Regards, Ivan
Posted on 10/25/2002 3:40:22 AM PDT by MadIvan
A Muslim cleric said to be a key aide to Osama bin Laden is today being questioned by Scotland Yard anti-terrorist police.
Abu Qatada, who was based in London and who has been described as "Osama bin Laden's spiritual ambassador in Europe" was arrested in an armed raid by Scotland Yard anti-terrorist detectives and M15 agents.
Qatada, who is said to have recruited shoe-bomber Richard Reid, went on the run for 10 months before breaking cover recently to publish a justification of the 11 September attacks.
He was seized at a council house in Bermondsey in a joint operation and is now being held at Belmarsh top security prison. Today, the Home Office would only confirm that a suspect had been arrested on Wednesday under anti-terrorist laws.
Palestinian-born Qatada had been one of Britain's most wanted men after disappearing last December hours before emergency legislation came into force allowing police to pick up and intern foreign suspects. He has been accused by police in eight countries of being a key figure in the al Qaeda terror network and is thought to have recruited the "20th hijacker" Zacharias Moussaoui.
He had last been seen driving away from his semi-detached home in Acton with his heavily pregnant wife and their four children.
German authorities are seeking him as the key figure in an Islamic extremist gang planning a string of attacks, including a plot to blow up the British Embassy in Berlin. They also believe he is the spiritual leader of the al Tawhid gang, linked to an explosion at a synagogue in Egypt in April that killed 16 people.
Videos made by the cleric were found in a Hamburg flat used by Mohamed Atta, the ringleader of the 11 September attacks. Richard Reid was a frequent visitor to Qatada's prayer meetings at the Four Feathers Youth Club based in Baker Street.
Qatada, whose real name is Sheikh Omar Mahmood Abu Omar, has consistently denied any al Qaeda involvement, although he has expressed "respect" for Bin Laden.
His arrest comes just days after he broke cover to justify the World Trade Center outrage in a 10-page document on the internet called The Legal Vision for the September 11 Events, in which he outlined the moral case for the attacks, and praised Bin Laden for challenging the US.
Qatada, 42, came to Britain from Jordan in 1993 and was granted asylum and benefits of more than £400 a week. Shortly after the atrocities in New York and Washington, a bank account controlled by him containing £180,000 was frozen by British authorities. He is also wanted by the Jordanian government, where he has been sentenced to life imprisonment for a plot to kill American tourists.
Regards, Ivan
Regards, Ivan
Where's Superintendant Harry "Snapper" Organs of Q Division?
Now if I could only find my old "Cockney to English" dictionaary....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.