocacy group has links with the Muslim Brotherhood, a seminal anti-Western group that has inspired other hard-line Islamic organizations.

Mr. Elsayed, however, said he is not a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.

He also has served as an unofficial spokesman for the family of Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, who is accused of joining al Qaeda while studying overseas and plotting to assassinate President Bush. Ali grew up in Falls Church, and worshipped at Dar al-Hijrah.

With all his activities, it's perhaps not surprising that Mr. Elsayed's sermons seem to carry political overtones. On a recent Friday, preaching to more than 500 men and women -- with the sexes worshipping separately as is customary -- he said without mentioning specific nations that: "Islam forbids you to give allegiance to those who kick you off your homeland, and to those who support those who kick you off your homeland. We do have license to respond with all force necessary to answer our attackers."...

Terror attacks spur soul-searching by Egyptians

From AP, with thanks to Daryl.

CAIRO -- Stunned by terror attacks in a Red Sea resort, Egyptians are in a remarkably frank debate about whether mainstream mosques and schools -- and the government itself -- should be blamed for promoting Islamic extremism.

Even some in the pro-government press say authorities have created a climate in which young people are turning into radicals and suicide bombers.

"There is no use denying. ... We incited the crime of Sharm el Sheik," ran a bold red headline of a lead editorial by Al-Musawwar's editor in chief, Abdel-Qader Shohaib.

The bombers "didn't just conjure up in our midst suddenly, they are a product of a society that produces extremist fossilized minds that are easy to be controlled," Mr. Shohaib wrote in Wednesday's editions.

In a country more used to hearing general condemnations of terrorism, critics on Wednesday were angry -- and specific -- hammering at instances when they say the government let state press and mosque preachers, including many appointed by the government, promote intolerance...

Official kidnapped, 11 killed in Iraq attacks

From CNN, with thanks to Jeffrey Imm:

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Insurgents in Iraq struck again on Saturday, whisking away an Iraqi government official at gunpoint and killing at least 11 people in various bombings and ambushes, including one that again targeted foreign diplomats.

Meanwhile, Iraq government officials worked furiously on a draft of a new constitution. Officials have by Monday to determine whether they need a six-month delay or will have the document completed by an August 15 deadline.

The most dramatic strike Saturday took place near the Iraqi National Theater, where people from the nation's civil community institutions were developing demands for the committee writing the constitution.

A suicide car bomb killed six people, including three police officers, and wounded 26 others.

In the kidnapping, gunmen in western Baghdad abducted Eman Naji Abdul Razaq, the Health Ministry's director general of the projects department. Four gunmen in two cars stormed Razaq's home in the Mansour neighborhood and took her during the early afternoon.

Continuing a trend of targeting foreign officials, insurgents attacked a British Embassy convoy with a roadside bomb. Two private security guards were killed and two children were wounded, the British Home Office said...

Italian police launch raids after bomb arrest

From Reuters with thanks to Jeffrey Imm:

ROME - Police were carrying out at least 15 searches in Italy on Saturday stemming from Friday's arrest in Rome of a London bombing suspect, the government said.

Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu told the lower house of parliament that suspected bomber Osman Hussain evaded police searches with the help of contacts among Italy's Ethiopian and Eritrean immigrant communities.

"From the investigations, it has been possible to identify a dense network of individuals belonging to the Eritrean and Ethiopian communities in Italy, believed to have helped him cover his tracks", Pisanu said.

Pisanu said Hussain was born in Ethiopia, not Somalia, as the government reported on Friday. Hussain left London's Waterloo Station for continental Europe on July 26, he added.

Explaining the searches, Pisanu said Hussain had been in contact with East Africans in Milan and Brescia in northern Italy. He said the Ethiopian father of Hussain's girlfriend lived in Brescia...

Man Admits Role in Failed London Attack

Of course, he never meant to hurt anyone. He was carrying bombs, you say? Yes, but such little ones! After all, Islam is a religion of peace!

Actually, he says he wanted to "sow terror," as commanded in Qur'an 8:60: "Make ready for them all thou canst of (armed) force and of horses tethered, that thereby ye may dismay the enemy of Allah and your enemy, and others beside them whom ye know not."

London jihad update from AP, with thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist:

ROME - A suspect in the failed London transit bombings admitted Saturday to a role in the attack but said it was only intended to be an attention-grabbing strike, not a deadly one, a legal expert familiar with the investigation said.

Osman Hussain told interrogators he wasn't carrying enough explosives even to "harm people nearby," the expert told The Associated Press. The expert spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the ongoing investigation, which under Italian law must remain secret.

Hussain, 27, one of four arrested bombers from the July 21 attacks, is suspected of trying to bomb the Shepherd's Bush subway station in west London, two weeks after the four deadly attacks on the city's transit system that killed 56 people, including the four suicide bombers.

Hussain was arrested Friday in Rome at his brother's apartment after police traced calls he made from a cell phone as he traveled across Europe. Three other suspects were detained the same day in London....

Hussain was referring to Muktar Said Ibrahim, 27, one of the other bombing suspects captured Friday in a London raid, the newspaper said. Ibrahim is suspected of planting explosives on a London bus on July 21.

"Muktar urged us to be careful" La Repubblica quoted Hussain as telling his interrogators. "We didn't want to kill, just sow terror."

Hussain also said his cell was not linked to either al-Qaida or the cell that carried out deadly bombings July 7, Italian media reported....

"He doesn't consider himself a terrorist," Sonnessa told Italian TV. Asked about what line he took when interrogated, she declined to be specific, but said: "He defended himself with extreme calm, coherence."

He probably considers himself a mujahid, but that doesn't make the article.

U.S. Suspends Travel for Soldiers In Saudi

Now even American soldiers are not safe in our friend and ally Saudi Arabia. From Middle East Newsline, with thanks to Gabrielle Goldwater:

WASHINGTON [MENL] -- U.S. Central Command has suspended non-essential travel for American soldiers based in Saudi Arabia.

Officials said the decision was taken amid information that Al Qaida has planned an attack in the Saudi kingdom. They said Al Qaida has sought to target Westerners, particularly Americans, to demonstrate that the movement remained a threat amid Saudi counter-insurgency efforts.

"The American Embassy in Riyad advises all American citizens living in Saudi Arabia that, in response to continued indications of operational planning for a terrorist attack or attacks in the kingdom, U.S. military personnel stationed in Saudi Arabia have been instructed to suspend all non-duty related leisure travel outside of their work or housing stations," a July 25 warden message by the U.S. embassy said.

Palestinians strike Israeli targets in Gaza with mortar, light arms

1. I thought they were so desperately poor (don't know where those Saudi billions went) that they couldn't afford things like mortar and light arms.

2. Doesn't this mean the deal is off?

From Haaretz, with thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist:

Palestinian gunmen targeted Israeli settlements and Israel Defense Forces positions Saturday in a number of locations in the southern Gaza Strip.

On Saturday morning, gunmen twice opened fire on IDF troops near the boundary fence adjacent to the Slav settlement in southern Gaza. The soldiers returned fire.

Before dawn, a Palestinian mortar crew fired a shell at a southern Gaza settlement and gunmen opened fire on an IDF position near Kfar Darom.

Pakistan clerics explain 'jihad'

More misleading talk and half-measures, this time from Pakistan's top Muslim clerics. From the BBC via the Pakistani Newspaper, with thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist:

Lahore, July 29: Pakistan's top Muslim clerics have said it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to preach the real concept of jihad, or holy war, to young Muslims.

"The situation in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine is radicalising young people," says Mufti Rafi Usmani, one of Pakistan's highest-ranking clerics.

"And an angry young man is in no-one's control," he said.

In other words, what these angry young men do is no one's responsibility. Thus Mufti Rafi neatly deflects attention away from the jihad ideology that is being preached all over Pakistan -- young men aren't joining jihad because of that, you see. They're just angry young men, out of control.

Other high-ranking Islamic scholars have also endorsed these views.

Mufti Rafi Usmani heads Darul Uloom Karachi, one of Pakistan's most respected religious schools, or madrassas.

"Islam does not allow killing of innocent civilians and non-combatants under any circumstances," he said in an interview with the BBC News website.

Here we go again. Who is innocent? What is a civilian? When a moderate Muslim spokesman addresses and refutes the assertions by Muslims that various Western non-combatants are neither innocent nor civilians, I will begin to think that the moderate Islam that is supposed to be the solution may actually have some chance of appearing somewhere in the world.

Asked to explain the concept of jihad as expounded in mainstream Islamic thought, Mufti Usmani said it had been laid down in great detail precisely to avoid any confusion.

"To begin with, jihad is not incumbent on all Muslims and a call for jihad can be given only under special circumstances," he said.

Right. Traditional Islamic law teaches that jihad is an obligation incumbent on the community as a whole -- fard kifaya. If some people in the umma, the worldwide Muslim community, are fulfilling this obligation, the others are freed from it. However, if a Muslim land is attacked (a highly elastic concept that Osama bin Laden and others use artfully today), jihad becomes fard ayn -- compulsory for all Muslims either to fight in or aid in some way. But as Islamic jihadists today routinely claim that they are fighting in defense of Muslim lands, they also claim that jihad today is fard ayn -- in other words, that the "special conditions" to which Mufti Usmani refers do exist now.

Islamic scholars - or ulema - agree that injunctions explaining the circumstances for jihad and the people's conduct during jihad constitute the core principles of the doctrine.

According to three top scholars interviewed by the BBC News website, jihad can only be called in the following circumstances:

If a Muslim community comes under attack, then jihad becomes an obligation for all Muslims, male and female, in that community

If that particular community feels it cannot fight off attackers on its own, then jihad becomes incumbent on Muslims living in nearby communities

That's why so many Muslims from neighboring countries have been streaming into Iraq.

If a Muslim ruler of a country calls for jihad, then it is incumbent upon the Muslims living under that ruler to join the jihad.

Mufti Usmani says that even in such circumstances, jihad is obligatory only on as many Muslims as are required to defend the community under attack.

But others must aid it materially -- hence the proliferation of "terror-supporting charities."

"If Pakistan is attacked but its army is sufficient to deal with the threat, then Pakistani civilians are under no obligation to join jihad," he said.

The second principle relates to the conduct of the jihadis. Under no circumstances are Muslims allowed to attack women, children, the old and the meek, the sick, those that are praying and civilians, say these ulema.

Unless they are perceived as aiding the enemies of the Muslims (cf. Mawardi, al-Akham as-Sultaniyyah, 4.2; 'Umdat al-Salik o9.10).

Muslim militants argue that if innocent Muslims are killed in enemy action then Muslims are allowed to kill innocent people in retaliation.

But clerics strongly disagree with this line of thinking, arguing that Islam does not allow Muslims to respond to "a mistake" by another mistake.

"Islam is absolutely clear on this issue. Two wrongs do not make a right," Mufti Usmani said.

"If they feel that the US or the UK are killing innocent civilians in Iraq or Afghanistan, it does not give them the right to kill innocent citizens in London or New York," he said....

Very well. But here again he doesn't address the core issue: are those civilians in London or New York innocent at all? Osama and his ilk would say no. How would the Mufti respond? Can he refute this view on Islamic grounds? If so, he should do so, and do so quickly.

"When a Muslim visits a Western country or if he is living there, then he is under a kind of a contractual obligation to abide by the law of that land," explains Mufti Usmani.

"Islam is so strict about honouring commitments that a commitment cannot be revoked unilaterally even in times of battle."

This is ridiculous in light of Muhammad's own behavior, particularly regarding the Treaty of Hudaybiya which the early Muslims concluded with the pagan Quraysh. After the treaty was concluded, a woman of the Quraysh, Umm Kulthum, joined the Muslims in Medina; her two brothers came to Muhammad, asking that she be returned "in accordance with the agreement between him and the Quraysh at Hudaybiya." Muhammad refused because Allah forbade it: he gave Muhammad a new revelation: "O ye who believe! When there come to you believing women refugees, examine and test them: Allah knows best as to their faith: if ye ascertain that they are believers, then send them not back to the unbelievers" (Qur’an 60:10).

In refusing to send Umm Kulthum back to the Quraysh, Muhammad broke the treaty. Although Muslim apologists have claimed throughout history that the Quraysh broke it first, this incident came before any treaty violations by the Quraysh. Breaking of the treaty in this way would reinforce the principle that nothing was good except what was advantageous to Islam, and nothing evil except what hindered Islam.

Mufti Akram Kashmiri, the head of Jamia Ashrafia in Lahore - another top madrassa whose students have risen to top posts in various Islamic countries - says that the existing circumstances are making it extremely difficult for the ulema to preach this message to disaffected Muslim youth.

"Angry young Muslims are no longer satisfied with this doctrine," he says.

"That is why they go around to all kinds of ulema with dubious credentials to seek religious sanctions to deal with the rising tide of anger inside them," he says.

These ulema are convinced that the solution to terrorism no longer lies in the hands of the Muslim world or the clerics.

The West, they say, must seek a resolution of all the conflicts involving the Muslim world and hit at the root causes that have spawned terrorism all over the world.

Sure. It's all the West's fault. Yet I seem to remember a good number of jihads being waged long before there was any Western "imperialism" or "colonialism" to speak of.

Foreign students ordered out of Pakistan madrasas

More window dressing from Musharraf. What about homegrown jihadists? After all, the British bombers were Pakistanis, not Arabs who studied in Pakistan. From Reuters, with thanks to all who sent this in:

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (Reuters) - Foreign students attending Islamic religious schools in Pakistan will be ordered to leave as part of a drive to stamp out terrorism and religious extremism, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf said on Friday.

Security forces have detained more than 600 people in the past week after Musharraf ordered a crackdown on militant groups, mosques and religious schools, or madrasas.

Speaking to foreign correspondents at his residence as Chief of Army Staff in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, Musharraf said he wanted foreign students out.

"We've decided," he said. "All those who are here -- there are about 1,400 -- they must leave. We will not issue visas to such people."

The crackdown was ordered after the July 7 bomb attacks on London, which police said were carried out by three Britons of Pakistani descent and a fourth Briton of Jamaican origin.

One of the men, Shehzad Tanweer, visited a madrasa during trips to Pakistan in the past two years.

The number of foreign students attending madrasas in Pakistan has already fallen sharply since the government imposed tougher visa restrictions after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

There are around 12,000 madrasas in Pakistan, often providing education, shelter and food to boys from poor families.

Gee, that's swell. I wonder why Reuters saw fit to mention that. Are we to assume that cutting people off from the jihad factories will cut them off from education, shelter, and food? Well, we don't want them starving -- better they get turned into mujahedin.

British jihadist: would-be London bombers guilty of tactical errors, not immorality

Hassan Butt doesn't seem moved by the recent Muslim condemnations of the bombers: he is still convinced that they acted in accord with Islam. This may be in part because the condemnations did not even address the Islamic reasoning that people like Butt use to establish their positions. "Radical Muslim questions tactics of bombers," from The Telegraph, with thanks to Nicolei:

A Muslim who helped recruit young men to fight for the Taliban says that those willing to plant bombs in London were guilty of tactical errors but were not immoral.

Hassan Butt, 25, earned notoriety in January 2002 when he told the BBC's Today programme that Britons who went to fight the West in Afghanistan would return home to launch terror attacks.

Three years on, in an interview given to Prospect magazine some months before the bombings and published this week, he predicted that "a lot of killing" is unavoidable if the world is to come under the banner of Islam.

Formerly the self-styled spokesman for al-Muhajiroun, an Islamic fundamentalist group, he split from the faction over the issue of the "covenant of security", which forbade Muslims living in Britain from engaging in military action within the country.

While al-Muhajiroun supported the concept, Butt said he did not. His opposition to committing acts of violence was, he said, a matter of tactics rather than principle. "Now, I am not in favour of military action in Britain but if somebody did do it who was British, I would not have any trouble with that either. . . It wouldn't necessarily be the wisest thing to do but it wouldn't be un-Islamic."

Anyone who was involved in such attacks would be a "completely and utterly loose cannon", said Butt, who now lives in the Leeds suburb of Beeston. Such "military action" would be unwise because "a bomb in London would be strategically damaging to Muslims here. Immigration is lax in Britain. . . London has more radical Muslims than anywhere in the Muslim world. A bomb would jeopardise everyone's position. There has to be a place we can come."

I suspect that Butt has also articulated one principle reason why we have not seen a similar bombing in the United States.

But he drew a distinction between Muslims who sought refuge in Britain - who would be bound by the covenant - and those who were born here, who would not.

"Most of our people, especially the youth, are British citizens," he said. "They owe nothing to the Government. They did not ask to be born here; neither did they ask to be protected by Britain."

He is assuming that their primary loyalty will be to the Islamic umma, as is taught by traditional, mainstream Islam.

Zambia: Man held for questioning linked to Osama

Haroon Rashid Aswat update. From AP, with thanks to Nicolei:

LUSAKA (Zambia): A British man in custody in Zambia in connection with the July 7 London bombings was once a body guard for al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, Zambian security officials said on Friday.

The security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorised to speak to the media, said Haroon Rashid Aswat, 31, said during questioning that he had once been a personal guard for bin Laden. Aswat was detained in Lusaka after he entered the country from Botswana, the Zambian officials said....

The Zambian officials said investigators were particularly interested in talking to Aswat about 20 phone calls allegedly made from his phone to some of the men thought to have set off bombs in London on July 7....

Aswat reportedly was once an associate of Abu Hamza al-Masri, a Muslim preacher who is awaiting trial in Britain on charges of incitement to murder. Al-Masri also is wanted in the United States on charges of trying to establish a terrorist training camp in Bly.

All four London bombers in custody after dramatic raids

Good news from the Times Online, with thanks to Jeffrey Imm:

All three remaining July 21 rucksack bombers are believed to be in police custody tonight after eight days on the run.

The suspected Hackney bus bomber is among three men held after dramatic raids in West London today, while the Italian interior ministry reported tonight that it had seized the fourth bomber in Rome. They named him as Hussain Osman, a Somali-born man believed to be the Westbourne Park bomber.

The British anti-terror chief has confirmed that a man "of interest to the London bombs investigation" is being held in Rome and that a European arrest warrant has been issued seeking the return Hussain Osman to the UK

The events mean that all four men suspected of trying to blow up targets in London transport on July 21 are alive and in the hands of the authorities. Yasin Hussein Omar, the suspected Warren St Tube bomber, was shot with a stun gun and arrested in a dawn raid on a house in Birmingham on Wednesday.

To have four live suspects, plus the rucksacks which failed to explode on July 21, is likely to prove a treasure trove of information to the police.

Iran's new president glorifies martyrdom, says that Islam will conquer the world

We haven't heard much from Iran's new Thug-In-Chief since the London bombings. Here is an update: "Iran's New President Glorifies Martyrdom," from MEMRI, with thanks to Ray:

The following are excerpts from a speech by Iranian President-Elect Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, which aired July 25, 2005 on Iranian Channel 1. In it, he praises martyrdom operations and states that Islam will conquer the world. (To view this clip, visit http://memritv.org/search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=782.)

Ahmadi-Nejad: [...] Is there art that is more beautiful, more divine, and more eternal than the art of martyrdom? A nation with martyrdom knows no captivity. Those who wish to undermine this principle undermine the foundations of our independence and national security. They undermine the foundation of our eternity.

"The message of the [Islamic] Revolution is global, and is not restricted to a specific place or time. It is a human message, and it will move forward.

"Have no doubt... Allah willing, Islam will conquer what? It will conquer all the mountain tops of the world."

Muslim 'Moderates' And Terrorism

"Why we will never be able to count on what we call 'the moderate Muslims' for the war against terrorism." I have personally encountered the reaction of which Fiamma Nirenstein speaks in this New York Sun article (thanks to waterdragon52) many times: Muslims condemn terrorism, but then make all kinds of excuses and exceptions so that it becomes clear that they don't mean to condemn Osama, Hamas, etc., at all. And that the All-Purpose Bogeyman is the one who is really behind today's terrorism. This is useful to keep in mind.

SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt - The poor people dressed in Islamic garb or in dirty blue trousers and T-shirts sitting in 118-degree heat in the hall of the Sharm el-Sheik Hospital were either the brothers, the cousins, or the friends of the people wounded in the terrorist attack of the day before. Just plenty of desperate young people....

You understand many things about terrorism when you speak to them; and you understand also, unfortunately, why we will never be able to count on what we call "the moderate Muslims" for the war against terrorism....

So, let's test this thesis and ask: "Do they hate terrorists?" The answer is "Yes, very much so," and they really do, - they close their fists and watch in rage and repeat to me that they deeply hope that Mr. Mubarak will catch them all, will put them in prison, will kill them. Are they ready to fight them? Yes, at every level, with their hands, if requested, and with demonstrations that actually, while I'm in Sharm, suddenly appear in the hot streets and just in front of the cameras of the international press: "Down with terrorism," "We are against terrorism"...

But then, if it's so, why can the great moderate Muslim world not really fight their own enemy? They themselves give me the answers: "Bin Laden? The Muslim Brotherhood? Certainly the terrorist attacks are not their work, no! This is a lie. A Muslim could never do this. And if they say they do it in the name of Islam, they are not Islamic; or, most likely, this shows, like the television says, that someone uses the name of Islam just to hide the real perpetrators."

Anyhow, Islam is out of the question, And then, we ask again, who is behind the attacks? Well, you know the answer, they smile with a smart expression. Mahmoud, who comes from a periphery of Cairo, where he now cannot go back because he doesn't have the money for a bus ticket, knows the answer, and so do all his other friends, about 10, all from the same town, now all together as one, standing in the corridor of the Hospital of Sharm, no air-conditioning, their friend Khaled in bed with a wound in his back ("I was lucky. Nadem had both of his legs amputated," Khaled says).

They know the answer, yes: the television said that only the Israelis and the Americans have a real interest in seeing Egypt on its knees; General Fuad Allam said that the perpetrators of the Taba attack of October 2004 were apparently linked to the Israeli security forces, and so, supposedly, it is today. Also Al-Jazeera and even Al-Arabia interviewed "experts" to confirm this point of view. A big, beautiful guy with a red T-shirt just puts it down bluntly: "We know only what the television tells us."

Jihad Watch's Spencer guest-hosting the Laurie Roth Show tonight

Tonight I will once again be sitting in for Laurie Roth as host of her nationally syndicated radio program. I'll be discussing the fatwa against terrorism issued yesterday by American Muslims, the ongoing situation in London, and much more.

I hope you will call in. You can listen at the Laurie Roth Show website, as well as on many stations around the country. I'll be hosting the show from 7PM to 10PM Pacific Time; that is, 10PM to 1AM EDT.

Give me a call tonight. The call in number is 1-800-837-9680.

Arrests in terror police swoops

More misunderstanders of Islam apprehended in London. From the BBC, with thanks to Jeffrey Imm:

Armed police investigating the 21 July attempted bombings have made a number of arrests and surrounded flats in west London in "significant" operations.

The area, around Dalgarno Gardens, North Kensington, has been cordoned off, and the area has been evacuated.

Eyewitnesses say they heard three shots and a large explosion as officers wearing gas masks entered a property.

Police are seeking three men in connection with the attempted bomb attacks in London.

Police are continually shouting at someone in the flat to come out. They are addressing him as "Muhammad".

The police are asking him: "What is the problem? Why can't you come out?

"Take your clothes off. Exit the building. Do you understand?"

Officers are telling other residents on the 350-property estate to "get inside now".

Scotland Yard say they are not aware of firearms having been used.

One eyewitness says a man dressed in a white forensic overall has been taken away in an unmarked police car.

Another has spoken of seeing three other people being taken away in a police van.

Live from Gaza: Terror Radio

No surprise here, except maybe to those who actually believed the soothing words spoken by Abu Mazen. "Live from Gaza: Terror Radio: Hamas using official station to instruct missile-launch crews," from WND, with thanks to Jeffrey Imm:

GANEI TAL, Gaza – Hamas has been using its official radio station in Gaza to broadcast instructions to terrorists in the field firing mortars and rockets at Gaza's Jewish communities, security sources told WND.

Hamas regularly fires mortars and Qassam rockets at Gush Katif, the slate of Gaza's Jewish communities scheduled for evacuation Aug. 17. The terror group launched more than 120 rockets and mortars the past two weeks, killing one woman and injuring more than eight. Yesterday, a Qassam rocket hit Neve Dekalim, a large southern Katif town.

Analysts expect the rocket attacks to increase as the evacuation date gets closer so that Hamas, popular in the Gaza Strip, can claim to its Palestinian supporters it drove Israel from the area.

According to security sources, Hamas the past few months has been using its official radio station, Voice of Al Aqsa, to relay instructions to terrorists firing rockets and mortars at Gush Katif from Gaza City. The station, which broadcasts in Arabic, is available to the general Gaza public at 106.7 FM.

Sources say Hamas operations coordinators in Gaza use the station to provide terrorists with directions such as the exact coordinates in and near Gaza City from which to launch the rockets and mortars and the trajectory to be used in firing the Qassam missiles.

Qassams, about four feet in length, lack a guidance system and are launched by terrorists using the rocket's trajectory and known travel distance to aim at a particular Jewish community.

"The radio station is not only broadcasting incitement, but, incredibly, broadcasting military instructions to carry out attacks against Israel," said a security source.

Terror in Jammu after violent killings

Kashmir jihad update from the IANS, with thanks to Fanabba. The "militants" in the story, as is obvious from the context, are Islamic mujahedin:

JAMMU: Unleashing a wave of terror in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district, militants axed to death a woman and slit the throats of five men after segregating Hindus and Muslims in the village.

Both the incidents in separate villages in Rajouri district, about 200 km north of Jammu, took place Thursday night.

In what is being seen as the first major killing of Hindus in the last two years, five men in the age group of 40-60 were brutally killed when militants allegedly barged into their homes in Deb village in Rajouri.

Though initial reports said the five were gunned down, it later came to light that their throats were slit after the militants segregated Hindu and Muslim populations.

Emerson: The American Islamic Leaders' "Fatwa" is Bogus

Over at the Counterterrorism blog, the indefatigable and courageous Steven Emerson exposes some of the terror ties of those who trumpeted yesterday's fatwa against terrorism:

This morning a group of American Islamic leaders held a press conference to announce a fatwa, or Islamic religious ruling, against “terrorism and extremism.” An organization called the Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA) issued the fatwa, and the Council on American - Islamic Relations (CAIR) organized the press conference, stating that several major U.S. Muslim groups endorsed the fatwa.

In fact, the fatwa is bogus. Nowhere does it condemn the Islamic extremism ideology that has spawned Islamic terrorism. It does not renounce nor even acknowledge the existence of an Islamic jihadist culture that has permeated mosques and young Muslims around the world. It does not renounce Jihad let alone admit that it has been used to justify Islamic terrorist acts. It does not condemn by name any Islamic group or leader. In short, it is a fake fatwa designed merely to deceive the American public into believing that these groups are moderate. In fact, officials of both organizations have been directly linked to and associated with Islamic terrorist groups and Islamic extremist organizations. One of them is an unindicted co-conspirator in a current terrorist case; another previous member was a financier to Al-Qaeda.

I spoke with Judea Pearl, father of murdered journalist Daniel Pearl who told me that the fatwa was “vacuous because it does not name the perpetrators of Islamic terrorist theologies and leaders of Islamic movements like Yousef Al Qaradawi, Osama Bin Laden, Ayman Al Zawahari, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, etc.” Pearl told me that these groups are “trying to perpetrate a deception on the American public.”

Officials of both groups have been linked to various terrorist organizations:

The Chairman of the Fiqh Council, Taha Jaber Al-Alwani, is an unindicted co-conspirator in the case against Sami al-Arian, the alleged North American leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, whose trial began in June 2005 in Tampa, Florida. Mr. Alwani has been named in court documents as an official of several entities in northern Virginia suspected of being connected to terrorist financing. Documents released in the Al Arian trial show that Alwani funded the Islamic Jihad front groups in Tampa.

Another past trustee of the Fiqh Council, Abdurrahman Alamoudi, is serving a 23-year prison sentence for illegal financial dealings with Libya and immigration fraud, has admitted to his part in a plot to assassinate the Saudi Crown Prince, and has vocally announced his support for the terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah. Additionally Alamoudi was just named by Treasury as having been a financier for Al Qaeda.

In 1998, Fiqh Council member Sheikh Muhammad al-Hanooti, gave a speech calling for jihad against the United States and the United Kingdom, saying that “Allah will curse the Americans and British” and “Allah, the curse of Allah will become true on the infidel Jews and on the tyrannical Americans.” Additionally, Hanooti is strongly linked to Hamas, having served on the board of the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP). A 2002 INS memo extensively documented IAP’s support for HAMAS and noted that the “facts strongly suggest” that IAP is “part of HAMAS’ propaganda apparatus.”

On October 28, 2000, Muzammil Siddiqui, the President of FCNA, at a rally in Lafayette Park in Washington D.C., said, “America has to learn -- if you remain on the side of injustice, the wrath of God will come!"

In the past 4 years, several CAIR officials have been convicted of or charged with various terrorism-related offenses.

Read it all.

United American Committee urges forthright action against jihad terror

From a statement by the United American Committee:

...the organization is demanding that Washington awake to the issue of Islamic extremism in America. “We can not afford to allow terrorists to spread their ideology in prison, or anywhere in America.” says U.A.C. founder Jesse Petrilla responding to yesterday’s sentence of would be LAX bomber Ahmed Ressam to a maximum of 22 years in prison. “Terrorists should be punished with none other than capitol punishment.” says Petrilla. The United American Committee platform was sent to President Bush last week, one point states that the death penalty should be extended to those who commit or are in the process of committing terrorist attacks as defined in the patriot act. “A revolution has been sparked, we have to take action before it is too late.” says U.A.C. member Robert Sandoval.

The United American Committee platform is as follows:

1. Our goal is the unity of all Americans, against the threats of Islamic extremism which face our nation and a goal of ensuring a secure future of America. We will accomplish our goals set forth through the following actions: Educate our society on the natures of our enemies. Inform the American people on issues which must be resolved. Influence and encourage the actions of the President and Congress to accomplish our goals.

2. Our goal is that freedom for all religious faiths continues, insofar as they do not endanger the American people, or the existence of democracy.

3. Our goal is the education of the American people regarding the philosophies and activities of our enemies which are operating from within the United States borders. Therefore any terrorist activities found to be operating within our borders should be brought to the attention of the American people. The citizens must be informed at all times. Any threat to the American people and to American democracy shall be dealt with immediately.

Furthermore, it is the duty of every American to report to authorities any activities observed which may inflict harm upon the American people.

4. We encourage the judicial system of the United States to enact the following in regards to terrorist activities: Terrorist activities by those who wish to inflict injury of the common welfare of the United States and the American populace, who are captured while in the process of committing a terrorist attack as defined by the patriot act, shall not be allowed to continue spreading his/her ideology in any matter, but shall be dealt with by capitol punishment, regardless of creed or race. For their accomplices, no parole shall ever be granted to those who have plotted or assisted in the plot against the common welfare of America and the American people.

5. Those who reside in America who are aliens, whether documented or undocumented, and who are not citizens, who are from countries with governments which have known ties to Islamic extremism, shall not only be subject to American laws, but shall be subject to strict immigration laws. Current immigration laws must be enforced to the full, and must not be restricted. Any violation of these laws must be dealt with by immediate deportation.

Those coming from countries whose governments have known ties to Islamic extremism, wishing to gain entry to America shall be closely scrutinized, and access shall only be granted after a lengthy process of research and analysis of the individual case.

6. Our nation's security shall come first and foremost. The United American Committee is dedicated to protecting the American people, and allowing them to live safe and comfortable lives, without the threats of Islamic extremism and terrorist activities. We feel a key to accomplishing this is by maintaining a secure border. Our goal is an increase in border security along both our northern and southern borders, as well as an increase in funding to Coast Guard and Immigration agencies so that they may work efficiently and that the American people may live in safety.

7. We encourage laws to be implemented stating that no organization of any kind deemed to be promoting ideals which endanger the American populace shall receive funding by any foreign government or other foreign source. We encourage the United States government to closely scrutinize the funding of any organization from a foreign source.

8. Our goal is for America to cease dependency on imported oil from countries tied to Islamic extremism. We encourage the United States government to expand our importation of fuels from allied democratic nations, as well as to decrease exportation of American oil. The United American Committee also encourages automotive corporations to pursue alternative fuels in order to help decrease the funding of foreign regimes which have known ties to Islamic extremism.

9. The United American Committee believes education is a key to a bright future. We ask that the education system of America shall teach our youth the facts, and the true nature of our extremist enemies. Our educators shall not feel pressure to withhold vital information for fear of reprimand due to political correctness. Our youth are our nation's future. We must hold their education to the highest level of importance.

10. Our goal is to encourage Muslim Americans to embrace democratic ideals, and the American way of life. All citizens are equal and are entitled to the rights granted by the United States constitution. These rights may only be revoked when an individual, regardless of creed or race, commits an act against his/her fellow American or against the American populace, whether by action or intent. We encourage American Muslims to denounce the ideals of our extremist enemies, and to stand against our enemy's terrorist actions.

The myth of moderate Islam

The estimable Patrick Sookhdeo, who has done superlative work tracing the systematic denial of rights and persecution of Christians by Muslims in Pakistan, has written a superb piece underscoring what I have said many, many times: there are moderate Muslims, but Islam itself is not moderate: the teachings that the jihad terrorists use to justify their actions are embedded in the core of the religion. From The Spectator, with thanks to John Derbyshire:

The funeral of British suicide bomber Shehzad Tanweer was held in absentia in his family’s ancestral village, near Lahore, Pakistan. Thousands of people attended, as they did again the following day when a qul ceremony was held for Tanweer. During qul, the Koran is recited to speed the deceased’s journey to paradise, though in Tanweer’s case this was hardly necessary. Being a shahid (martyr), he is deemed to have gone straight to paradise. The 22-year-old from Leeds, whose bomb at Aldgate station killed seven people, was hailed by the crowd as ‘a hero of Islam’.

Some in Britain cannot conceive that a suicide bomber could be a hero of Islam. Since 7/7 many have made statements to attempt to explain what seems to them a contradiction in terms. Since the violence cannot be denied, their only course is to argue that the connection with Islam is invalid. The deputy assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Brian Paddick, said that ‘Islam and terrorists are two words that do not go together.’ His boss, the Commissioner Sir Ian Blair, asserted that there is nothing wrong with being a fundamentalist Muslim.

But surely we should give enough respect to those who voluntarily lay down their lives to accept what they themselves say about their motives. If they say they do it in the name of Islam, we must believe them. Is it not the height of illiberalism and arrogance to deny them the right to define themselves?

On 8 July the London-based Muslim Weekly unblushingly published a lengthy opinion article by Abid Ullah Jan entitled ‘Islam, Faith and Power’. The gist of the article is that Muslims should strive to gain political and military power over non-Muslims, that warfare is obligatory for all Muslims, and that the Islamic state, Islam and Sharia (Islamic law) should be established throughout the world. All is supported with quotations from the Koran. It concludes with a veiled threat to Britain. The bombings the previous day were a perfect illustration of what Jan was advocating, and the editor evidently felt no need to withdraw the article or to apologise for it. His newspaper is widely read and distributed across the UK.

By far the majority of Muslims today live their lives without recourse to violence, for the Koran is like a pick-and-mix selection. If you want peace, you can find peaceable verses. If you want war, you can find bellicose verses. You can find verses which permit only defensive jihad, or you can find verses to justify offensive jihad.

You can even find texts which specifically command terrorism, the classic one being Q8:59-60, which urges Muslims to prepare themselves to fight non-Muslims, ‘Against them make ready your strength to the utmost of your power, including steeds of war, to strike terror into (the hearts of) the enemies’ (A. Yusuf Ali’s translation). Pakistani Brigadier S.K. Malik’s book The Quranic Concept of War is widely used by the military of various Muslim countries. Malik explains Koranic teaching on strategy: ‘In war our main objective is the opponent’s heart or soul, our main weapon of offence against this objective is the strength of our own souls, and to launch such an attack, we have to keep terror away from our own hearts.... Terror struck into the hearts of the enemies is not only a means, it is the end itself. Once a condition of terror into the opponent’s heart is obtained, hardly anything is left to be achieved. It is the point where the means and the end meet and merge. Terror is not a means of imposing decision on the enemy; it is the decision we wish to impose on him.’

If you permit yourself a little judicious cutting, the range of choice in Koranic teaching is even wider. A verse one often hears quoted as part of the ‘Islam is peace’ litany allegedly runs along the lines: ‘If you kill one soul it is as if you have killed all mankind.’ But the full and unexpurgated version of Q5:32 states: ‘If anyone slew a person — unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land — it would be as if he slew the whole people.’ The very next verse lists a selection of savage punishments for those who fight the Muslims and create ‘mischief’ (or in some English translations ‘corruption’) in the land, punishments which include execution, crucifixion or amputation. What kind of ‘mischief in the land’ could merit such a reaction? Could it be interpreted as secularism, democracy and other non-Islamic values in a land? Could the ‘murder’ be the killing of Muslims in Iraq? Just as importantly, do the Muslims who keep quoting this verse realise what a deception they are imposing on their listeners?...

Read it all. Read it all. Read it all.

you jew

That was the subject line of a love note I received this evening from a Muslim who has clearly heeded the CAIR fatwa, and knows that the real Muslim is the one who loves peace:

remenber you evil zionist terrorist, not all of us are stupid, we know that muhammed came with the truth from the one true creator and you jewish racist are trying to make muslims and christians fight each other but you will not prevale because islam means peace and the real muslim is the one who loves peace.

I'll try to "remenber" that.

U.S. Muslim Fatwa Against Terrorism

Here is the text of today's fatwa, via CAIR (thanks to David Ouellette). It suffers from the same problem that I noted here and here: it condemns the taking of innocent lives and actions against civilians. It doesn't address statements by Muslims to the effect that civilians in various places are not innocent, and are not to be distinguished from combatants. In light of this, just to say that Islam forbids killing innocent civilians is not enough. They must specify, both for Muslims and non-Muslims, who they consider "innocent," and what they mean by "civilian." They haven't done so here.

U.S. MUSLIM RELIGIOUS COUNCIL ISSUES FATWA AGAINST TERRORISM

The Fiqh Council of North America wishes to reaffirm Islam's absolute condemnation of terrorism and religious extremism.

Islam strictly condemns religious extremism and the use of violence against innocent lives. There is no justification in Islam for extremism or terrorism. Targeting civilians’ life and property through suicide bombings or any other method of attack is haram – or forbidden - and those who commit these barbaric acts are criminals, not “martyrs.”

The Qur’an, Islam’s revealed text, states: "Whoever kills a person [unjustly]…it is as though he has killed all mankind. And whoever saves a life, it is as though he had saved all mankind." (Qur’an, 5:32)

Prophet Muhammad said there is no excuse for committing unjust acts: "Do not be people without minds of your own, saying that if others treat you well you will treat them well, and that if they do wrong you will do wrong to them. Instead, accustom yourselves to do good if people do good and not to do wrong (even) if they do evil." (Al-Tirmidhi)

God mandates moderation in faith and in all aspects of life when He states in the Qur’an: “We made you to be a community of the middle way, so that (with the example of your lives) you might bear witness to the truth before all mankind.” (Qur’an, 2:143)

In another verse, God explains our duties as human beings when he says: “Let there arise from among you a band of people who invite to righteousness, and enjoin good and forbid evil.” (Qur’an, 3:104)

Islam teaches us to act in a caring manner to all of God's creation. The Prophet Muhammad, who is described in the Qur’an as “a mercy to the worlds” said: “All creation is the family of God, and the person most beloved by God (is the one) who is kind and caring toward His family."

In the light of the teachings of the Qur’an and Sunnah we clearly and strongly state:

1. All acts of terrorism targeting civilians are haram (forbidden) in Islam.

2. It is haram for a Muslim to cooperate with any individual or group that is involved in any act of terrorism or violence.

3. It is the civic and religious duty of Muslims to cooperate with law enforcement authorities to protect the lives of all civilians.

We issue this fatwa following the guidance of our scripture, the Qur’an, and the teachings of our Prophet Muhammad – peace be upon him. We urge all people to resolve all conflicts in just and peaceful manners.

We pray for the defeat of extremism and terrorism. We pray for the safety and security of our country, the United States, and its people. We pray for the safety and security of all inhabitants of our planet. We pray that interfaith harmony and cooperation prevail both in the United States and all around the globe.

American Muslim anti-terror declaration

This is not the text of the fatwa that was issued today, but it is a "Declaration of Support and Action Against Terrorism" signed by numerous American Muslim leaders. I expect it is similar to the fatwa, although we shall see. From the Muslim American Society's site (thanks to David Ouellette), with my comments interspersed:

Declaration of Support and Action Against Terrorism

We, the undersigned, Imams and community leaders, are responding to the call made by the Muslim American Society to purge Islam, our community, and the issues we advocate from the stigma of terrorism.

As those who have firsthand experience as victims of terrorism and its repercussions (bigotry, Islamophobia, dehumanization) we are determined to lead our community out of anxiety and beyond condemnations. We will increase our efforts to immunize our community against extremism.

We reiterate that terrorist acts are utterly criminal, totally reprehensible, and absolutely un-Islamic. There can never be any excuse for the taking of innocent life, and terrorism has absolutely no sanction in Islam. Nor is there any justification whatsoever in our noble religion for such evil actions. Our message is unambiguous: the authors of terrorist attacks and bombings are criminals, and we should not accept their justifications, whether ideological, religious or political. Our position has been consistent; it is anchored on solid religious, moral, and civic grounds. The Qur’an clearly declares that killing an innocent person was tantamount to killing all mankind and likewise saving a single life was as if one had saved the life of all mankind. (The Qur’an, Al-Maidah 5:32) This is both a principle and a command.

Once again, this does not address the Islamic perspective that denies the existence of civilians as a category, or which declares that civilians in countries considered to be at war with Islam are not innocent.

We recognize we’ve got to work better at combating terrorism. We believe that a collaborate efforts on the part of our government, media, faith communities, and civic society can reduce the likelihood of terrorist acts.

We are faced with a complex and dangerous phenomenon and a deadly vicious cycle perpetuated by people who are both fanatic/misguided and desperate, and others who are simply bigot. We need a comprehensive multifaceted approach/strategy and coordinated efforts to break this cycle and proactively and effectively combat terrorism. We recognize that injustices like erosion of civil liberties, backing of corrupt and oppressive regimes in the Muslim world, complete reliance on security and intelligence, shallow public relations efforts, and inflammatory/inciting statements in the media, by some religious leaders, or even public officials play well into the hands of extremists. And this too must be rejected. However, we are committed to be more vocal and more active in our attempt to isolate terrorists and terrorism, deny them recruits, sympathy, and any religious or political legitimacy.

All within our society should be united against terrorism and work together. Therefore, we call upon our government to address genuine grievances being exploited by the terrorists, engage the American Muslim community and leadership and moderate Islamic groups abroad, and aggressively promote human rights and democracy in the Muslim world. The media, for its part, needs to be more aware and objective in its coverage of Islam and Muslims. Islam-bashing fuels hatred and plays into the hands of terrorists.

I don't know what they mean by "Islam-bashing," but I suspect they would consider any discussion of how the jihadists use the Qur'an and Sunnah to justify their actions would fall into that category. If that is so, how can they hope to achieve genuine reform?

As Islamic religious leaders, we are well-positioned to fulfill the role of a goodwill bridge between our country and the greater Muslim world.

We are determined to solidify the prevailing moderate and mainstream orientation of our community, and do whatever it takes to leave no chance for terrorists and their views to creep into our community, leaving no ambiguity when it comes to the Islamic position on terrorism.

They haven't done that yet.

We will intensify the personal development of our youth and inculcate in them the proper understanding of Islam, help them develop a genuine American Muslim identity and aid them in fulfilling their potential, keeping them from falling into the grasp of extremism and moral vice.

We are determined to partner with people of faith and conscious in order to confront the problems that may possibly be alienating our youth, driving them towards a path of anger and desperation.

We will continue our efforts and collaborate with others to work towards a just and lasting peace in the world’s areas of conflict, and address the grievances that seem to nurture violence. We will vindicate the Islamic concepts that are abused by terrorists, and channel the frustration from domestic and foreign policies into active participation in national debates.

OK. Show us, please.

We will step up our outreach efforts in order to speed up the integration of our community, demystify Islam and Muslims, and deny the terrorists the opportunity to hijack our religion or speak on behalf of the one and a half billion Muslims worldwide.

Finally, we reiterate our belief that nations and groups should maintain relationships on the basis of universal brotherhood, fairness, respect and mutual understanding, and that individuals should pursue their interests through civic engagement.

We call upon our community not to be beaten into retreat from its mission by current events. We must not remain withdrawn. We no longer have the luxury of simply complaining, even justifiably, that we are mistreated. Our mission is to preach the message of Islam courteously and wisely, to advocate justice, and enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong, through engagement with society. Our central goal should be to put our grand values and principles into action and make a contribution, making a lasting impact on this nation and the World.

Their mission is to preach the message of Islam. I wish them well in their efforts to eradicate terrorism from Islam, but I wonder how much attachment to Sharia is contained in that message they wish to preach.

American Muslim Scholars: Terror Violates Islam

Nearly four years after 9/11, during which time jihadists have carried out 2,647 terrorist attacks, American Muslim scholars have gotten around to condemning terrorism. It is unclear from this report whether in their fatwa they make the necessary distinctions: do they stipulate that American and British civilians are indeed "innocent civilians" and thus not to be murdered, or do they leave unanswered the jihadist assertion that they aren't innocent civilians at all, but kafir harbi, unbelievers at war with Islam, and thus fair game? Do they stipulate that the terror they are condemning is that which is committed around the world today by Muslims, not the terror that jihadists charge that America is committing? I will get hold of the full document as soon as I can.

Meanwhile, see the links below for evidence that the groups behind this fatwa may not be all that they seem to be.

From AP, with thanks to Sr. Soph:

American Muslim scholars who interpret religious law for their community issued an edict Thursday condemning terrorism against civilians in response to the wave of deadly attacks in Britain and other countries.

In the statement, called a fatwa, the 18-member Fiqh Council of North America wrote that people who commit terrorism in the name of Islam were "criminals, not `martyrs.'"

"There is no justification in Islam for extremism or terrorism," the scholars wrote. "Targeting civilians' life and property through suicide bombings or any other method of attack is haram - or forbidden."

Many Muslim leaders overseas have issued similar condemnations in recent weeks, but some have left an opening for violence to be used. British Muslim leaders who denounced the July 7 attacks in London said suicide bombings could still be justified against an occupying power.

The U.S. fatwa did not specifically address suicide bombings in a war, but the scholars barred Muslims from helping anyone "involved in any act of terrorism or violence." The council also declared that Muslims were obligated to help law enforcement officials protect civilians.

"It is the civic and religious duty of Muslims to cooperate with law enforcement authorities," according to the Fiqh Council. The term "fiqh" refers to Islamic legal issues and understanding the faith's religious law.

Islam has no central authority and the council serves an advisory role for American Muslims, who could number as high as 6 million. But some question whether the panel's statements would sway extremists.

Leaders of major American Muslim organizations have taken pains since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to condemn terrorism and deny any religious justification for it. They have intensified their efforts following the July 7 bombings in London and the botched attacks two weeks later. Other terrorist attacks have occurred in Egypt and Israel in recent weeks, along with continued bombings in Iraq.

The Muslim Public Affairs Council, an advocacy group based in Los Angeles, started the "National Anti-Terrorism Campaign" last year, urging Muslims to monitor their own communities, speak out more boldly against violence and work with law enforcement officials.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington-based civil rights organization, is running a TV ad and a petition-drive called "Not in the Name of Islam," which repudiates terrorism. In New York and other cities, mosque leaders have joined advisory committees created by the FBI to build relations between law enforcement and their local communities.

"We pray for the defeat of extremism and terrorism," the scholars wrote. "We pray for the safety and security of our country, the United States, and its people. We pray for the safety and security of all inhabitants of our planet."

Do you renounce any intention of imposing Sharia on the US now or in the future?

Key London bombs suspect arrested in Zambia

Just in from the TimesOnline:

A senior British al-Qaeda operative sought by authorities since the July 7 bombing attacks on London has been arrested in Zambia.

The Los Angeles Times reported today that Haroon Rashid Aswat, a 30-year-old of Indian descent who grew up in West Yorkshire, was arrested last week and is being held in Lusaka, where both British and US anti-terrorism investigators have travelled.

British officials confirmed the report, but would not immediately elaborate. A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "We are seeking consular access to a British national who is reported to be in custody in Zambia."

Aswat, whose associations with al-Qaeda date back ten years, is believed to have entered Briton about two weeks before July 7 on a ferry into Felixstowe, and to have flown out from Heathrow hours before the four suicide bombers killed 52 rush-hour commuters on three Tube trains and a bus....

New York: Muslim cleric gets 75 years for conspiring to fund Al-Qaeda and Hamas

Al-Moayad update. Evidently this is yet another Muslim cleric who has misunderstood Islam. I expect Ibrahim Hooper will be on the phone to him forthwith to explain to him the error of his ways. "Yemeni Cleric Receives 75-Year Sentence," from AP, with thanks to Sr. Soph:

NEW YORK (AP) -- A judge on Thursday sentenced a Yemeni cleric who bragged about his ties to Osama bin Laden to 75 years in prison, the maximum penalty in a case that was shaken when the star witness set himself on fire outside the White House.

"Your honor, what have I done?" Sheik Mohammed Ali Hassan al-Moayad said as he was led away to begin serving his sentence.

Hmmm. Maintaining the facade until the end, I see.

He was convicted on charges of conspiring to support al-Qaeda and Hamas, supporting the Palestinian group and attempting to support al-Qaeda.

Al-Moayad, 57, was secretly recorded promising to funnel more than $2 million to Hamas in a meeting with two FBI informants in a German hotel room. He was arrested by German police in January 2003 and extradited to the United States....

One of the informants, Mohamed Alanssi, set himself on fire outside the White House in November 2004 in what he later described as an attempt to get more money from the FBI, which paid him at least $100,000 for his work.

Alanssi nonetheless testified at al-Moayad's trial that the sheik had boasted of giving bin Laden $20 million in the years before the Sept. 11 attacks.

Bomb suspect 'berated shopkeeper for not being proper Muslim'

As I have noted many times, it is the jihadists who in the Islamic community wear the mantle of being true and pure Muslims. No self-professed moderates have yet successfully challenged that. From The Telegraph, with thanks to Skeetstreet:

The suspected terrorist accused of trying to bomb a tube train at Warren Street used to berate a Muslim shopkeeper for selling alcohol, it was claimed last night. Yasin Hussan Omar, 24, a Somalian national who arrived in Britain as a child, lived in a rented flat in New Southgate, north London.

One shopkeeper, Mohammed Hassan, claimed yesterday that Omar had accused him of not being a "proper Muslim".

"I never got the impression he had any money and he would complain about me selling alcohol, telling me I was not a good Muslim," Mr Hassan said.

Another shopkeeper, Ali Dursun, claimed Omar often railed about halal meat.

"He said Turkish people were not proper Muslims," Mr Dursan said....

Because of their relatively secular government.

Meanwhile, the family of Ibrahim - the first to report his name to police after his CCTV image was released - said yesterday that he had not visited their home in Harrow for many months.

However, Sarah Scott, a neighbour of Ibrahim's parents, claimed she had seen him in the area about two weeks ago.

Miss Scott, 23, said Ibrahim had tried to convert her to Islam and had told her 80 virgins would be waiting for him if he died loyal to Allah. "I have known him since I was about 11," she said. "He was here about two weeks ago. It would have been after the July 7 bombings. He was pretty calm but then he was always calm."

She said he had given her a pamphlet on Islam last year. "We were sitting down having a fag and he asked me if I was Catholic because I have Irish family," she said. "I said I didn't believe in anything and he said I should.

"He told me he was going to have all these virgins and he got to have them if he prayed to Allah. He gave me a book and told me to read it. He said it would change my views and any questions I should ask him. I didn't realise he was a terrorist."

A friend of Ibrahim, who would give him name only as Kawser, praised the actions of the suicide bombers. Speaking yesterday outside the flat Ibrahim and Omar shared in New Southgate, he said: "As a Muslim I believe it's one of the most honorable ways to die, defending your beliefs.

"You shouldn't do it because people will think you are brave but for Allah.

"It depends on the situation, but if someone gave me a bomb and said, 'Go and do it', I would have to consider it. If I was in a situation, at a time of war, to go and blow up civilians, I don't think I would do it. But to go and attack the Houses of Parliament or Downing Street, they are military targets. I hope the bombers go to paradise after giving up their lives as martyrs."

Ibrahim's brother, Amir, briefly emerged from the family home yesterday wearing a scarf and hooded top to cover his face and tried to throw a dustbin at television cameras.

"I haven't seen him," he said. "He has not lived here since he was 18. My mum and dad are sick with the stress of all this."

Take it up with your brother, Amir.

9 More Methodists Arrested in Botched London Attacks -- Oh, Wait...

I'm sorry. They weren't Methodists at all. They were actually Muslims. I know it's hard to believe that Muslims could have anything to do with terrorism, but there it is. "9 More Arrested in Botched London Attacks," from AP, with thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist:

LONDON - Anti-terrorist officers arrested nine men in raids early Thursday in connection with the botched July 21 attacks on London's transit system, bringing to 20 the number of people police have in custody, including one of the alleged bombers.

Scotland Yard police headquarters said the nine were arrested under the Terrorism Act at two properties in the neighborhood of Tooting, in south London.

The arrests follow a significant breakthrough on Wednesday, when authorities in the central England city of Birmingham arrested one of the four men suspected of carrying out the failed attacks — Yasin Hassan Omar, 24. He was being held at a top-security police station in London.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair, meanwhile, warned Thursday that the terrorists behind the bombings — or even other terrorist cells — could strike again.

"The second attacks on July 21 should not be taken as some indication as a weakening of the capability or the resolve of those responsible," said Blair. "These weren't the amateurs. ... They only made one mistake and we are very, very lucky," he added, referring to the fact the July 21 bombs only partially detonated.

"The carnage that would have occurred had those bombs gone off would have at least been equivalent of those on July 7 and therefore it is absolutely imperative that we find those responsible," he added.

Peter Clarke, the head of London's police anti-terrorist unit, called Omar's arrest "an important development in the investigation." But he warned that the three remaining bombers still on the run presented a danger....

A second July 21 suspect has been named as Muktar Said Ibrahim, 27, also known as Muktar Mohammed Said. He came to Britain in 1990 from Eritrea, his family said. He was granted residency in 1992 and British citizenship in September 2004, the Home Office said. Said was part of a gang that carried out a series of muggings in the mid-1990s but qualified for early release in 1998, the British news agency Press Association reported. When he left prison, Said had a beard, had adopted Islamic dress and was very devout, Press Association said.

Police are also looking into whether Said attended the Finsbury Park or Brixton mosques in London, once considered magnets for radical Islamic clerics, and whether he met shoe-bomber Richard Reid, who is serving a life sentence in a U.S. prison after a failed attempt in 2001 to blow up an airplane, the news agency said.

Spencer: Nuke Mecca? Nope.

I discuss an unexamined side of the Tancredo controversy in FrontPage: his suggestion wouldn't work. Have at it.

Why not bomb Mecca? Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO) has brought the issue to the table. The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) has demanded that he apologize to Muslims, and commentators left and right have subjected him to vociferous criticism. At the same time, however, he seems to have tapped into the frustration that many Americans feel about official Washington’s politically correct insistence, in the face of ever-mounting evidence to the contrary, that Islam is a religion of peace that has been hijacked by a tiny minority of extremists.

Although Tancredo’s presidential hopes and possibly even his seat in Congress may go up in the mushroom cloud created by the furor over his remarks, the idea of destroying Islamic holy sites in response to a devastating terror attack on American soil is not going to go away – particularly as long as elected officials rush after every Islamic terror attack to repeat the well-worn mantras about how they know that the overwhelming majority of Muslims abhor violence and reject extremism, and are our faithful and reliable allies against terrorism in all its forms.

However, although the resentment Tancredo has tapped is real and has legitimate causes, his suggestion that “among the many things we might do to prevent such an attack on America would be to lay out there as a possibility the destruction” of Islamic holy sites is still wrong — but not generally for the reasons that most analysts have advanced.

Primarily, of course, it contravenes Western principles of justice which, if discarded willy-nilly, would remove a key reason why we fight at all: to preserve Western ideas of justice and human rights that are denied by the Islamic Sharia law so beloved of jihad terrorists. But even aside from moral questions, which are increasingly thorny in this post-Hiroshima, post-Dresden world, there are practical reasons to reject what Tancredo has suggested.

Tancredo’s idea, of course, is based on the old Cold War principle of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD). Both sides threatened each other with nuclear annihilation, and the threats canceled each other out. The Soviets would no more risk Moscow being wiped out than we would Washington.

But applying this principle to present-day Islamic jihad is not so easy. The Soviets did not inculcate into their cadres the idea enunciated by Maulana Inyadullah of al-Qaeda shortly after 9/11: “The Americans love Pepsi-Cola, we love death.” This lust for death runs through the rhetoric of today’s jihadists, and goes all the way back in Islamic history to the Qur’an, in which Allah instructs Muhammad: “Say (O Muhammad): O ye who are Jews! If ye claim that ye are favoured of Allah apart from (all) mankind, then long for death if ye are truthful” (62:6). Will men who love death, who glorify suicide bombing and praise God for beheadings and massacres, fear the destruction of holy sites? It seems unlikely in the extreme — and that fact nullifies all the value this threat may have had as a deterrent. Nuke Mecca? Why bother? It wouldn’t work.

Others have argued, however, that the deterrent value of destroying Islamic holy sites would lie not in giving jihad terrorists pause, but in showing Islam itself to be false and thus removing the primary motivation of today’s jihad terrorists. If Allah is all-powerful and rewards those who believe in him while hating and punishing the disbelievers (the “vilest of creatures,” according to Qur’an 98:6), wouldn’t he protect his holy sites from these disbelievers?

However, Muslims have weathered such shocks to their system in the past. In 1924, the secular government of Turkey abolished the caliphate; the caliph was considered the successor of the Prophet Muhammad as the religious and political leader of the Islamic community. By abolishing the office, Turkish leader Kemal Ataturk hoped to strike at the heart of political Islam and create a context in which Islam could develop something akin to the Western idea of the separation of religion and state. Instead, his act provided the impetus for the establishment of the Muslim Brotherhood, the first modern Islamic terrorist organization, in Egypt in 1928. The Brotherhood and its offshoots (which include Hamas and Al-Qaeda), and indeed virtually all jihadist groups in the world today, date the misery of the Islamic world to the abolition of the caliphate. The ultimate goal of such groups is the restoration of this office, the reunification of the Islamic world under the caliph, and the establishment of the Sharia as the sole law in Muslim countries. Then the caliph would presumably take up one of his principal duties as stipulated by Islamic law: to wage offensive jihad against non-Muslim states in order to extend Sharia rule to them also.

The abolition of the caliphate, then, accomplished precisely the opposite of what Ataturk hoped it would: it gave the adherents of political Islam a cause around which to rally, recruit, and mobilize. In essence, it gave birth to the crisis that engulfs the world today. It is likely that a destruction of the Ka’aba or the Al-Aqsa Mosque would have the same effect: it would become source of spirit, not of dispirit. The jihadists would have yet another injury to add to their litany of grievances, which up to now have so effectively confused American leftists into thinking that the West is at fault in this present conflict. But the grievances always shift; the only constant is the jihad imperative. Let us not give that imperative even greater energy in the modern world by supplying such pretexts needlessly.

The war on terror is over!

Some time ago I suggested in an article that the phrase "war on terror" be discarded in favor of a more forthright acknowledgement that we are defending ourselves against a global jihad. And the good news today is that the Administration has, after over a year, heeded my advice and discarded the "war on terror" label. The bad news, however, is that we are no farther than we were before from being honest about what we are really up against. Who can defeat an enemy he is afraid to name? But in any case, we are now fighting "a global struggle against violent extremism."

Extreme what? Extreme love for broccoli? Extreme involvement in fantasy baseball leagues? Oh -- violent extremism. So only if you beat your neighbor over the head and take his broccoli, or broke a chair over the head of a member of your fantasy league after he convinced you to trade Roger Clemens for Joe Shlabotnik would you become a focus of Washington's campaign. This new jihad ("struggle") against "violent extremism" is even more poorly focused than the war on terror -- and will continue to leave us vulnerable to being blindsided by attacks from quarters that we are not willing to admit to ourselves are possible centers of the war against us. At very least, it is better because it does allow for a less exclusive focus on military solutions. But that is not much.

"Washington recasts terror war as 'struggle'," from the New York Times via the IHT, with thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist:

WASHINGTON The Bush administration is retooling its slogan for the fight against Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups, pushing the idea that the long-term struggle is as much an ideological battle as a military mission, according to senior administration and military officials.

In recent speeches and news conferences, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the country's top military officer have spoken of "a global struggle against violent extremism" rather than "the global war on terror," which had been the catchphrase of choice.

Administration officials say the earlier phrase may have outlived its usefulness, because it focused attention solely, and incorrectly, on the military campaign.

General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the National Press Club on Monday that he had "objected to the use of the term 'war on terrorism' before, because if you call it a war, then you think of people in uniform as being the solution."

He said the threat instead should be defined as violent extremism, with the recognition that "terror is the method they use."

I have been saying for years that terror is a tactic, not an enemy. It is nice of him to acknowledge that I have been right all along. Now, General, here's your next lesson: define "violent extremism." Specify exactly what these people are being extreme about. Then we may start getting somewhere regarding these necessary non-military measures.

Oh, and by the way: I'm declaring my own "struggle" against "unrestrained enthusiasm."

Would-Be Millennium Bomber Gets 22 Years

Just in from AP:

SEATTLE - The man convicted of plotting to blow up the Los Angeles airport on the eve of the millennium was sentenced Wednesday to 22 years in prison. Ahmed Ressam got a lighter sentence than prosecutors had requested, reflecting his cooperation in telling international investigators about the workings of terror camps in Afghanistan.

But Ressam, 38, could have received a shorter sentence had he not stopped talking to investigators in early 2003. Prosecutors argued that his recalcitrance has jeopardized cases against two of his co-conspirators....

"You can't be a cooperator and a terrorist," Hamilton said. "When he stopped cooperating, he went back to being what he was."

Poll: Most Palestinians credit terror for Israeli withdrawal

The more that jihadists (and all Muslims) think that terror works, the more terror we will see. From The World Tribune, with thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist:

RAMALLAH — Most Palestinians think the Islamic insurgency forced Israel's decision to unilaterally withdraw from the Gaza Strip, according to a new poll.

The survey reported that a majority of Palestinians credit strikes by Hamas and Islamic Jihad for the decision by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank and evict their 10,000 Jewish residents. The poll also found, however, that only 40 percent of those surveyed want the attacks to continue.

The study was conducted by the Center for Opinion Polls and Survey Studies, based in An Najah University in Nablus.

Forty percent of respondents agreed that "pressure caused by Palestinian resistance" led to the Israeli withdrawal decision. Another 34 percent said Israel regarded its presence in the Gaza Strip as a "security and economic inexpediency."

Twenty-two percent of respondents did not cite the Palestinian war as a reason for the Israeli withdrawal. Instead, they said the pullout decision stemmed from international pressure on Israel.

Raid Targets Islamic Charity in Falls Church

More Virginia jihad? From the Washington Post, with thanks to all who sent this in:

FBI and Homeland Security agents raided the Northern Virginia office of a Saudi-based charity that has been under scrutiny for possible terrorist ties and detained one of its employees on immigration charges, officials said yesterday.

The Muslim World League office in Falls Church had also been searched in 2002 in a dramatic series of raids of Muslim organizations in Northern Virginia. The charity has not been charged.

Abdullah Alnoshan, 44, a Saudi citizen who worked at the charity, was arrested at 6 a.m. Friday at his house in Alexandria, according to officials of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, part of the Department of Homeland Security.

Agents working through a joint terrorism task force searched his home and then his office at 360 S. Washington St. in Falls Church, officials said. They removed computers, photographs and immigration documents, said Allan Doody, special agent in charge of the ICE office.

Alnoshan was charged with immigration fraud. According to an affidavit in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Alnoshan had been sponsored by the Muslim World League for a work visa to do public relations and religious work. Instead, he served as director of the charity, the document said....

U.S. agencies have been investigating the Muslim World League for years because of suspicions that it knowingly or unknowingly provided funds to Osama bin Laden. A senior Treasury Department official, Stuart Levey, told a Senate hearing on terror financing this month that the Muslim World League and a few other Saudi charities "continue to cause us concern."

The Muslim World League has strongly denied providing any support to terrorism.

U.S. ties smuggler to terror camp trip

"U.S. ties smuggler to terror camp trip: Yemeni-American gets 3 years for role in cigarette smuggling ring," from AP, with thanks to Jeffrey Imm:

BUFFALO, New York (AP) -- A Yemeni-American businessman accused of helping pay for a group of men to travel to a terrorist training camp was sentenced Tuesday to more than three years in prison for his role in a cigarette smuggling operation.

Aref Ahmed was convicted in March 2004 on charges of money laundering and trafficking in contraband cigarettes.

Federal prosecutors say that Ahmed gave $14,000 to five members of the so-called Lackawanna Six and had tried to get his money back after learning some of the men left the al-Qaida camp without completing their training. Lackawanna is the upstate New York town where Ahmed and the six men lived.

Ahmed has not been charged in the Lackawanna case. The issue was raised as part of the government's request to deny Ahmed bail.

Ahmed's attorneys have denied the allegations.

The Lackawanna Six -- Sahim Alwan, Faysal Galab, Mukhtar al-Bakri, Yasein Taher, Yahya Goba and Shafal Mosed -- are serving sentences ranging from seven to 10 years after pleading guilty in 2003 to providing support to a terrorist organization.

Some in the group have said they received money from Ahmed, which they used to travel to the camp in Afghanistan in the spring of 2001, Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Bruce said Tuesday.

British Arrest Failed Bombings Suspects

One was apparently ready to continue the jihad, and was subdued with a stun gun. From AP, with thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist:

BIRMINGHAM, England - Police pursuing suspects in the failed July 21 terror bombings in London raided four homes across Britain on Wednesday and detained four people, including one subdued with a stun gun. Media reports said he was a Somali sought as one of the fugitive bombers.

The man was arrested when officers stormed a home in Birmingham before dawn. Members of the bomb squad, some dressed in armored suits, were seen entering the home after police evacuated 100 nearby residences in a quiet, ethnically mixed neighborhood of Britain's second-largest city.

Three more men were arrested in a pre-dawn raid at another home about two miles away in this city 120 miles northwest of London. The raids were carried out by 50 officers from London's Metropolitan Police Anti-Terrorist Branch and West Midlands Police. No shots were fired....

Authorities would not confirm BBC and Sky News reports that the Tasered man was Yasin Hassan Omar, a 24-year-old Somali suspected of trying to blow up a subway train near Warren Street station.

At least one witness said the man resembled Omar.

Jihadists groups operate "with impunity" in UK

"Birmingham and its links to militant Islam," from the Times Online, with thanks to Twostellas:

Khalid Mahmood, Labour MP for Perry Barr in Birmingham, has led calls in the House of Commons for tougher action against extremist groups and has demanded that Britain's Muslim population expose those on the radical fringes of the religion.

"The mainstream Muslims need to speak out," Mr Mahmood told the House of Commons on July 20, as he described the dangers of groups such as al-Muhajiroun, which has held conferences and boasts of extensive recruitment in Birmingham and the West Midlands.

And on July 18, the Sunni Council, the largest British Sunni Muslim group met in Birmingham to issue a fatwa, a ruling on a point of Islamic law, declaring the London suicide bombings "haraam" or strictly forbidden.

Explaining the fatwa, Grand Mufti Muhammad Gul Rehman Qadri said: "Anyone who commits suicide will be sent to Hell... It is the explicit saying of the Holy Prophet who ordered his followers to seek peace and harmony wherever they should live, not to cause death and destruction or to live counter to the laws of that host country."

This doesn't touch on Qaradawi's contention that such bombers are not suicides, but martyrs.

But over the last six years, radical Islamists from Birmingham's 150,000-strong Muslim community have been linked to a series of attacks in the Middle East.

In 1999, five men from Birmingham were arrested in Yemen in connection with the kidnapping of 16 tourists in the country. Four of the tourists were killed in a botched rescue attempt by the Yemeni army and Shahid Butt and Sarmad Ahmed, both from Birmingham, were sentenced to serve five years in prison in Aden.

Four years later, officers from Scotland Yard's anti-terrorism branch were given a list of men and organisations in Birmingham and the West Midlands by Israeli security forces after Omar Khan Sharif, a 27-year-old from Derby, killed himself in Israel after failing to detonate his bomb in a Tel Aviv bar.

Mr Sharif's accomplice, Asif Mohammed Hanif, from Hounslow, in West London, became Britain's first confirmed suicide bomber when he killed himself and three people the same night in Tel Aviv in April 2003. Both men were thought to have been funded by organisations in the West Midlands.

Birmingham hosts annual conferences every year from the broad and mixed world of Britain's Muslim community.

Along with mainstream groups, radical and fringe sects hold large meetings in Birmingham, including Hizb Ur-Tahrir and al-Muhajiroun, two groups condemned by President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan in a speech last week in which he said "there is a lot to be done in England" to combat Islamic extremism.

"There is Hizb Ur-Tahrir and al-Muhajiroun, who operate with full impunity in that area," said General Musharraf, referring to Britain as a whole. "They had the audacity of passing an edict against my life and yet they operate with impunity."

In 2003, a Hizb Ur-Tahrir conference entitled "British or Muslim?" attracted 10,000 people to Birmingham, prompting the Home Office to commission a study on the group and warn of the spread of fundamentalist doctrine in the region.

10,000 members of the tiny minority of extremists, that is.

Hizb Ur-Tahrir, which calls for a worldwide Islamic caliphate, has been banned from British university campuses by the National Union of Students after holding controversial recruitment sessions.

The fringe group, founded in Jerusalem in 1953, separated into factions in the early 1990's, when Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed, the leader of its London branch, broke away to form al-Muhajiroun, which espouses violent struggle in the name of Islam.

Al-Muhajiroun, which has boasted of recruiting British Muslims to fight in the Bosnian war and offering advice to others who seek a role in extremist Islam, was officially disbanded last year.

Danish ex-Guantanamo prisoner drops suit against US -- will he now rejoin the jihad?

Why not? What was done at Guantanamo to disabuse him of the jihad ideology? Nothing. "Danish Guantanamo prisoner drops case," from the Copenhagen Post, with thanks to Fjordman and ZZ:

Slimane Hadj Abderrahmane, the Danish citizen arrested by US forces in Pakistan and detained on Guantanamo as an 'unlawful combatant', has decided to give up his lawsuit against the United States government, reports national broadcaster DR.

Abderrahmane's lawyer, Tyge Trier, announced the decision in a message to Ritzau news agency on Monday.

Trier, however, did not give any reason why his client was dropping his case.

The statement did maintain that the imprisonment and the situation on Guantanamo were violations of international law.

'Slimane and I found that both the way he was treated and the actual judicial construction that placed the prisoners in a legal vacuum outside of the protection of the conventions violated international laws,' wrote Trier in a short statement....

Abderrahmane is the man who declared last fall that he was going to go to Chechnya to rejoin the jihad. Will he go now?

Indonesian Islamic authority mulls edicts against 'liberal thoughts'

At the risk of sounding like a talking parrot, I must repeat something I said in Islam Unveiled and many times since then: Islamic reformers will always face an uphill battle, because jihadists will use the Qur'an and Sunnah against them, and charge them with straying from Islamic authenticity.

From ChannelNewsAsia.com, with thanks to Twostellas:

JAKARTA: The highest Islamic authority in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-populated nation, is mulling edicts to fight "liberal Islamic thought", a senior Muslim cleric said.

Ma'aruf Amin, head of the edict committee of the Indonesian Ulema Council, said the move was being considered as a means to fight deviance and secularism in the country, most of which adheres to a moderate strain of the religion....

The Council is officially the highest authority on Islamic matters in Indonesia but its edicts have not always been closely followed by all Muslims, who make up 88 percent of the population of officially-secular Indonesia....

Al-Arian moderated discussion that showed terror as "path to liberation"

Sami caught red-handed again. Note also that unindicted deported co-conspirator Fawaz Damra was once known as a moderate Muslim leader. "Al-Arian linked to pro-terrorists," from AP, with thanks to Skeetstreet:

TAMPA - (AP) -- Jurors in the terrorism conspiracy trial of Sami Al-Arian were shown a video Tuesday in which the former college professor moderated a symposium where participants spoke approvingly about the killings of Israeli citizens and police in terror attacks.

The video is another piece of evidence prosecutors are using to try to convince jurors that Al-Arian and three other men standing trial in federal court are guilty of raising money in the United States and supporting the mission of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a terrorist group blamed for 100 deaths in the Middle East.

The video showed Al-Arian moderating a 1989 conference in Chicago sponsored by the Islamic Committee for Palestine.

Al-Arian founded the committee, and prosecutors say it was a front for support of the PIJ.

One of the panelists, asked by a young man for a practical solution to the smoldering conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, suggests they meet outside to discuss how to smuggle weapons.

One speaker, Fawaz Damra, imam of a Cleveland mosque who is an unindicted coconspirator in the Al-Arian case, said: ``The first principle is that terrorism, and terrorism alone, is the path to liberation.''...

The defendants contend they are being persecuted for their unpopular political beliefs.

Yes, I think the idea that "terrorism alone" is the "path to liberation" is a political belief that is deservedly unpopular -- in fact, not unpopular enough.

Fitzgerald: The New Iraqi Constitution

Jihad Watch Board Vice President Hugh Fitzgerald comments on the Sharia leanings of Iraq's new Constitution:

The Shari'a in Iraq will be akin to the American Constitution -- the final authority against which all laws will be measured. Great.

This was all perfectly predictable. It was completely expected, even if the Constitution is tinkered with to keep some people happy (Sunnis and the Allawi camp, who on this matter are to be supported), and to keep the Americans around a bit longer to do more fighting and dying, to train more of the "Iraqi army" (a/k/a the Shi'a militia in uniform), and especially to leave some of that military equipment that the Americans are just dumb enough to leave -- anything is possible with the kind of people now running, with such wrong-headed self-assurance, foreign policy. Condoleeza Rice may be unable to speak or understand simple Russian, as her performance on Russian television proved, but she has some sense of Communism. However, during her latest visit to Israel she praised Abbas for nothing and hectored the Israelis (also for nothing). She made clear that she hasn't the faintest idea about what the siege of Israel is all about, or the Islamic sources of that particular local Jihad, or how borders are irrelevant, and only "darura" -- the doctrine of necessity that may stay the Arab hand -- will prevent another war. The mavens of State are self-assured and yet at the same time not nearly self-assured enough -- not enough to recognize that their greatest intelligence failure was about Islam itself: its contents, its instruments of Jihad, it