Free Republic

Ed Husain's autobiography The Islamist: why I joined radical Islam in Britain, what I saw inside and why I left (Penguin, 2007) is a remarkably candid account of the life of a British-born Muslim who was initially seduced by radicalism but gradually came to his senses to return to the more spiritual and devotional Islam that had defined his early years. It is also an important work, in that it both carefully grounds the issue of radicalisation that has so dominated recent intellectual and political discussion of Muslim communities in Britain, and points to potential solutions. Ed Husain grew up...

Alliance of Democracies Summit: The Glass House Where the Power Elite Gather to Throw Stones WRITTEN BY: ALAN MACLEOD PUBLISHED ON: MAY 15, 2021 The lineup of presidents, generals and CEOs makes it clear that what was stated is effectively the collective view of the world’s elite and a window into their thinking and the debates they are having. What they decide will affect all of us, whether we realize it or not. COPENHAGEN, DENMARK — The United States is the nation that most threatens democracy worldwide, far more than Russia or even China. That is the headline finding from...

Britain's most notorious Islamist extremists were bankrolled by more than £1 million of taxpayers' money while waging their campaign of hate, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. A dozen supporters of Islamic State recruiter Anjem Choudary – many of them now convicted terrorists or jihadis who are fighting in Syria or have died there – were paid wages by a businessman who was handed huge sums of public money to run computer training courses in libraries and job centers. And now a judge has found that the man – a close associate of Choudary's – funnelled tens of thousands of...

A man reported to be a serving soldier is dead and two people have been shot in Woolwich, south east London, after what Sky sources understand is being treated as a terrorist attack. Downing Street has called a meeting of the Government's Cobra emergency committee after the incident in John Wilson Street, which David Cameron described as "truly shocking". Sky sources understand that senior police officers believe the killing was likely to be a politically-motivated Islamist terrorist attack. Dozens of weapons - including a number of knives - and pools of blood could be seen on the ground, where a...

"Senate Hs Committee Report Finds Online Jihadist 'Activity' Leads To Violent Islamist Extremism" by Anthony Kimery 02/28/2012 ( 9:12am) SNIPPET: "Violent Islamist extremists use the Internet to recruit, radicalize and mobilize individuals -- including Americans -- and “the threat of violent Islamist extremism has become increasingly decentralized and its messaging has followed that same trajectory,” according to a report issued Monday by both the majority and minority staff of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs." SNIPPET: "The report concluded that “the United States currently has a haphazard approach to dealing with global Internet radicalization and propaganda,” and...

SNIPPET: "British Jihadi Anjem Choudary Tweets On March 19, 2011, British jihadi Anjem Choudary, spokesman for the banned Islam4UK organization, co-founder of Al-Muhajiroun, and spiritual advisor to the UK Islamist group Muslims Against Crusades (MAC),[18] launched a Twitter account and began tweeting. MAC made headlines last week for threatening a British MP who subsequently called on their activities to be closely monitored by law enforcement.[19] According to his Twitter account, Choudary is "a Muslim who believes that Islam is something we must believe in (Tawheed), live by (Shari'ah) and struggle and sacrifice for (by way of Daw'ah and Jihad)."[20] In...

ONE of Britain’s most vocal, extremist preachers has been using a false name on a secret website to incite Muslim followers to go on jihad, or holy war, in Somalia. Anjem Choudary, former spokesman of the banned group Al-Muhajiroun, has posted a statement on a jihadist internet forum telling followers they must join the “divine call of jihad” in the African state. His call in the password-protected site came days before America mounted air raids on suspected Al-Qaeda units in southern Somalia and news emerged that seven British passport holders had been captured in Somalia by Ethiopian troops. This weekend...

Choudary: Refuses to discuss his dissolute youth At 39, Anjem Choudary should be a symbol of success for his peers. Born into the working-class family of a market trader in Welling on the outskirts of London, he has risen - thanks to the opportunities offered by the British education system - to become a qualified lawyer. But it is unlikely his old school will be inviting him to be guest speaker on prize-giving day. Their former pupil is not famous for his elegant oratory in court. Instead, the articulate Mr Choudary preaches hatred and murder in the streets of Britain...

At 39, Anjem Choudary should be a symbol of success. Born into a working-class family, he has risen - thanks to opportunities offered by the British education system - to become a lawyer. Instead, Mr Choudary preaches hatred and murder in the streets of Britain to the next generation of young, impressionable Muslims. This week he stood outside Westminster Cathedral to call for the execution of the Pope as punishment for 'insulting Islam'. He fulminated against Benedict XVl, adding: "Whoever insults the message of Mohammed is going to be subject to capital punishment." It's a long way from days as...

A notorious Muslim extremist told a demonstration in London yesterday that the Pope should face execution. Anjem Choudary said those who insulted Islam would be "subject to capital punishment". His remarks came during a protest outside Westminster Cathedral on a day that worldwide anger among Muslim hardliners towards Pope Benedict XVI appeared to deepen. The pontiff yesterday apologised for causing offence during a lecture last week. Quoting a medieval emperor, his words were taken to mean that he called the prophet Mohammed "evil and inhuman". He insisted he was "deeply sorry" but his humbling words did not go far enough...

Tuesday, June 22, 2004 WAR ON TERRORAl-Qaida suspect tied to U.S.-UK jihad groupAlleged sleeper agent nabbed by FBI part of cell operating in Queens, N.Y. Posted: June 22, 20041:00 a.m. Eastern By Aaron Klein © 2004 WorldNetDaily.com An American citizen living in Queens arrested by the FBI, and who has admitted to being a sleeper agent for al-Qaida, has ties to a British-based Islamic extremist organization with still more agents operating in the New York borough, WorldNetDaily has learned. Mohammed Junaid Babar, a naturalized citizen from Pakistan, was secretly taken into custody in April and is being held at the Metropolitan Correctional...

A radical Islamic cleric facing a life sentence on charges of aiding an al Qaeda affiliate has been released on bail while his retrial continues, Lebanon's state news agency reported. A military court convicted Omar Bakri Mohammed in absentia two weeks ago of charges including membership in an armed group, possession of weapons and explosives, and committing crimes against the state, Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) reported at the time. Bakri was arrested after a shootout two days later. Bakri is having a retrial because he was convicted the first time in absentia. At the start of the retrial Wednesday,...

ABC News' Christiane Amanpour has done a great service today with her panel discussion on whether America should fear Islam. Thanks to guests Franklin Graham, Robert Spencer and Peter Gadiel refusing to submit to Allah and political correctness, and the brashness of Anjem Choudary, Americans watching broadcast television have learned more about Islam in the hour long show than many have in the nine years since 9/11.Franklin Graham was unapologetic in his stance on Islam, however he differentiated between Islam the religion and Muslim people. Gary Bauer and Ayaan Hirsi Ali also deserve credit for speaking truth to Islam on...

"Hizb ut Tahrir is not a gateway to terrorism, claims Whitehall report" SNIPPET: "The Government has opened the way for official links with Muslim extremists after civil servants said radical groups could be a "safety valve" for those tempted by terrorism." By Andrew Gilligan Published: 7:30AM BST 25 Jul 2010 SNIPPET: "The groups specifically named - in documents leaked to The Sunday Telegraph - include al-Muhajiroun, which has praised 9/11 as “magnificent” and Hizb ut Tahrir, which wants to turn Britain into an Islamic dictatorship under sharia law. In the classified papers, presented last week to Coalition ministers on the...

U.S. Citizen Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Provide Material Support to Al Qaeda Syed Hashmi, aka “Fahad,” pleaded guilty today in Manhattan federal court to conspiracy to provide material support to al Qaeda, announced Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Hashmi, 30, was arrested on June 6, 2006 at Heathrow Airport in London, shortly before he was to board a flight to Pakistan. He was later extradited to the United States; Hashmi is the first individual to be extradited from the United Kingdom to the United States on terrorism charges. According to the superseding indictment...

SNIPPET: "The home secretary is to designate the Somalia-based group Al-Shabaab as a terrorist organisation and ban its operation in the UK. The Home Office says the group is committed to violence, deploys terror tactics and has been implicated in attacks on Somali citizens." SNIPPET: "In a statement released in February, the group said that the "jihad of Horn of Africa must be combined with the international jihad led by the al-Qaeda network". Recently, Mr Johnson has also banned Islam4UK, the group run by al-Muhajiroun founder Anjem Choudary, and which had threatened to march through Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire."

A town famed for honouring dead British solders returning from Afghanistan expressed its dismay yesterday at plans by an extremist Islamic group to march through its streets. Islam4UK, which calls itself a ‘platform’ for the fanatical Al-Muhajiroun movement, said its supporters will parade through Wootton Bassett in the near future. The group’s website said the event is being held ‘not in memory of the occupying and merciless British military’ but of the Muslims ‘murdered in the name of democracy and freedom’. Its leader, Anjem Choudary, said the protest, involving 500 people, would be ‘peaceful’ and that ‘symbolic coffins’ would be...

People in Wootton Bassett, the town famous for honouring dead British soldiers returning from Afghanistan, reacted defiantly on Saturday to news that a controversial Islamic group is to march through its streets. Islam4UK – which calls itself a "platform" for extremist movement al-Muhajiroun – plans to parade through the Wiltshire town in the coming weeks. The group's website says the event is being held "not in memory of the occupying and merciless British military" but of the Muslims its says have been "murdered in the name of democracy and freedom". The town that shows respect for fallen Servicemen should be...

A town famous for honouring dead British soldiers returning from Afghanistan reacted defiantly today to news that a controversial Islamic group is to march through its streets. Islam4UK - which calls itself a 'platform' for extremist movement al-Muhajiroun - plans to parade through Wootton Bassett, in Wiltshire, in the coming weeks. The group's website says the event is being held 'not in memory of the occupying and merciless British military' but of the Muslims its says have been 'murdered in the name of democracy and freedom'. Leader Anjem Choudary said today the protest, involving 500 people, would be peaceful one,...

SNIPPET: "An Irish jihadist living in Pakistan’s Swat valley says he is preparing to wage war against British and allied troops in Afghanistan. Khalid Kelly, a former altar boy from the Liberties area of Dublin who used to be known as Terry, told The Sunday Times he is undergoing weapons training in Pakistan’s mountainous tribal region in order to fight jihad against the enemies of Islam. His dream is to face a British soldier in combat, although he would “settle” for an American, he said. “I’m already on the path to jihad. I’ve already picked up a gun and done...