Posted on 07/19/2005 2:09:51 PM PDT by F14 Pilot
Imams from about 500 British mosques have issued a fatwa condemning violence, which they have presented to politicians at Westminster, as ministers cast around for new laws to help stop a repeat of attacks on London.
The fatwa will be read out at mosques during prayers this Friday.
Officials say the government is looking to target extremists, particularly Islamic clerics, who glorify or encourage terrorist acts.
Such figures could be banned from entering Britain or deported if they are already in the country.
Prime Minister Tony Blair will meet British Muslim community leaders today to find ways of tackling the root causes of terrorism and preventing the message of extremists resonating.
"We all have to recognise where this perversion of Islam comes from,'' Blair's spokesman said. "We all have to stand together and deal with it. That includes the Muslim community.''
The government also wants to outlaw "acts preparatory to terrorism'', such as giving or receiving training for attacks.
Interior Minister Charles Clarke said he and his opposite numbers had agreed to publish legislation in October with a view to passing it into law by the year-end.
"We will cooperate with the government to ensure that the legislation . . . does the job it is set out to do and it is put on the Statute Book as quickly as possible,'' opposition Conservative home affairs spokesman David Davis told reporters.
Australia a 'bigger target'
Terrorists had Australia firmly in their sights long before 2003, but involvement in the Iraq conflict made it a much bigger target, Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd has said.
Mr Rudd said that assessment had been reinforced by a Royal Institute of International Affairs report released in Britain which said the invasion of Iraq and ongoing occupation by allied troops had been a boon for al-Qaeda.
Al-Qaeda is suspected of being behind the July 7 London bombings, in which claimed 56 people died - including Melbourne man Sam Ly - and more than 700 were injured.
"Prior to the Iraq war there were factors which of course made Australia a terrorist target, that we were first and foremost a perceived western and Christian country, second that we had participated in the invasion of Afghanistan,'' Mr Rudd told ABC radio.
"But the third factor which turbocharged Australia as being a terrorist target by al-Qaeda and the al-Qaeda network has been our invasion of Iraq and participation in the coalition of the willing military operation.''
Al-Qaeda is suspected of being behind the July 7 London bombings, in which claimed 56 people died - including Melbourne man Sam Ly - and injured more than 700.
In Washington, Australian Prime Minister John Howard and US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld challenged any notion that a country could be made safer from terror by avoiding confrontation.
"No country can allow its foreign and defence policy to be malleable in the hands of terrorists," Mr Howard said.
'Pillion passenger'
The Blair government has angrily rejected the RIIA report, which says Britain created its own problems by playing "pillion passenger'' to Washington.
"The UK is at particular risk because it is the closest ally of the United States,'' said security experts Frank Gregory and Paul Wilkinson.
That provoked a strikingly robust rebuttal from Britain's foreign secretary, Jack Straw.
"The time for excuses for terrorism is over. The terrorists have struck across the world, in countries allied with the United States, backing the war in Iraq, and in countries which had nothing whatever to do with the war in Iraq,'' he said.
So what's the actual text of the edict say?
Present it to the freaking TERRORISTS, not the freaking CHOIR!!!!!
Oh we kill you oh terrorist! (not really, but we have to make this look good for the stupid english dhimmi's).
A pox on you!
One day I want to call one them Fatwa things. I think it's kind of like calling shotgun.
There is some forward movement. Now with the just announced Turkey attack in Ankara, there should even be more impetus to move ahead. Of course Italy, Holland, and a few other European capitals may get a boom any day now.
"Any Muslim who, through his violent behavior, causes the UK government to to give me or any other imam a hard time with our immigration status is a sinner. I don't care if you kill a thousand infidels, it is not worth it if it gets me sent back to Pakistan. Have you any idea how bad the water closets are there, for starters? Seriously guys, in the name of Allah the most merciful, etc., etc., give us a bloody break. Imam out."
And Canada!
That's good, the Casablanca quote. The sooner the mainstream [new word] Moslems come right out and say the Terrorists are not only not good Moslems, but not Moslems at all, the sooner this insanity can be brought to an end.
Interior Minister Charles Clarke said he and his opposite numbers had agreed to publish legislation in October with a view to passing it into law by the year-end.
"We will cooperate with the government to ensure that the legislation . . . does the job it is set out to do and it is put on the Statute Book as quickly as possible,'' opposition Conservative home affairs spokesman David Davis told reporters.
Time will tell if the British will actually pass and enforce this so called law!
Shame they didn't put out a fatwa calling for Muslims to KILL Muslim terrorists. Then we might actually get somewhere, rather than the situation now, where the only thing changed is that some people's fears that all Muslims are terrorist-sympathizers have been mollified.
English edict: We deplore and condemn all suicide bombers as acting against the tenets of Islam.
Arabic edict: Allah blesses all jihadi martyrs who spill the blood of the infidel.
As long as the very last mosque stands, the cutting edge of a knife is still pressed on our throats...
Sounds great, but 5 million jihadis' and 20 years to late!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.