terrorism

The Jihad Trail, Part 1

By George Thomas
CBN News Sr. Reporter

This is the first installment of "The Jihad Trail,” a CBN News series exploring the elements and objectives of militant fundamentalist Islam.

LONDON (CBN News) — The eyes of the world are focused on Sheikh Osama Bin Laden, a criminal fugitive in the West, a folk hero to many across the globe. From Africa to Asia, from Europe to the Americas, bin Laden's message of hatred attracts thousands of fanatical devotees and his network spans the globe.

U.S. authorities believe that at least seven of the hijackers involved in the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks lived and trained in Britain at one time. Since the early 70's, Britain has emerged as a safe haven for dozens of Islamic extremists.

One such group, Al-Muhajiroun, preaches holy war and openly advocates chemical and biological warfare against America and her allies. Though its home base is Britain, Al-Muhajiroun is allegedly using the United States as a military training ground for violent struggles in the Middle East and elsewhere.

Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed, an integral member of Al-Muhajiroun, considers bin Laden the noble leader of their common cause.

Describing his hero, Bakri said, “What comes to mind? Someone who is honest, sincere, a freedom fighter, mujaheed, man of dignity, man of honor, man who deserves the title to be leader of the world-wide Islamic movements who are involved in liberating Muslim land."

Bakri is Britain's most out-spoken radical Islamic leader. His group is described as the voice, the eyes and the ears of the Muslims. Its sole purpose is to overthrow Western society and to create a Khilafah, an Islamic new world order. Bakri's dream is to see the flag of Islam raised in the White House.

"We have a mission as an Islamic group and organization in this life, to please God as individuals and to work collectively to establish the Islamic world order, to establish the Islamic state, to establish the Khilafah the command of God and to let Islam prevail," he said.

Bakri, like bin Laden, believes Islam is the supreme ideology. An ideology that can prevail only through jihad, or Holy War, against the "enemies of Allah" — America and its allies.

"God in the Koran told us [speaking in Arabic] prepare for those who are terrorists who kill life, prepare as much as you can [speaking in Arabic] to terrorize the enemy of God. So now God asks us to use terrorism," Bakri said.

But why the hate? Peter Bergen, author of an upcoming book, Holy War Incorporated and one of the first Western journalists to interview bin Laden in Afghanistan, explained the origin of the militant Islamic vitriol.

“One, I think it's the U.S. support for Israel. Two, the UN sanctions against Iraq are regarded as being very detrimental to the Iraqi people. And three, the U.S. presence in Saudi Arabia is seen as kind of an insult almost to the beliefs of a lot of Muslims," Bergen said.

A main insult to Bakri is the very existence of Israel. He believes it is a crime.

"The state of Israel is the cancer that must be removed, the cancer that must be eradicated," Bakri said. And he believes jihad is the only means of achieving that goal.

Last year, Britain's Sunday Telegraph newspaper uncovered a string of front companies used by Bakri to fund and recruit British Muslims to fight for jihad. Jessica Berry conducted the investigation for the Sunday Telegraph.

"He actively recruits people to send them abroad to fight, and then there are some who are encouraged to stay in Afghanistan or wherever it might be in the training camps to train others," Berry said.

Following the attacks in New York and Washington, Bakri called on young Muslims to fight alongside Osama bin Laden against America. The weapons of choice: chemical and biological agents. He called the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon a "payback" for America's atrocities against Muslims.

Bakri has boasted of sending up to 2,000 Britons a year abroad to fight for Islam. His "Jihad Network" is said to have ties to militant Islamic groups in Afghanistan, Chechnya, Pakistan, Sudan and others — groups regarded by the U.S. State Department as terrorist organizations.

"The Jihad Network is composed of many organizations and different groups from all over the world who are indulging in fighting against occupying forces whether those forces are Israeli, Hindus, or Americans or British," Bakri said.

Some of the military training is reportedly being provided by Sakina Security Services. A visit to the company's web site reveals "The Ultimate Jihad Challenge." The two-week program, which promises to keep "theory to a minimum," offers a variety of military exercises: sniper shooting, hostage taking, combat jungle tactics, engaging multiple targets, shooting between two-to-three thousand rounds of mixed caliber ammunition, and the list goes on.

The Sunday Telegraph reports strong links between Sakina's leadership and Sheikh Omar Bakri.

CBN News asked terrorism expert Neil Livingstone to analyze "The Ultimate Jihad Challenge." Livingstone is head of Global Options, a security and threat assessment company in Washington, D.C.

"There is a lot of emphasis here on weapons training, military-style close quarter combat rather than on, say, threat identification or how to deal with hostile crowds or how to drive successfully in an evasive aggressive driving. A lot of stuff in our curriculum, which is just designed to protect people, is not here. This is a very, very aggressive program," Livingstone said.

It is indeed an aggressive program, which according to the web site, "must be done overseas" because of strict gun laws in the UK. So where is the most ideal country to obtain such military training?

"The most popular place is U.S.A. because it is open, it is legal!" Bakri exclaimed.

Bakri says relaxed gun laws and access to advanced equipment makes America a friendlier environment for training.

"In America there are more sophisticated equipment and machines, and automatic machines and sometimes explosives and survival camps is available where you go and work together as a team,” Bakri explained. “We use U.S.A. because whenever we go to Afghanistan, U.S.A. labels us terrorist. Okay, so let us go to America. You call us tourists!"

Bob Blitzer was in charge of the FBI's counter-terrorism division in 1993. Blitzer says there are hundreds of private and legally registered companies that provide military training, and anyone with money can easily secure the facility and the expertise.

"So they are going to go to some place where they can get the skills that they need to conduct either military combat or terrorist operations, and frankly speaking, some of those skills they can get here, and get here legally," Blitzer said.

From the U.S., recruits are then sent for more training to desert military camps in Pakistan, Afghanistan, or Sudan — camps owned or sponsored by America's most wanted man. British intelligence believes some of the recruits are financed by bin Laden.

"Everybody likes to go to Osama bin Laden camp. The reputation of his camp is very high. The artillery, the technique, the morale, the characteristics, the character is very good and the issues of discipline. It is a very superior camp," Bakri exulted.

Bakri denies any links to Osama bin Laden but says terrorism is acceptable in a holy war. "We fight against those who fight us, and if you consider that to be called terrorism, declare me the ‘sheikh of terrorism,’” Bakri said.

Once abroad, recruits are instructed to sever all contact with their leader.

"I need to be free, independent, from any people who need to be working in very security, secretive manner,” Bakri said. “In Islam, the messenger said [Arabic word], if you want to fulfill your task, your mission, you must have confidentiality."

Steven Simon, a security specialist with a London-based think tank, said, "I think he is very astute to keep his nose clean here, because by doing so he can carry out the recruitment opportunities that are so essential to the movement and to the Jihad without getting himself into trouble."

Simon explained the role Bakri plays in the terrorist network. "Once he has spotted the talent, he has matured it, he has got the talent fired up and he is pointing them in a particular direction,” he said. “After that I think that he can be reasonably confident that the military personnel, as it were, at the other end of that chain will pick up where he left off."

Today, Al-Muhajiroun and dozens of other extremist groups have found a safe haven in Britain. In an effort to combat current and future threats, the British government has created a bill that provides a new legal frame to deal with terrorism. But Sheikh Bakri says the new bill is a political witch hunt against politically minded Muslims.

The bill, which became law this year, expands the definition of terrorism to include violence for religious or ideological ends. It also makes inciting terrorist acts abroad from within the UK a criminal offense.

"I believe the new law is going to target Muslims in order to counter the Islamic ideology to counter the struggle for the worldwide Islamic state," Bakri said. He says at least 16 members of Al-Muhajiroun are already in prison facing numerous charges.

Intelligence experts admit it is difficult to trace whether Bakri or his followers are involved in any conspiracy to carry out acts of terrorism overseas or in the United States.

“It is difficult, however, for law enforcement to prove that a particular individual from one of those training camps has left the United States and then gone on to some other foreign location and there committed a terrorist act," Simon said.

But during the interview with CBN News, Sheikh Omar Bakri introduced us to one of his followers who had attended a military training camp in the United States.

"Well, basically we were testing different types of firearms and body armor,” said Osman Muqatil. “We trained on the issue of explosives on how to detonate them and how to put them together, and from there, basics of how to make home-made explosives."

Muqatil explained that his next destination was Afghanistan where he attended a training camp synonymous with none other than, "The blessed Mujaheed Sheikh Osama Bin Laden!"

He calls himself a "soldier of Islam" willing to die for his God. In next week’s installment of “The Jihad Trail,” we will bring you more on the compelling story of Osman Muqatil and his extensive military training in America and the desert camps of Afghanistan.

CBN News Reporter George Thomas interviewed Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed last year, long before the terrorist attacks of September 11. Since that day, Bakri has denied reports that he recruits and sends British Muslims to fight for jihad. In a press statement released this week, Bakri insists his group is not engaged in any military training.

Bakri also denies any ties to Sakina Security Services. Meanwhile, British authorities are looking into whether Bakri's activities have violated the new anti-terrorism law. If found guilty, Bakri could be imprisoned or deported from Britain.

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