Radical UK cleric leaves Britain on trip, note to authorities: Don't let him back in!

On July 23rd I blogged about CAIR and radical UK cleric Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed. The poster on the left was produced from one of his groups, Al-Muhajiroun.

I'll repost what was originally published in the Washington Post (the original WashPo link has vanished).

Militant Islamists will continue to attack Britain until the government pulls its troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan, one of the country's most outspoken Islamic clerics said on Friday.

Speaking 15 days after bombers killed over 50 people in London and a day after a series of failed attacks on the city's transport network, Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed said the British capital should expect more violence.

"What happened yesterday confirmed that as long as the cause and the root problem is still there ... we will see the same effect we saw on July 7," Bakri said.

"If the cause is still there the effect will happen again and again," he said, adding he had no information about future attacks or contacts with people planning to carry out attacks.Bakri, a Syrian-born cleric who has been vilified in Britain since 2001 when he praised the September 11 hijackers, said he did not believe the bombings and attempted attacks on London were carried out by British Muslims.

He condemned the killing of all innocent civilians but described attacks on British and U.S. troops in Muslim countries as "pro-life" and justified.

In an interview with Reuters, Bakri described Osama bin Laden, leader of the radical Islamist network al Qaeda, as "a sincere man who fights against evil forces."

Bakri said he would like Britain to become an Islamic state but feared he would be deported before his dream was realized.

"I would like to see the Islamic flag fly, not only over number 10 Downing Street, but over the whole world," he said.

The sheikh arrived in Britain as an asylum seeker in 1993 from Syria. He's not a UK citizen.

He's the type of person the British need to deport, but in a lucky break, that may not be necessary. With little fanfare, Bakri left for a four-week vacation to Lebanon, as the Arab News reports.

British Home Secretary Charles Clarke has the power to bar the Sheikh's return to Great Britain. He should do the wise thing and keep him out.

Here's a postscript, from the Sept. 9, 2004 Daily Telegraph:

An extremist Islamic cleric based in Britain said yesterday that he would support hostage-taking at British schools if carried out by terrorists with a just cause.

Omar Bakri Mohammed, the spiritual leader of the extremist sect al-Muhajiroun, said that holding women and children hostage would be a reasonable course of action for a Muslim who has suffered under British rule.