Islamic cleric ‘will return’ to UK

Radical Muslim cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed has claimed that he will return to Britain from Lebanon, unless the UK government says it does not want him to come back.

The Syrian-born cleric told the BBC that he left the UK for Lebanon at the weekend on a holiday to visit his mother and was planning to return to the UK in four or five weeks.

On Monday, it was revealed that the government was considering the possibility of introducing treason charges against three clerics, including Bakri Mohammed, who had refused to condemn both the London bombings on July 7 and the failed attacks in the capital on July 21.

The Crown Prosecution Service’s head of anti-terrorism is due to meet with senior Scotland Yard officers this week to discuss the possibility of using treason laws to prosecute extremist clerics.

Bakri Mohammed caused controversy when he said that Muslims were “God-forbidden” to inform police about terror attacks in the UK and claimed that Muslims had a “duty” to fight against British troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Two other clerics are also expected to come under scrutiny following television interviews they gave, where they refused to condemn the London bombings. British-born Abu Izzadeen described the July 7 bombings as “mujahideen activity” and said they should make people “wake up and smell the coffee”, while Abu Uzair also described the September 11 attacks as “magnificent”.

Bakri Mohammed told the BBC that he did not want to be used “to make a new set of rules to put pressure on the Muslim community.”

He also said that he would return to Britain to face treason charges, if they were brought, stressing that he had committed no crime.

However, Sir Iqbal Sacranie of the Muslim Council of Britain said that the departure of Bakri Mohammed would bring “joy and happiness” to the UK’s Muslim community.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott also welcomed his departure. Referring to Bakri Mohammed he said: “Enjoy your holiday, make it a long one.”

Omar Bakri Mohammed came to Britain seeking asylum in the mid-Eighties. He founded the al-Muharjiroun group, which has now disbanded, and now heads one of the successor groups, known as the Saviour Sect.

(KMcA/SP)