Abu Qatada, an extremist cleric held in a high-security jail in Worcestershire, has smuggled messages out of prison to his followers. Besides praising the Mujahidin and the “martyrs of Hamas”, he also claims his treatment is helping to radicalise a new generation of young British Muslims:
“A new generation of the Muslim youth has been raised, and especially amongst our brothers who originate from the Indian subcontinent, who were no longer mesmerized by the English authority, nor regarding the English values — rather they hate it and they know its enmity towards them, so they have become enemies towards it as well.”
He furthermore writes about meeting Bilal Abdullah, a doctor jailed for the car bomb attacks in London and Glasgow in 2007, who says he was heavily influenced by Abu Qatada’s taped sermons. Abu Qatada was detained under emergency anti-terror laws in October 2002 and is currently being held pending deportation to Jordan, where he has been convicted in his absence for involvement in terrorist attacks.
