Radical Muslim cleric flees UK

2005-08-08 22:17

London - A fundamentalist Muslim cleric facing possible treason charges in Britain has fled the country, British media reported on Monday.

Sheik Omar Bakri, the founder and spiritual leader of the radical Islamic group al-Muhajiroun, has been identified by British authorities as one of a number of radical clerics who could face charges if their public remarks are deemed to have incited terrorism.

"He left on Saturday," Anjem Choudary, an associate, told Britain's Channel 4 television. "He is considering his Islamic duties in Lebanon."

Choudary, who is the former head of al-Muhajiroun, said he believed Bakri was planning to go to travel on to one of the "Emirate countries".

Duties

"It's an obligation on Muslims that if they can't fulfil their Islamic duties in a certain place then they need to ... emigrate to a place where they can, where their lives and their religion is protected."

In remarks following the deadly July 7 London bombings which killed 56, including the four suicide bombers, Bakri reportedly said that he would not inform police if he knew Muslims were planning another attack.

He also reportedly offered support for insurgents who attack troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A spokesperson for Britain's attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, said on Sunday prosecutors and police would look at Bakri's remarks and those of fellow clerics Abu Izzaden and Abu Uzairand to assess whether they could face charges of treason, incitement to treason, solicitation of murder, or incitement to withhold information known to be of use to police.

Bakri, 46, is a native of Syria who came to Britain in 1985 after he was deported from Saudi Arabia.

Al-Muhajiroun is to be banned in Britain under anti-terror laws unveiled by Prime Minister Tony Blair last week. Bakri has claims that the group has ceased its activities in Britain.

- AP