Two faces, two converts – two Muslim extremists in Britain [Part One | Part Two]
A British Muslim convert has emerged as successor to Omar Bakri Mohammad as the leader of a radical group that wants Britain ruled by Islamic law.
The Times has obtained transcripts of Omar Brooks, now known as Abu Izzadeen, preaching holy war and discussing killing Tony Blair in a recent sermon in London. Abu Izzadeen had previously described the July 7 bombings as “completely praiseworthy” and organised demonstrations in support of the September 11 hijackers.
His organisation, the Saved Sect, was formed from the remnants of the disbanded extremist group al-Muhajiroun, which the Government intended to proscribe. However, it is not on the Home Office’s list of 40 banned terrorist organisations, and a spokeswoman refused to comment on whether it could be outlawed.
The Crown Prosecution Service has not ruled out charges against Abu Izzadeen, which may include solicitation to murder and withholding information about acts of terrorism.
Abu Izzadeen, 31, was born into a Christian family of Jamaican origin, in Hackney, East London, and was known as Trevor to some acquaintances. He converted to Islam at the age of 17 and is believed to have become involved with Bakri at Finsbury Park mosque in the late 1990s.
Before he was fully radicalised, Abu Izzadeen trained and worked as an electrician. He eventually chose a new name, which means ‘Might of the Faith’ in Arabic, and immersed himself in his new religion.
He married and now lives in Leyton, East London, with his wife and three young children.
He is thought to have become the new leader of the Saved Sect. Vitriolic lectures for its website were recorded — until recently — by Bakri, who is in exile in Lebanon. But Abu Izzadeen has started preaching sermons and posting them on the website, suggesting that he has taken over as emir of the Saved Sect.
He is one of a generation of young British-born radical converts to step into the shoes of notorious clerics such as Bakri, Abu Qatada and Abu Hamza al-Masri. Abu Hamza is in jail and Abu Qatada is being held without charge under anti-terrorism laws.
The Saved Sect, also known as the Saviour Sect, rejects democracy and wants Britain to adopt Sharia, or Islamic law. It believes that it is the only group representing the true Islamic path, but has links with another al-Muhajiroun successor, al-Ghurabaa, whose leader was arrested during extremist protests against the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad.
In lectures given last month at an unknown London location, Abu Izzadeen said that a war was being fought to make Islamic law “completely dominant” in Britain, and that “all Jews and Christians are going to hell fire”.
He also praised Mullah Omar, the Taleban leader, saying: “This man is a winner.” His lectures, entitled The Christian Crusades parts 1 and 2, describe conflict in the Middle East and Britain as a present-day crusade.
Abu Izzadeen said: “There is a war here [in Britain]. Maybe you don’t have weapons, but there is [sic] arrests against the Muslim community, there is brutality by the police. It is a form of war against the Muslims here as well.” He elicited laughter when he said: “If I said to you we’re going to conquer Rome, or if I said to you, we’re going to kill George Bush and we’re going to kill Tony Blair, you said to me: “Which come first bro?”.
He preached that Muslims did not “need to stand by the British flag”, adding: “There is without doubt a war taking place between the Muslims and the non-Muslims . . . you must take part in the struggle.
“. . . Tony Blair is a taghoot [believer of false religions]. The British forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, the police in the UK — they are all fighting for the sake of taghoot.”
Mr Blair announced last August that he would ban “the successor organisation of al-Muhajiroun”. The group had praised the September 11 terrorists, describing them as the “Magnificent 19”.
Legislation tightening the Terrorism Act came into force days ago, when it became illegal to glorify or incite terrorism. A Home Office spokeswoman said: “The list of proscribed organisations is kept under constant review. The Terrorism Act 2006 widens the criteria of proscription to include those groups which glorify terrorism. All possible candidates for proscription will be considered against these criteria.”
The Saved Sect website carries a statement from Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the commander of al-Qaeda in Iraq.
On the BBC programme Newsnight last year, Abu Izzadeen said that the July 7 bombings would make people “wake up and smell the coffee”. He added that he would never denounce suicide bombings, “even if my own family was to suffer, because we always stand with the Muslims regardless of the consequences”.
THE SAVED SECT
FROM THE SECT’S WEBSITE
On Jesus Christ: “We can envisage that, if alive in the UK today, Jesus would undoubtedly have supported jihad in Afghanistan and Iraq, as opposed to the capitalist-driven US-led alliance . . . and would also have been no doubt interned under the Home Secretary Mr Clarke’s new terrorism laws, thereby languishing in Belmarsh Prison.”
On the leaders of the Muslim Council of Britain: “The call of moderate and apostate ‘Muslims’ upon the Metropolitan Police to take action and arrest the “extremists” behind the peaceful protests in central London (against the cartoons of Prophet Muhammad) was indeed a call of apostasy and betrayal.
“They have repeatedly called for the arrest and deportation of a vast number of Islamic activists, including scholars such as Sheikh Abu Hamza, Sheikh Faisal and Sheikh Abu Qatada — may Allah assist them and release them from captivity.”
On moderate Muslims: “Since the majority of Muslims living in the West are on the brink of committing apostasy (e.g. by voting for man-made law and allying with the disbelievers), it is important for us to identify the ways in which they are leaving the fold of Islam and tackle these problems directly.”
On mosques in Britain: “If we look to the reality of the so-called mosques in the Britain today, hardly any are built by Muslims . . . therefore, they cannot be considered to be mosques. These halls have become places of corruption, calling Muslims to vote, inviting kuffar (non-Muslim) MPs and prime ministers, as well as lying about Allah, His Messenger and the religion of Islam. It is even considered to be a form of heresy to call these places Houses of Allah.”
Under the heading “Homosexual Today, Paedophile Tomorrow”: “Sodomy, bestiality and incest are all crimes that are acceptable in un-Islamic societies . . . Recently the British government legalised homosexual marriages. It was not enough that they allowed homosexuals to practice their vile filth openly, but they felt the need to take a step further into the pits of humanity.”