British agents trace 7/7 terror links to smalltown America [Falls Church, VA]

Times Online [UK] ^ | June 20, 2006 | Daniel McGrory

[angkor]

By Daniel McGrory

No 10 rejects calls for inquiry into bombings as evidence emerges of extremists’ role in global terror network

BRITISH agents are operating in the United States to trace links with Islamic extremists from England who recruit Muslims to fight for terrorist groups abroad.

The British-led investigation has played a part in identifying a number of US-based terrorists and helped the authorities in Washington to break up an al-Qaeda cell operating in Falls Church, Virginia.

The agents are particularly keen to discover if the visitors included Mohammad Sidique Khan, leader of the July 7 suicide bombers, who is alleged to have travelled to America’s East Coast to meet fellow militants and stage a series of attacks on synagogues.

Khan was considered such a threat that he was banned from returning to America two years before the attack on London, according to a book written by a US intelligence specialist.

The disclosure, made by the award-winning author Ron Suskind in an extract from The One Percent Doctrine in The Times yesterday, led to calls for a full public inquiry into intelligence lapses before the attacks on July 7 which killed 52 people in London.

Intelligence sources in America insist that the man they were alerted to was Khan.

However, Tony Blair’s spokesman said the claims would not lead to any further investigation by the Intelligence and Security Committee, which last month cleared MI5 of serious errors, or any other form of inquiry. “The [Security and Intelligence] Committee’s conclusion is that there was not an intelligence failure,” he said.

The Conservatives have called for an independent inquiry into the July 7 bombings, while the Liberal Democrats and victims’ relatives want a full public inquiry.

Neither the FBI nor police would comment on the investigations into Khan’s alleged visits to the US in 2002, but, in Falls Church yesterday, residents blamed “foreign agitators” for encouraging young men from the city’s Muslim community to join extremist groups linked to al-Qaeda.

In the Falls Plaza shopping mall, most preferred to chat about their historic city’s latest civic award for its floral displays and not its reputation as the jihad capital of America.

Over the past few months, 11 men who regularly attended the same Islamic Centre in Falls Church have been convicted of terrorism charges. Seven reportedly went to training camps in Pakistan, including one used by Khan.

Their trials exposed a network stretching from this placid commuter belt serving the US capital ten miles away, passing through British cities and on to jihadi camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

A twelfth man from this city of barely 11,000 residents, Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, was jailed for 30 years in March for plotting to assassinate President Bush and being a member of al-Qaeda. FBI investigators claim in The One Percent Doctrine that Abu Ali, 24, was in regular e-mail contact with Khan.

The latest trial of the “Virginia 11” led to a junior school teacher, Ali Asad Chandia, being convicted on June 6 for giving aid to the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group, which is banned in both the US and Britain. A number of Scotland Yard officers and British intelligence agents gave evidence.

Like Khan, who worked as a teaching assistant in Leeds, Chandia, 29, was popular with parents and pupils, and his family deny he had any links with British extremists or trained at a camp in Pakistan.

Prosecutors described how Chandia had worked as a chauffeur for a London-based terrorism organiser, Mohammed Ajmal Khan, who was jailed for nine years in March in Britain after admitting shipping weapons to Pakistan.

Chandia was also described as the personal assistant to a charismatic young preacher in Falls Church, Ali al-Tamimi — a US-born biology graduate — who in January was sentenced to life plus 70 years, without parole, for encouraging his followers to go to Afghanistan to fight US-led coalition troops.

The National Security Agency is accused of bugging mosques and private homes where al-Tamimi preached, including the Dar al-Hijrah centre on the edge of Falls Church. This glass-fronted mosque acquired its notoriety in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks when it was discovered that the imam, Sheikh Anwar al-Awlaki, was the spiritual mentor to two of the hijackers.

The imam was never charged but moved to Yemen. His successor, Joharri Abdul Malik, says: “The community is disturbed by what previously happened here,” but believes many of the “Virginia 11” were jailed for “having big mouths”.

“They made inappropriate and irreponsible comments,” the imam said. “Some did go to training camps but none fired a shot in anger, and once they were in places like Pakistan and Afghanistan and saw what it was really like, they soon had a change of heart and came home. They are guilty of thought crimes.”

Imam Joharri is angered that the FBI did not approach community leaders to discuss concerns that extremists from Britain and elsewhere were trying to recruit youngsters from the area. “If the authorities knew this was going on, why weren’t we warned?” he asked.

He described how Ali al-Tamimi, frustrated at his failure to take control of the mosque, led a breakaway group of his followers to a trading estate on the opposite end of the city to set up the Dar alArqam Centre for Islamic Information. The building included the offices of two charities outlawed by the US as fronts for terrorism organisations.

After al-Tamimi’s conviction, what was left of his group abandoned the Dar al-Arqam centre, which no longer has any links with fundamentalist groups. FBI sources say they are unsure what has happened to some of his followers.

THE PROPOSALS

Among the measures suggested by the task force which have yet to be taken up:

# A public inquiry into 7/7 bombings # Rapid rebuttal unit to combat Islamophobia # National resource unit for development of curricula in mosques and madrassas, and guidelines for teachers # Programmes to “upskill” current imams # Muslim “beacon centres” to help small mosques and cultural centres # Set up and fund network of Muslim safety forums to promote meaningful partnership between community and police # Ministerial review of raids, stop and search and armed police activity # Correct the “alien” image of Islam in the national curriculum

[Dixie Yooper]

"C-4 solves a lot of problems"

Falls Plaza is right across the street (Rt-29) from the historic Falls Church, an Episcopal Church that has been there since the mid 1700's. George Washington was once a member there and served on the Church board. I know, everyone in that area makes claims like that, but this is the real deal. It's a beautiful old church that needs to remain. You can take your C-4 east on Rt-7 about 1-1/2 miles to the mosque at 7 Corners. There's nothing historic in that area. Any Friday around noon would be a good time.

[leda]

my guess is west of skyline.

the article cites jeb stuart high school.
that school is between seven corners and
baileys crossroads. it's near the large
mosque right on rte 7.

[leda]

yep, it is the real deal. that same church was used
later as stables for union soldiers. it is located
just off rte 29 (lee highway). falls plaza is a bit
west and right on rte 7 (broad street here in falls
church). the city of falls church, established in
1699, is very historic.

[arasina]

The War on Terror: fighting it over there so we don't have to fight it here. Ya think maybe we should be fighting it 'over here' just a bit more? Perhaps building another Appeasement Mosque will take care of it.

[Dixie Yooper]

I moved to the Falls Church zip code area back in 1985 when the City of Falls Church has Volvo police cars which were purchased from Don Byer (former Lt Governor) Volvo. I stayed there for 15 years before moving to Annandale for another 5. It was a great area to live in while I was single. After the sniper, the entire area lost it's charm to me.

[Dixie Yooper]

"Perhaps building another Appeasement Mosque will take care of it"

In a country where we burn each other's churches. Go figure?

[patton]

yep

[leda]

ahhh the volvo cops! :)

born right here and despite our moves and changes
that continue here in the name of progress we still
call this place home.

9/11, anthrax, snipers... it's still home to us :)

[Velveeta]

ping

[xsmommy]

exactly. it is disingenuous to refer to Falls Church as SMALLTOWN anything, which connotes whitebread suburbia. Falls Church, city or the wider area, is an amalgam of every ethnicity under the sun.

[Dixie Yooper]

For the 20 years I lived in that area, most everyone called me a Yankee because I was from Michigan.
Now that I live in Raleigh, most everyone calls me a Yankee because I moved here from Virgina.

BTW, Go Hurricanes! They also blame us Yankees for bringing hockey the Hurricanes down here too.

[leda]

im not sure i agree. i dont see smalltown and whitebred
suburbia as the same thing at all. yes, the population
in this area, in general, is very diverse. i see small-
town as a description of how things are run in an area.
the city of falls church, not zipcode, is very smalltown
to me. this city has exactly 4 schools, one public library,
numerous storefronts lining the main streets, a small
central government (city hall) and loads of folks who
have lived here nearly their entire lives (like me).
on any given day i run into people who have "known
me since ... whenever" and all know my kids too.

to me, it's those ties and way of live that make it a
smalltown ... not race, religion, etc issues.

[leda]

hah! we spent a number of years in michigan too!
btw, michigan was originally part of virginia ;)

[SlowBoat407]

Thanks, V. I've forwarded this to a WashTimes correspondent I know who lives in FC.

[angkor]

"Falls Plaza is right across the street (Rt-29) from the historic Falls Church"

Hmmmm.... I believe Falls Plaza is a couple miles up Rt. 7 near where it intersects with I-66. The mall with the Giant grocery store.

[xsmommy]

i know falls church well, not as somone born there but as someone who goes to church there and has had kids in school there for the past 12 years. while it may have been a smalltown once upon a time, it really is not any longer. you may be continuing to see it as the place you grew up, but it has changed mightily and given what is going on there now, i don't think you can deny that. it doesn't even LOOK LIKE the place you grew up in.

[xsmommy]

yes, that is exactly where it is.

[leda]

yep! from the giant down to the staples is falls plaza.
right across the street from the volvo dealer, in fact :)

[patton]

The dead deer is still on the median of rte 7, right at the beltway

[angkor]

Using the map from #13 above:

The red star is Dar al Hijra.
Just to the lower right is Bailey's Crossroads (and Skyline, jihadi central)
That's about a 1 mile distance.
To the upper left of the red star is Seven Corners, again about a mile away.

Going further to the upper left where it says "Falls Church" is Rt. 29 and the Falls Church itself.
And going upper left yet again to the circled "7" is the location of Falls Plaza.

Ironically, the "paintball jihadis" did have their mosque almost across the street from the Falls Church.

But the real jihadi corridor is from Dar al Hijra down to Skyline.