Londonistan (term)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This section may stray from the topic of the article.
Please help improve this section or discuss this issue on the talk page. (help)

Some information in this article or section has not been verified and may not be reliable.
Please check for inaccuracies, and modify and cite sources as needed.

This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject.
Please help recruit one or improve this article yourself. See the talk page for details.
Please consider using {{Expert-subject}} to associate this request with a WikiProject

Londonistan (Arabic spelling لندنستان) is an insult or a pejorative sobriquet referring to the British capital of London, used since 1995 by French counter-terrorism agents [2], as well as by the governments of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia^{[verification needed]}, because of the number of exiled Islamist groups that established political headquarters in the city, from which they may seek to overthrow governments they consider oppressive or heretical, or plan terror attacks on other European countries^{[verification needed]}. The term is accused by some of being "racist", especially after it was used as the title for a book by Melanie Phillips, voted most Islamophobic Journalist by the Islamic Human Rights Commission [3] in 2003.

Britain's attractions for Islamist dissidents are said to include its historical commitment to freedom of speech and perceptions that victims of political repression receive asylum, access to temporary accommodation and some monetary support^{[verification needed]}. 13,026 asylum seekers were being accommodated in London on 25 March 2005, according to statistics from the London Asylum Seekers Consortium.^[4]

The British government's perceived unwillingness to prosecute or extradite terrorist suspects provoked tensions with countries in which attacks occurred. Allegations of a British policy of appeasement of Islamists were made and denied; should such a policy have existed, it could no longer be considered a success.^{[verification needed]}

1 Late 1980s onwards
2 Following September 11, 2001
3 7 July 2005 London bombings
4 Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Late 1980s onwards

The presence of active Islamists in London began to cause tensions with Middle Eastern, European, Indian and the United States governments, who view many of these groups as terrorists. After terrorist attacks by Algerian militants in France in 1995 the French government accused the British government of not doing enough to curtail their activities.

Foreign governments were particularly angered when the head of Al-Muhajiroun, Omar Bakri Muhammad, claimed he lived in the UK under a "covenant of security", whereby he was left alone by the authorities so long as he did not sanction attacks on British soil. The British government denied the claim. Some suspects of the 1995 attacks on Paris have fled to the United Kingdom; Rachid Ramda was eventually put into French custody on the 1 December 2005, after ten years of permanent request by French judges. Several non-British major newspapers have echoed the claim that the UK intentionally tolerates radical Muslims and hinders extradition of suspects in order to buy peace from terrorists. [5] [6]

[edit] Following September 11, 2001

The activities of London-based Islamists came under greater scrutiny after the September 11, 2001 attacks, which brought home the vulnerability of Western countries to large-scale terror attacks. Subsequently, the British government arrested a number of key Islamist leaders, including Abu Hamza al-Masri, the imam of the Finsbury Park Mosque, regarded as a base for Islamic extremists. The Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 allowed terrorist suspects to be detained indefinitely without charge. In 2004, the Law Lords ruled that this violated European law, but it was replaced with the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005, containing similar powers. Many Islamists may have left the UK to avoid internment, while others went home after domestic political reform, such as Ali Salman, who returned to Bahrain to help found the country’s biggest opposition party, Al Wefaq.

[edit] 7 July 2005 London bombings

The suicide bombers caught on CCTV at Luton railway station at 07:21 a.m. on 7 July. From left to right, Hasib Hussain, Germaine Lindsay, Mohammad Sidique Khan, and Shehzad Tanweer [1]. (Image: Crown copyright)

Senior police officers warned that, despite greater surveillance, a terrorist attack on London on the scale of the Madrid train bombings was "inevitable". ^[7] Such an attack occurred when four bombs exploded in the London Underground and on a bus during the 7 July 2005 London bombings. A message claiming responsibility was posted on the Qal3ah forum in the name of 'The Secret Organisation Group of Al-Qaeda of Jihad Organisation in Europe'. In the opinion of Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, the attack "has the hallmarks of an al Qaeda related attack". ^[8]

Police have since identified four British-born Muslims of Pakistani descent, based in West Yorkshire, as the suicide bombers. Mustafa Setmariam Nasar, a Syrian who spent a few years in London in the 1990s, has been listed by the UK authorities as one of those suspected of organising the attacks. He is also suspected of involvement in the Madrid bombings.

On July 22, 2005, in the wake of a failed second bombing attempt on the London Underground, some overseas governments and commentators were quick to blame Britain's tolerance of Islamism for the extremist attacks. "At the end of the day, Britain's attachment to tolerance has brought it nothing but death and desolation", Reuters reported analyst Claude Moniquet as saying. Other intelligence analysts saw the open-doors approach to radicals, which was slowly abandoned after September 11, 2001, as a ready source of intelligence. [9]

[edit] Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy

Following the controversy, Al Ghurabaa, a small extremist Islamist group consisting mostly of former Al-Muhajiroun members, organised a demonstration in London on 3rd Feb 2006 with banners calling for Muslims to "Behead those who insult Islam" and asking for an apology from the Danish Government. In taking no action against the march, the Metropolitan Police were criticised by Conservative Party Members of Parliament.

The man seen on television dressed as a suicide bomber was Omar Khayam. He was out on bail (a 6 year sentence for selling crack cocaine) and was shortly returned to prison, potentially serving a further 3 years. 5 others were arrested on 15th March 2006 [10].