Category Archives: Islamism

Moazzam Begg Responds

Moazzam Begg of Cageprisoners has issued a reponse to the charges made of him and Amnesty International by Gita Sahgal in Richard Kerbaj’s article in the Sunday Times.

We are posting it in full here, but before we do so, here is a video by Asim Qureshi of Cageprisoners, pontificating on the “religious obligation” on Muslims to wage violent jihad.

We embrace the mercy. We embrace every single thing that is set upon us and we deal with it because we have no fear. So when we see the example of our brothers and sisters fighting in Chechnya, Iraq, Palestine, Kashmir, Afghanistan then we know where the example lies. When we see Hezbollah defeating the armies of Israel, we know what the solution is and where the victory lies. We know that it is incumbent upon all of us to support the jihad of our brothers and sisters in these countries when they are facing the oppression of the west.

Also posted in Terrorism | 6 Comments

Gita Sahgal Blows the Whistle on Amnesty and CagePrisoners

Here is an astonishing act of bravery by Gita Sahgal from within Amnesty International. We at The Spittoon applaud and support her on this principled act.

Sahgal, a senior official at Amnesty International, has accused AI of legitimising the jihadist Moazzam Begg and his organisation Cage Prisoners. This is a hugely significant intervention which, we hope, will finally point much-needed spotlight on Amnesty’s continued patronisation of this known jihadist group and the activities of its directors.

Sahgal’s accusations are based on a fundamental point of principle, which is this: It is correct for Amnesty to hold human rights positions on fair trial, torture, diplomatic assurances and work against renditions and the closure of Guantanamo Bay. However, these positions should also require us to hold salafi-jihadi groups and other religious absolutists accountable. Human rights abuses of torture, for example, should not be used to justify, legitimise and finally partner with proponents of violent jihad such as Moazzam Begg.

Also posted in Human Rights | 10 Comments

Mohammed Atif Siddique and ‘racism’

This is a cross-post of an article by Robin Simcox.

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In September 2007, Mohammed Atif Siddique was jailed for eight years for various terror offences. The most serious of these charges – possession of an article for a purpose connected to terrorism – was quashed last week. The appeals judge, Lord Osborne, called the original verdict a ‘miscarriage of justice’, which is inevitably the headline that most of the press ran on. The impression given was that the British state was once again unfairly demonising its Muslim population.

What was missed in most of the reporting was that Lord Osborne was only referring to the main charge as a miscarriage of justice. Siddique’s convictions for providing instruction for the purposes of terrorism, circulating a terrorist publication and breach of the peace still stood. Looking through the court documents, it is clear that Siddique is an unapologetic admirer of al-Qaeda and its ideology. He amassed huge stocks of jihadist material and would regularly discuss his desire to become a suicide bomber. That he could be used as an example of how ‘discriminatory’ the British state is somewhat rankles, to say the least.

Also posted in Moral relativism | 25 Comments

(Sunni) Islamism’s Hatred of Shia Muslims Surfaces in Pakistan

Horrific scenes in Karachi

Two bombs were detonated within an hour of each other in Karachi, targetting the Shia.

A motorcycle fitted with explosives rammed into a bus carrying Shias near the Nursery bridge in Karachi, killing 12 people and wounding close to 50. The injured were taken to Jinnah Hospital. About an hour later another explosion outside the ward of the Hospital was detonated.

Shia-hatred is a mainstay of hardline Wahhabi-inspired ideology as promulgated by those darlings of the Islam Channel, Yasir Qadhi and Anwar al-Awlaki. Advocates of this line of takfiri thinking maintain the Shia are heterodox therefore lesser Muslims or, worse, not Muslim at all and even just simply kfar (“unbelievers”). They (wrongly) claim the doctrine of takkiyyah or dissimulation is embedded into Shia liturgy, they regard the practice of mutah to be degenerate and claim their texts are heretical.

Also posted in Sectarianism, Terrorism | 4 Comments

BREAKING NEWS: Awlaki directed attack on Delta airlines

This is a guest post by Shiraz Maher from Standpoint Magazine.

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CBS News is breaking an exclusive story over in the United States. It seems that Anwar al-Awlaki did indeed direct the abortive Christmas day attack by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. Here’s what CBS are reporting:

The suspect in a failed Christmas Day airliner bombing attempt told federal investigators that radical Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Awlaki directed him to carry out the attack, CBS News has learned.

[...]

The source said Abdulmutallab told investigators he was guided by al-Awalki to detonate the bomb over U.S. soil, unlike the failed British bomber plot in 2006 when the bombers were instructed to detonate bombs on airliners over the ocean on the way to the U.S. so that there would be no evidence left behind.

Also posted in Terrorism, Your View | Leave a comment

Abdulmutallab: Anwar al-Awlaki Told Me to Bomb Jet

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab has turned on his mentor, Anwar al-Awlaki:

According to the source, Abdulmutallab told investigators he obtained the powerful explosives PETN and TATP in Yemen and was left on his own to decide when and how to bring down a plane, Milton reports. Abdulmutallab has apparently disclosed to investigators he picked Northwest Flight 253 because of its availability.

The source said Abdulmutallab told investigators he was guided by al-Awalki to detonate the bomb over U.S. soil, unlike the failed British bomber plot in 2006 when the bombers were instructed to detonate bombs on airliners over the ocean on the way to the U.S. so that there would be no evidence left behind.

Al-Awlaki himself said in a recent interview that he and Abdulmutallab had kept in contact. A senior U.S. intelligence official said al-Awlaki represented the biggest name on the list of people Abdulmutallab might have information against. Both spoke on condition anonymity to discuss the sensitive ongoing investigation.

Also posted in Feature, Terrorism | Leave a comment

Hi Kids! Remember, Annihilate Those Who Insult Islam

This is a cross-post from Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens

Both on this blog and Harry’s Place, Moazzam Begg’s CagePrisoners (CP) group has featured fairly regularly – especially since one of their favourite ‘Sheikhs’, Anwar al-Awlaki, turned out to be an al-Qaeda supporter.

Although CP claims to campaign for raising ‘awareness of the plight of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and other detainees held as part of the War on Terror’, much of its website is dedicated to individuals convicted of terrorism offences in the UK. These people are not ‘detainees’ who are ‘held’, they are prisoners who are guilty of either trying to kill civilians, or encouraging others to do so.

In the website’s ‘From Behind Bars’ section, there are pages of letters from convicted Islamist terrorists, and in the case of Mohamed Hamid (aka Osama bin London), some stratospherically awful poetry.

Also posted in Terrorism | Leave a comment

Pakistan the Oppressor

This is a guest post by human rights campaigner, Peter Tatchell. It was first published on CiF.

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A series of massacres of peaceful protesters by Pakistani security forces look set to sink hopes of a settlement deal between the government in Islamabad and Baloch nationalists who are campaigning for self-rule. There are fears that the sinister, shadowy Pakistani military and intelligence agencies are behind these killings, in a deliberate attempt to sabotage the reconciliation package put forward by the government of President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani.

On 15 January, at least two Baloch political activists were shot dead and four others seriously wounded after Pakistani security forces opened fire on a peaceful, lawful protest organised by the Baloch Students Organization (BSO) in the Khuzdar district of Balochistan.

Also posted in International Affairs, Terrorism | 1 Comment

Awlaki on Amnesty International

This is a cross-post of an article by habibi of Harry’s Place

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Amnesty International UK has promoted Moazzam Begg of Cageprisoners for years, right up to a Downing Street publicity stunt earlier this month.

Begg and Cageprisoners in turn have promoted al Qaeda preacher Anwar al Awlaki. Just two weeks ago Begg was still defending him, with this laughable line about what happened after Awlaki’s detention in Yemen in 2006 and 2007:

After his release, I am told, Anwar’s position on issues pertaining to US foreign policy had started to become more hostile.

Begg continues:

A cursory look at Awlaki’s pre-incarceration lectures would clearly show just why he became so popular. He was not a radical ‘preacher of hate’ by any stretch of the imagination.

Also posted in Terrorism | 7 Comments

Dr Daud Abdullah’s Open Letter to Secretary of State, John Denham

This is an open letter from Daud Abdullah.

You can read the Istanbul Declaration (pdf) here.

Monday 25th January 2009

Middle East Monitor, London

Mr John Denham MP
Secretary of State
Communities and Local Government
Eland House
Bressenden Place
London
SW1E 5DU

22nd January 2010

Dear Secretary of State,

Re: Dr Daud Abdullah

I am taking this opportunity to write to you after the appearance of several articles about my signing the Istanbul Declaration in the national media among them the Daily Telegraph and the Jewish Chronicle which quote an official statement from your Department as saying,

“We still have concerns about the uncertainty of Daud Abdullah’s personal position on this issue. Until he is able to provide the clarification that we have always been seeking we will not be engaging with him.”

Posted in Islamism | 28 Comments
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