Posted on 04/18/2004 9:09:36 AM PDT by NCjim
Various groups sympathetic to al-Qaeda are preparing large-scale attacks against London, the leader of an Islamic group suspected of having ties to the extremist network said in remarks published in Portugal.
Sheik Omar Bakri Mohammed, the head of the London-based group al-Muhajiroun, added in an interview with the Portuguese daily Publico on Sunday that last month's deadly Madrid train bombings were carried out by a group of independent actors who back Osama bin Laden's organisation.
"There are many youths who dream of joining al-Qaeda, but worse than that, there are many 'freelancers' who are willing to launch operations similar to those by al-Qaeda," he said. "The attack in Madrid was carried out by one of those groups."
"Here in London there is a very well-organised group, which calls itself al-Qaeda-Europe," he added. "I know they are on the verge of launching a big operation."
Sheik Bakri Mohammed, who is suspected of having links with Abu Qatada, an alleged al-Qaeda leader in Europe, said it was "inevitable" that London would be hit by a large attack "because they are being prepared by various groups".
Police in Britain have arrested several terrorist suspects since the discovery of the deadly poison ricin in a north London apartment in January.
Spanish authorities meanwhile have blamed al-Qaeda, the Islamic extremist group headed by Osama bin Laden, for the March 11 commuter train bombings which killed 191 people and injured about 1900.
Why we/they don't just deport these known terrorists is beyond my comprehension.
I also wonder why they're not just shot on sight but that's just me I guess. How a civilized world can sit on their hands as these 7th century nuts call and work for its destruction is incomprehensible. Arrrgh!
In a word, fear. Fear of "creating millions of more bin Ladens" (a completely unfounded fear), fear of being politically incorrect, fear of losing elections, fear of not "winning the hearts and minds" of the Islamic world (barf), fear of the ACLU and CAIR (two terrorist orgs), ......fear of their own freaking shadows.
If the West doesn't completely vanquish these fears, the WOT will assuredly be lost.
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