London faces terror attack

2004-04-18 16:24

Lisbon - Various groups sympathetic to al-Qaeda are preparing large-scale attacks against London, the leader of an Islamic group suspected of having ties to the extremist network said in remarks published on Sunday.

Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed, the head of the London-based group Al-Muhajiroun, added in an interview with the Portuguese daily Publico that last month's deadly Madrid train bombings were carried out by a group of independent actors who back Osama bin Laden's organisation.

"There are many youths who dream of joining Al-Qaeda, but worse than that, there are many 'freelancers' who are willing to launch operations similar to those by al-Qaeda," he said.

"The attack in Madrid was carried out by one of those groups."

"Here in London there is a very well-organised group, which calls itself al-Qaeda-Europe," he added. "I know they are on the verge of launching a big operation."

Bakri Mohammed, who is suspected of having links with Abu Qatada, an alleged al-Qaeda leader in Europe, said it was "inevitable" that London would be hit by a large attack "because they are being prepared by various groups."

Police in Britain have arrested several terrorist suspects since the discovery of the deadly poison ricin in a north London apartment in January 2003.

Spanish authorities meanwhile have blamed al-Qaeda for the March 11 commuter train bombings which killed 191 people and injured around 1 900.

They believe that the attacks were carried out by a group called the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM), which also carried out attacks that killed 45 people in the Moroccan city of Casablanca in May last year.

Police suspect the group is linked to al-Qaeda.

Asked if Al-Qaeda had a connection to the March 11 bombings, Bakri Mohammed said: "Perhaps they did but the operation got out of their control."

He said the network currently has some 11 000 members around the world who are working towards the aim of establishing a grand pan-Islamic caliphate covering several countries with majority Muslim populations.

"With September 11, al-Qaeda convinced Muslims that it has the power to put its plan in practice," he said.

- AFP