UK Terror Investigations - News Roundup - July 8

By Jeffrey Imm

July 8 news roundup of UK terror plot investigation activities and related news:

UK Security Minister Views 15-year Fight Against Terror. The Daily Telegraph reports that the UK's top security minister, Admiral Sir Alan West, has stated that the battle against terror in UK would be a 10 to 15 year battle. Security minister West "said the overall danger facing the country, from both home-grown and foreign terrorists, was at its greatest ever level and that a new approach was badly needed to tackle it." He summarized the UK anti-terror strategy as "the four Ps": "prepare, protect, pursue, prevent - but that the 'prevent' side, dealing with the radicalisation of young Muslims, was the most important..." and stating that he believes "it will take 10 to 15 years."

New UK bomb warnings. The Daily Star is reporting that "the security services now believe that the global Islamist terror network has more outrages primed to happen in the UK." Al-Qaida expert and author Neil Doyle tells the Daily Star that Jihadist web site inactivity is a sign of pending plots: "What terrorists do is issue a general alert as an instruction to everyone to shut their mouths."

British Police Report Identity of Principal Protagonists. The NYT is reporting that British police are stating the two "principal protagonists" in both the Glasgow bombing and the failed London car bombs are Dr. Bilal Abdulla and Kaleef aka Khalid Ahmed.

Bomber linked to Irish Al-Qaeda Jet Bomb Plot. The Observer reports that British Jihadist bomber Kafeel Ahmed was an associate of convicted Al-Qaeda terrorist Abbas Boutrab in Ireland. Boutrab was "headed up the cell that operated on the quiet both in Northern Ireland and the Republic. That cell included Kafeel Ahmed while he was a student at Queen's" University, "which viewed Ireland as a 'quiet base'." "Boutrab was arrested in Belfast during 2003 and convicted two years later for downloading information on how to blow up an airliner."

Suspect or Supects Communicated with Al-Qaeda in Iraq. London Times reports that one or more of London car bomb suspects had recently been in contact with Al-Qaeda in Iraq: "Scotland Yard’s Counter Terrorism Command SO15 is understood to have uncovered evidence that in the months leading up to the attacks one or more of the suspects communicated by telephone or e-mail with terrorist leaders in Iraq."

Modern militant 'recruits himself'. The Australian reports on analysis of the approach by the latest Jihadists, that rather than being recruited and groomed by Al Qaeda, that such Jihadists effectively "recruit" themselves.

International Investigation of London Bomb Plot. London Times reports on "Operation Seagram", which is the international investigation of the London bomb plots with active investigations in UK, Australia, India. In addition, due to communications between suspects and Al Qaeda in Iraq, the London Times also reports that "well-placed officials are investigating potential links with Al-Qaeda in Iraq." The Australian has developed a graphic of international plot ties.

Indian police hunt for 12 UK bomb suspects The Australian Sunday Mail reports that "police in the southern Indian city of Bangalore, home to three suspects held in the British bomb plot, are hunting 12 more people who may be linked to the conspiracy"... and that "police were interested in a man it named as Saleem Ahmed, adding investigators were also probing the possibility that fake Bangalore driving licences were used in the bomb plot." Three Indians originating from Bangalore have thus far been arrested in the plot: Dr. Sabeel Ahmed, his brother engineer Kafeel Ahmed, and Dr. Mohammed Haneef.

India: Jihadi CDs seized from Kafeel's home. The Times of India reports that "[d]ocuments and CDs containing jihadi propaganda material have been seized from the Bangalore home of Kafeel and Sabeel Ahmed, suspects in the failed British terror plot, city police sources said on Sunday. Police were also mum on reports that they were specifically looking for 12 people who could have formed a 'cell' along with Kafeel, a mechanical engineer, and Sabeel, a medical doctor."

UK: Kafeel Ahmed had left a suicide note at his Glasgow house. The Times of India reports: "A suicide note was found at the house near Glasgow where Ahmed had been staying since April," a security source was quoted as saying.

India: Car-Bomb Research Done in Bangalore. The Hindu reports that online activity of Glasgow bomber Kafeel Ahmed shows that he did research on car bombs in Bangalore, before returning to the United Kingdom.

Australia Ongoing Investigation, and Scrutiny of Overseas Bank Transactions. Australian news reports that "five doctors in Australia quizzed by federal police late last week over the UK bombing attempts have been released on the grounds they will be available for further questioning" and that Dr. Mohammed Haneef was still being detained. The Australia Courier-Mail reports that investigators are tracking overseas and local transactions from the bank accounts of Indian-born doctor Mohammad Haneef, and that "[e]ach overseas transaction is believed to be below $10,000 which would avoid any scrutiny from AUSTRAC – a Federal Government regulator of transactions of $10,000 or more."

Australia: Remote Car-Bomb Plot Report. The Australian Sunday Mail also reports that "suspects linked to the foiled car bomb attacks in London allegedly planned to blow up the devices using mobile phones in Australia" and that British police said "They intended to blow it up by remote control - by calling mobile phones in the car". In a different report in Australian news, the Australian Attorney-General "played down a report today suggesting that there was a plan for bombs in Britain to be activated by phone from Australia, stating that '[i]t probably misstates what is in the public arena'."

Shiraz Maher: Met Bomber Bilal Abdulla Through Cambridge Hizb ut-Tahrir. London Times reports that Shiraz Maher states that he met bomb Dr. Bilal Abdulla through Cambridge recruiting for Hizb ut-Tahrir. "Mostly we met in the cultural centre, the Shiraz Academy on Gilbert Road. One of those rooms was rented by the Hizb guy and this became the main focal point of where we would socialise, meet and discuss things." Shiraz further states "[a]nd so it was through my involvement with Hizb ut-Tahrir and its ideology of extremist political Islam that I came to befriend Bilal, the alleged would-be bomber. Without movements such as Hizb ut-Tahrir creating the moral imperatives to justify terror, people like Bilal wouldn’t have the support of an ideological infrastructure cheering them on."

Cambridge Islamic charity linked to car bomb suspect. The Daily Telegraph reports that Cambridge charity, the Islamic Academy, has been linked to the car bomb suspects. When living in Cambridge, Glasgow bomber Kafeel Ahmed "rented a room above the academy's offices and prayer chamber", and in the room next door was the Cambridge organizer for Hizb ut-Tahrir. Kafeel Ahmed's brother Dr. Safeel Ahmed and Dr. Bilal Abdullah were frequent visitors. Former radical Shiraz Maher witnessed this and stated "The HT (Hizb ut-Tahrir) guys and Bilal controlled, steered and directed the conversation...Kafeel listened more than he talked. He became more religious as he progressed." Daily Telegraph also reports that the leaders of the Islamic Academy have been viewed as "moderate". Daily Telegraph also reports that "Sejad Mekic, the imam at the Cambridge mosque which Abdullah also attended, gave a sermon on Friday condemning all acts of terror. However, he later said he had doubts that the incident at Glasgow airport was a terrorist attack, saying it could have been a car accident." When asked about the containers of gasoline found in the car, Imam Mekic stated that maybe the men were gasoline salesmen.

MI5 Agents To Spot Student Terrorists in Scotland. The Daily Express reports that "foreign students in Scotland will be spied on to ensure campuses do not become secret havens for potential terrorists... and [o]verseas applicants, particularly those enrolling for 'high risk' courses such as engineering or chemistry, will be kept under surveillance." Daily Express reports that one of the Jihadists in the Bali Bombing, Azahari Husin, had forged friendships while at Reading University. Moreover, "David Capitanchik, a terrorism expert at Robert Gordon University, in Aberdeen, said some groups have been active on British campuses since 9/11." In addition, the Daily Express states that a "study in 2005 warned that campuses in Scotland had already become a recruiting ground for Islamic fundamentalists."

Call for Information, Cooperation on Terror Suspects. Sky News reports that UK PM Gordon Brown is calling for "greater international sharing of information about possible terrorist suspects", especially across Europe. UK Security Minister West also "said preventing people being recruited to extremism was central to defeating terrorism and called for the public to inform on suspects".

UK Terror Suspect Monitoring Failing Due To Electronic Tag Failures. Daily Mail reports on the failure and unreliability of electronic tag devices used to monitor Islamist terror suspects who are under "house arrest" and control orders.

Convicted Terrorist Working as UK Traffic Warden. Daily Mail reports on a convicted Jihadist terrorist, Mustapha Boutarfa, who now has a job working as a UK traffic warden. Jihadist Mustapha Boutarfa was "jailed for his involvement in a bomb attack on the Paris Metro - which killed eight people and wounded 80". Daily Mail states "It was unclear why Boutarfa was allowed back into Britain. It is understood he lied about his criminal conviction when he applied for his job as a traffic warden."

Not In Their Name? BBC reports that the Muslim Council of Britain has advised UK Muslims that it is their "Islamic duty to co-operate with the police to ensure the safety of British citizens - Muslims and non-Muslims." Daily Telegraph questions the relative change of heart by the Muslim Council of Britain saying that "in the past, the MCB has seemed to be somewhat lukewarm about encouraging British Muslims to go to the police or security services with any suspicions they might have about friends or acquaintances who they think might be involved in terrorism. It is, after all, only nine months since Mr Bari issued a scarcely veiled threat to the authorities: he said that if the Government and 'some police officers and sections of the media' continued to 'demonise Muslims… Britain will have to deal with two million Muslim terrorists, 700,000 of them in London'."

The London Times reports that " 'We acknowledge that there is radicalisation taking place in our community,' said Daud Abdullah, deputy leader of the Muslim Council of Britain." Daily Telegraph also reports comments by former extremist Ed Husain that "None of the leading members of the MCB have condemned the hard-line anti-Western ideology of figures such as Syed Qutb", and that the Muslim Council of Britain does not denounce the terrorist group Hamas. Daily Telegraph also provides a graphic which summarizes statistical information on Muslims in the UK, as well as surveyed support among some British Muslims for suicide bombing, terrorism, and Sharia law.

Negative Reactions in Calls for British Muslim Protest Against Jihadism. The London Times reports on some negative response among British Muslims on calls for Islamic protest against Jihadist terrorism. "On the ummah.com forum a lively debate flourished. One participant, junaid368, asked: 'Shouldn't the Muslim community of UK protest [against] the recent terror attacks?' One response advised: 'Don't forget, if they [the alleged bombers] are Muslim, they are your brothers. Don't ever give the impression the kufr [nonMuslims] are more valuable.' And a user called AbuMubarak posted: 'Instead of kissing kufr butt, why don’t we go forth and tell them that they must worship Allah and fear the fire?' Another poster, Saadet, wrote: 'No Muslim should make any official condemnation of this incident . . .' " Per London Times: "But not all comments were negative. A contributor called Kal-El wrote: 'It's time to show the world that we are not barbaric people who lust for blood. I am sick and tired of my faith being tarnished in this way and . . . being labelled a terrorist simply because I am a Muslim.' "

Failure of UK Policies in Preventing Jihadism? London Times reported that "[t]wo years on from the 7/7 attacks, government strategy for tackling Islamic extremism is in turmoil". London Times has documented policy failures: "proposal to shut mosques “fomenting extremism” was immediately shelved after protests from Muslim leaders and the police; no progress has been made on plans to speed up the extradition of terror suspects wanted in other countries; and nobody has been convicted under a new offence of glorifying terrorism (though one person has been charged). Plans to boot out radical preachers have been hampered by the government’s failure to secure agreements with other countries not to torture deportees. Only four agreements have been signed and one person deported. A proposal to ban Hizb ut-Tahrir, a group with which at least two of the alleged car bomb plotters came into contact, was dropped. The use of "control orders" to keep terror suspects under close scrutiny is descending into farce. Out of 18 suspects placed on these orders -- a form of house arrest -- seven have absconded."

Meantime, as London Times reports, "Quite apart from the car bombs, recent court cases have revealed other, home-grown terrorists are still intent on plotting death and destruction. A poll last month by Channel 4 News revealed that almost a quarter of Britain’s 2m Muslims still do not believe that the 7/7 attacks were carried out by the four named suicide bombers -- even though two of them left video-taped testimonies. More than half of those polled also felt the security services had made up evidence to convict terror suspects. A survey in July 2006 found that 13% of Muslims in Britain viewed the 7/7 bombers as heroic and 16% said that while the attacks were wrong, their cause was right."

London Times also reports: "Gordon Brown has dropped the use of the phrase “war on terror”, and Jacqui Smith, the home secretary, was careful not to single out Muslims or Islam when briefing MPs about the car bombing attempts."

Sources:

Daily Telegraph: Warning of 15-year fight against terror

BBC: Terror fight 'may take 15 years'

The Daily Star: New bomb warnings

Daily Telegraph: Nuclear alert by ex-head of MI5

The New York Times: British Identify Two "Principal" Suspects

Observer: Terror suspect's jet bomb plot link

London Times: Car bombs are linked with Iraq's Al-Qaeda

The Australian: Modern militant 'recruits himself'

London Times: Biting back at terror suspects - How far did the alleged plot to bomb London stretch? A special report on a case that spans the globe from the UK to Iraq, India and Australia

The Australian: Graphic of International Plot Ties

Australian Sunday Mail: Indian police hunt for 12 UK bomb suspects

Times of India: Jihadi CDs seized from Kafeel's home

Times of India: 'Kafeel had left a suicide note at his house'

The Hindu: Was car-bomb designed in Bangalore?

Australia News: Doctors freed after terror questioning

Australia Courier-Mail: Focus on bomb plot transfers

Australian Sunday Mail: Car bomb 'to be detonated from Australia'

Daily Telegraph: Islamic charity linked to car bomb suspect

London Times: How I befriended a Glasgow bomb suspect and Islamic radical

Daily Express: MI5 Agents To Spot Student Terrorists

Sky News: PM Gordon Brown - 'Urgent' Need To Share Terror Information

Sky News: Call To Snitch On Terror Suspects

Daily Express: Tag fiasco: Failures in monitoring terror suspects

Daily Express: NHS doctors accused of bomb plots, Al Qaeda fanatics working for the police, and now the Terrorist traffic warden

BBC: 'Islamic duty' to help UK police

Daily Telegraph: Not in their name?
Related graphic

London Times: The battle for hearts and minds - Two years on from the 7/7 attacks, government strategy for tackling Islamic extremism is in turmoil

Metro: Anti-terror message 'failing'

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