LONDON, 13 August 2005 — British Home Secretary Charles Clarke yesterday banned Muslim cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed from re-entering the UK by revoking his refugee status, in a move described by the government as “practical and pragmatic…which would be widely welcomed”.
Bakri, often referred to as the “Tottenham Ayatollah” who headed the radical Al-Muhajiroon organization and once called the 9/11 hijackers the “Magnificent 19”, left Heathrow Airport six days ago on a “holiday” to Lebanon, with the intention of returning to the UK, where he was awaiting heart surgery for a blocked artery on the National Health Service.
On Wednesday the Lebanese authorities arrested him after he gave an interview to the local Future TV channel. But he was released yesterday without any charge being leveled against him.
A British Home Office statement confirmed that “the home secretary has issued an order revoking Omar Bakri Mohammed’s indefinite leave to remain and to exclude him from the UK on the grounds that his presence is not conducive to the public good.”
Muslim organizations such as the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) welcomed the home secretary’s decision. “Omar Bakri is unlikely to be missed by the vast majority of British Muslims. He is someone who for 20 years was given shelter by this country and he has spent almost all that time vilifying this country and its values. With his often very offensive remarks he has contributed toward the demonization of British Muslims,” explained Inayat Bunglawala, spokesman of the MCB to the BBC.
In fact, Bakri’s meager supporters from Al-Muhajiroon, which he claims had been disbanded, yesterday clashed with moderate Muslims outside the Redhill Islamic Center after they were barred from entering the center. Local Muslims accused them of trying to recruit young Muslims for their training camps.
The decision to ban Bakri underlines a toughening of government policy and is a declaration of intent by Prime Minister Tony Blair of his war on the extremists which he outlined last week. Clarke used “existing powers” to exclude Bakri and there were no need for new legislation or immigration rules.
Bakri’s hard-line spokesman, Anjem Choudray, said the ban was “outrageous’ and a failure of the principle of free speech. He has never been charged with a criminal offense in this country. He has been living here for 20 years, and he has a wife, children and grandchildren here.”
Bakri’s past appeared to be catching up with him fast, as it emerged that he could be extradited from Lebanon to his native Syria, which according to reports in Beirut has already lodged an extradition request for the cleric. The UK Home Office confirmed that the decision to bar Bakri would not affect his family. He has seven children, born in Britain, who as dependents of a refugee, are all on state benefits.
The decision to bar Bakri comes a day after Home Secretary Charles Clarke announced the arrest of 10 foreign nationals pending deportation, who the Home Office said posed a threat to British national security.
One of them, 44-year-old radical cleric Abu Qatada from Jordan, is expected to be deported to Amman next week, according to the Jordanian interior minister. This follows an agreement between the UK and Jordan, under which the Jordanian government has given assurances that deportees would not be tortured nor face the death penalty.
Britain is also finalizing similar agreements with Algeria, Lebanon and several other countries in the region.
