UK's political response 'evil'

2005-09-07 21:34

London - A radical Islamic cleric who was banned from Britain in the wake of the July 7 London bombings described on Wednesday the political response to the attacks as "evil", and urged Muslims to follow his example by leaving the country.

Omar Bakri Mohammed, who was born in Syria, but lived in Britain for 20 years and had been allowed to live indefinitely without being granted a passport, left for the Lebanese capital, Beirut, in August.

After he departed, the home office said it was stripping Bakri of his permission to live in Britain because his presence had been deemed "not conducive to the public good".

It marked the first major step in Prime Minister Tony Blair's attempt to evict hardline foreign Islamists from Britain after the bombings, in which 56 people died, including four apparent suicide bombers who were all British citizens and Muslims.

'I would never tip off cops'

Bakri, who praised the September 11 attackers in the United States in 2001 as "magnificent", prompted outrage after the July 7 bombings and said he would never tip off police if he knew a Muslim was about to carry out an attack.

Interviewed from Beirut by Britain's Sky News television, the cleric confirmed that his family remained in Britain, where they would stay "until I settle my life here".

He said he had chosen to leave Britain because of the government response to July 7, and to the failed repeat bombings a fortnight later, which had seen a crackdown on Islamic extremism.

Bakri said: "I left with the intention that I did not want to come back, because of the evil ideology and evil policy adopted by the British government."

'I loved UK'

Bakri said that before the response to the bombings, Muslims in Britain were "living in harmony".

"I was living in the UK because I really loved the country, which was really my second home, and I had no problem with the culture.

"However, after the bombings of 7th July, I think the British government adopted a policy to cover up their own failure to find who was behind the bombing, to accuse the so-called extremists. Unfortunately some people bought that from them."

Bakri said Britain's Muslim population should consider following his lead.

He said: "Myself, personally, I do not see any reason to stay in the UK after the new laws of terrorism.

"I think the Muslim community can no longer live in peace in the UK. It is better for them to leave."

- AFP