British Muslim leaders on Wednesday urged every Imam to help police fight terrorism after the arrest of eight men stoked fears that disaffected young Britons may be as much of a threat as foreign militants.
The appeal for vigilance was being sent to prayer leaders in over 1,000 mosques following the arrests and seizure of explosives on Tuesday in Britain's biggest anti-terror operation since the September 11 attacks of 2001.
"We will not tolerate terrorism," Iqbal Sacranie, the council's secretary-general, said in the letter to Imams after the arrest of the eight, believed to be British Muslims of Pakistani origin.
"It is important that we exercise extra vigilance in terms of fulfilling our duty. If there is anything we become aware of, it is our duty to ensure that this is reported immediately to the police," he said.
The letter was welcomed by Prime Minister Tony Blair who said: "The threat of terrorism affects every family in this country, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, and it is right that we all work together to defeat this threat and do not allow the extremists to divide us."
Calling for vigilance, he told parliament: "The UK and its interests abroad remain a terrorist target."
Security sources said those arrested are "not thought to be al Qaeda" or to have connections with foreign groups. But inquiries into their backgrounds continued as police began quizzing the suspects.
"I think it has always been on the cards that it had a propensity to become home-grown," said Magnus Ranstorp, a terrorism expert at St Andrew's University.
"I think the concept of nationality has meant very little when it comes to those gravitating towards the Islamic extremists," he told Reuters.
Police believe the suspects could have been planning a truck or car bomb aimed at civilians.
With banner headlines like "Truck bombers of suburbia," British newspapers were packed with speculation about the possible target - from airports to suburban shopping malls and including Arsenal football ground in north London.
Some of the suspects were arrested near Heathrow and Gatwick airports but there was no evidence to indicate any possible target, police sources said.
Police said the British operation was not linked to investigations into the co-ordinated train bombings in Madrid on March 11, which killed nearly 200 people, or to Irish extremists.
Half a tonne of ammonium nitrate fertiliser found in a suburban warehouse is prime bomb-making material, used for example in the Bali bombings of 2002 that killed 202 people.
Britain, America's closest ally in the "war on terror" and the invasion of Iraq that toppled leader Saddam Hussein, has long feared it could be a prime target for Islamic extremists.
London's police chief openly says he believes an attack is inevitable. Britain has been on high alert since the September 11 suicide plane attacks on New York and Washington.
Police have been at pains to stress they are not targeting Muslims but some groups accuse them of adopting an "arrest first, ask questions later" approach.
Muslim Council spokesman Inayat Bunglawala said their leaders feared there could be a backlash against the country's two million Muslims if an attack were launched in Britain.
"The Muslim community realises that any atrocity perpetrated here may well play into the hands of the far right who will no doubt exploit it for their own devices," he told Reuters.
Comments
Comments are closed.