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British Terror Link to Mumbai Train Blasts?

Jeremy Reynalds, Ph.D. - 7/13/2006

As many as 190 people have been killed and 625 injured by seven bombs on the train network in the Indian financial capital Mumbai (Bombay). The first of the near-simultaneous blasts exploded during the rush hour on the Western Railway. Correspondents spoke of scenes of pandemonium, with people jumping from trains and bodies flung onto tracks (www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/000200607120901.htm).

A news release from the British-based anti terror organization Vigil Network reminded readers that the bombings come a year after the London massacre, referred to as 7/7 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_July_2005_London_bombings). In addition, Vigil’s news release reminded, the date of the World Trade Center attacks was of course 9/11, and the date of the Madrid bombings 3/11 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3504912.stm). Now comes this massacre on 7/11, the release starkly stated.

So could there be a British terror link? Vigil’s Whiteman believes so.

Just over a week ago, Whiteman said, a group of radical Muslims were meeting in Birmingham, England in a community center.

They were a mix of extremists from al Ghurabaa, the Savior Sect, the Society of Muslim lawyers and other spin-offs from Hitz-ut-Tahrir and the now banned Al Mujahiroun group. The speeches made were recorded on al Ghurabaa’s website (www.alghurabaa.co.uk).

Commenting in a news release, Whiteman described the scene, “Abu Izadeen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Izzadeen) took the microphone in this grimy hall, and went off into an hour-long diatribe about how Britain could avoid another 7/7 attack. Following the U.K’s strict 2006 Terror Act banning even the glorification of terrorism, he made a point of specifically mentioning the words “glorifying” and “terrorism”, saying that he would never do such a thing. (That was) before mentioning 911 to a chorus of ‘allah akbar’ (meaning allah is the greatest), and singing the praises of Osama. (He then added) the words Bin Zaid to the sentence after a purposefully long pause. He was clearly making fun of the 2006 Terror Act and purposefully sailing close to the new laws of what he described as ‘the infidel British government.’”

During the hour-long diatribe, Whiteman commented that Izadeen mentioned, “almost longingly” at the time, that there was a “7/7, a 3/11, a 9/11 (again to cries of ‘allah akbar’ from those gathered) and a 7/11….no, no …..er…..that is …er… a shop” (a reference to the 7/11 convenience store chain).

“These people talk in riddles,” Whiteman continued, “Not just to avoid glorification of terror laws, but to convey messages to their radical ‘brothers’ all round the world. We found it strange at the time that the prominent members of the groups present failed to laugh at all at this ‘joke’ by Izadeen, yet they roared with laughter at his other attempts at humor. Why was this? Why also did this part of the meeting get videoed by the extremists, and then get posted the very next day on the al Ghurabaa website when other speeches were ignored? Their media machine was very active so many days before the 7/7 anniversary. Was this a sign for the bombers in India to act? Where did these bombers come from? Were they what they call ‘jihadists’ sent from Britain, like the suicide bombers of ‘Mike’s Place’ in Israel (http://www.mikesplacebars.com ) or others linked to these British-based groups? There are many unanswered questions, but we’ll make sure Izadeen’s words are only forgotten when proved or disproved.”

Abu Izadeen, Vigil stated, is currently being investigated by the British police. Information on him is being analyzed by the British Crown Prosecution Service. Another 40 hours of recordings of him have been secretly collected by Vigil, and have also been passed onto the British authorities.

Whiteman commented, “Izadeen is fast becoming a well-known trouble-maker in Britain, just like his mentor the preacher Omar Bakri Mohammed ,who fled to Beirut in August 2005 when he thought the British authorities were going to imprison him on little known treason laws.”

Whiteman said that Izadeen’s future looks dismal.

“If a link is proved,” Whiteman said, “it is likely Bakri will be investigated also, as he has been cyber-preaching from Beirut to British extremists through the U.S.-based Paltalk network, and it is known that Izadeen and Bakri are close. Following his 7/11 comments on July 2 in Birmingham, the question are will he be investigated for involvement in mass murder or was he just talking about a ‘shop?’”

Whiteman said, “We are preparing our dossier for the Indian military attache here in London, and expect the Izadeen comments to be examined as well as web traffic to the al Ghurabaa site since the July 2 conference, especially by Indian intelligence. In his speech, Izadeen tried to be clever. Cleverness is not wisdom. Izadeen’s comments were – especially in retrospect - most unwise, whether by chance or on purpose.”