Terror video used to lure UK Muslims

The Observer (U.K.) ^ | 01/27/2002 | Jason Burke

[Pokey78]

Mosque recruitment film shows bin Laden slayings

A gruesome video showing Islamic extremists murdering and mutilating 'infidels' is being circulated in Britain's mosques as part of a recruiting drive for Osama bin Laden's worldwide terror network.

The video, which was smuggled into the UK only days before the 11 September attacks, shows people having their throats cut and the wholesale slaughter of secular forces by a group linked to the world's most wanted terrorist.

It was produced by the Salafist Group for Preaching and War (GSPC), an extremist Algerian organisation backed by bin Laden and widely regarded as one of the most active and brutal in its country. GSPC sympathisers then circulated the film in London.

A second video shows graphic footage of Taliban soldiers decapitating Northern Alliance opposition troops following a gunfight in Afghanistan. A number of other videos showing blood-curdling scenes are being sold in Britain to raise funds for the Islamic 'cause'.

The revelations came as it emerged last night that five more Britons had been seized by American forces in Afghanistan and were due to be airlifted to the Camp X-Ray, the special prison set up at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba.

With three Britons already being held in Cuba, the arrests confirm fears in the intelligence community that Britain is a major recruiting centre for Muslim radicals prepared to fight for bin Laden.

An Observer investigation has established that some of the recruiting videos have been distributed among worshippers at the Finsbury Park mosque in north London. Our reporters last week bought a selection for £10 each. Security sources believe that extremist activists have been using the videos to recruit new volunteers.

Two British-born al-Qaeda suspects currently held by the Americans have attended sermons at Finsbury Park. Richard Reid went on to try to blow up a Miami-bound passenger jet and Feroz Abbasi, a student drop-out from Croydon, was captured by the Americans after fighting for the Taliban in Afghanistan. His mother claimed he had been 'indoctrinated' at the mosque.

The film shows a series of operations by the GSPC in Algeria around 18 months ago. There is graphic footage of the deaths of more than 20 young conscripts in an ambush. After the soldiers' trucks hit mines laid in a road, the extremists are seen slitting throats and shooting survivors. Pictures of government troops, some with their skulls shot away and their brains exposed, are then shown, followed by images of the Islamists congratulating each other and offering prayers of thanks.

The commentary calls for 'holy war until judgment day', and tells viewers to 'kill in the name of Allah until you are killed. Then you will win your place forever in paradise... the war against the Jews and the Christians is being won.'

Algerian security service investigators called the video 'an appalling pornographic catalogue of violence' and said they hoped that those responsible for its distribution would be 'swiftly taken out of circulation'.

The disclosures will increase pressure on the UK to crack down harder on the extreme Islamists who have sought sanctuary here from regimes overseas. Middle Eastern governments have criticised Britain for allowing extremists to base themselves here. Intelligence officers working in London have compiled a list of 200 suspected militants from Algeria alone who are in the UK. Many are believed to be killers.

Security agencies in Spain and France have recently traced links to the UK from al-Qaeda operatives they have arrested. On 26 September last year six men belonging to a GSPC terrorist cell in Spain were arrested. They were led by a militant allegedly trained by bin Laden and had planned hijacks with two suspected al-Qaeda terrorists who were living in Britain.

·The son of the controversial Muslim cleric Abu Hamza returned to Britain last night after serving three years in prison in Yemen for plotting a bombing campaign.

Mohamed Mustafa Kamel, 21, was convicted in August 1999. Four other Britons are still serving sentences in Yemen, including Muhsin Ghailan, also 21, thought to be Abu Hamza's stepson.

[Theo]

I don't understand your comment. Are you commenting on what I wrote, or on what I quoted? It looks like you're commenting on what I quoted, a statement I challenged (it seems like we both disagree with the sentence I quoted).

[ppaul]

See my reply, #38 above.

Sorry Theo. I originally meant to reply to "illbenice."

[Rubber Duckie]

You don't look a thing like an Afghanii or a typical muslim. You do, however, look like your typical KKK member.

Actually, I'm too Oriental-looking to pass for either one and I wasn't volunteering. However, that's not the point.

There is more than an ample supply of people of Middle Eastern orign who, even if they aren't American citizens, would like to be. A few paid informants wired to root out the mosques and leaders who preach "hate America, bring down the West and Kill the infidel" would more than augment the limited numbers in the FBI. Where there's a will, there's a way.