Western Resistance

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July 27, 2007

UK: Muslim Students And Schoolboy - Terrorist Wannabes - Are Jailed

News from the Washington Post, Telegraph, BBC, ICWales, Independent, ITV News, International Herald Tribune, Guardian and Times.

Four students and one schoolboy have been jailed at the Old Bailey, London, for possessing extremist Islamist material on the hard drives of their computers, in contravention of the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2000.

The youngest of the five had been eighteen and a schoolboy at the time of his arrest. Now aged 19, Mohammed Irfan Raja (left) lived in London. Aged 17, he had run away from his parents to join four students from Bradford University in Yorkshire, leaving his family a farewell message. The message reads as follows:

"If not in this dunyad [world] - we will meet in Jannat al Firdaws [Garden of Paradise], inshallah [God willing]. The situation is such that you will live another 30 years, maybe 40. When death will befall you, maybe then you will appreciate why I have gone now. At such news, there are parents in the world that would phone their families and friends and rejoice at the decision of their son.

Some ayaat of the Qur'an come to mind:
- Surah Al-Baqarah: 216
- Sura At-Tawbah: 24
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
I think all of you will be upset, especially *****. Please do not blame each other for why you couldn't stop me. It is better to spend time in praying to Allaah.

May Allaah (Swt) accept all your good deeds and let you not die, except in a state of Emaan [firmness of faith].

Irfan Raja
26th Mohammar 1427 H/24th February 2006
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
PS. Just in case you think I am going to do something in this country, you can rest easy that I am not. The conventional method (of warfare) is safer.

PPS. If you want to keep my letter then cut from the dotted lines, as these people (of UK) use everything against you.

Now smile!

At-Tawbah (Repentance): Sura 9:24: "Say: If your fathers, and your sons, and your brethren, and your wives, and your tribe, and the wealth which ye have acquired, and merchandise for which ye fear that there will be no sale, and dwellings ye desire are dearer to you than Allah and his messenger and striving in His way, then wait till Allah bringeth His command to pass. Allah guideth not wrong-doing folk."

While he had been based at a sixth form college in Ilford, Essex, east of London, Mohammed Irfan Raja had encountered the four Bradford University students on an internet chatroom. The students were (left to right) Akbar Butt, aged 20 from Southall in London, Awaab Iqbal, aged 20 from Rochdale, Usman Malik, aged 21 from Wolverhampton, and Altzaz Zafar, aged 20 from Rochdale, Lancashire.

The court was told that none of the individuals had planned to be bombers in Britain, but the four students had plans to go on to Pakistan to be fighters. They had a British contact in Pakistan who was called Imran. In one chat on the forum, Imran said that they could come to his home in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province. He told them: "Have a cover story. Get a wedding card made up, and photos of your cousins."

The students modeled their trajectory to jihad on Abdullah Azzam, who founded the Afghan jihad and who was killed in 1989. Raja, who had arrived at Bradford bearing three CDs titled "Philosophy" (which contained extremist material) soon became disillusioned. He returned home. Police were called when Mohammed Irfan Raja's parents told the police of their fears for the intentions of their son's associates. Raja's grandfather had served in the British India Police Force, and in 1944 had been awarded a medal given to him personally by Lord Mountbatten.

The students' computers were examined and on MSN chatroom conversations they had justified suicide bombings and spoke of terror training requirements and the stories needed to conceal their intentions when traveling overseas. Computer examinations also showed part of an Al Qaeda training manual had been downloaded, including details of explosives and diagrams of detonation devices.

At the Bradford University Islamic Society, the four students had tried to take over one meeting, and had written the word "jihad" in chalk on the wall of their student house.

Yesterday, Judge Beaumont sentenced the individuals to jail terms ranging from two to three years. Mohammed Irfan Raja was sentenced to two years' youth detention. Akbar Butt was sentenced to 27 months' detention, while Awaab Iqbal and Altzaz Zafar received three years' detention. Usman Malik was given a three year jail term.

Judge Beaumont told the five: "Each of you is British. You were born here, your families lived here, you went to school and university here, you hold British passports. You live under the protection of its laws, which give you freedom of speech and religious observance, yet each of you were prepared to break its laws. Why?"

"Because in my judgment you were intoxicated by the extremist nature of the material each one of you collected - the songs, images and the language of violent jihad - and so carried away by that material were you that each of you crossed the line. That is exactly what the people that peddle this material want to achieve and exactly what you did."

Peter Clarke, head of Scotland Yard's counter-terrorism was pleased that the five individuals had received jail terms. He said: "This was not an adolescent fantasy. These five young men had decided to become active jihadists and to seek training at camps in Pakistan or Afghanistan. It is clear these men were intent on committing terrorism overseas."

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at July 27, 2007 8:30 PM

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Posted by: John Sobieski at July 30, 2007 7:37 AM

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