Bomber's uncle: 'Forces' drove him to kill

[Frederik]

This alleged suicide bomber was apparently "proud to be British". This is really weird.

Daily Mail (UK):

Bashir Ahmed, 65, said the family of Shehzad Tanweer had been "left shattered" by the news that the 22-year-old was a suicide bomber.

Speaking at the family home in Beeston, Leeds, he said: "The family is shattered. This is a terrible thing."

Mr Ahmed said it was hard for the family to accept their son had caused such loss of life, adding: "It wasn't him. It must have been forces behind him."

He said his nephew was intelligent, adding: "He was a very kind and calm person. He was respected by everyone."

(...)

Mr Ahmed said his nephew went to Pakistan for two months earlier this year to study religion.

He denied earlier reports that his nephew travelled to Afghanistan and took part in training camps.

"There is no way, I have seen his passport."

Mr Ahmed described his nephew as "calm and collected".

He added: "He was intelligent. He went to university, Leeds Met, to study sport science. His plan was to go into sports."

He added: "He had everything to live for. His parents were loving and supportive. They had no financial worries."

He said he now accepted the family may have to move away from the area.

'Proud to be British'

Mr Ahmed said his nephew, who had studied in Lahore in Pakistan, was "proud to be British". He said if he had known he was involved in any fanatical groups or organisations he would have put a stop to it.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=355677&in_page_id=1770&ct=5

[Chicago Democrat]

1. "no way, I've seen his passport" Oh daddy... I am so sorry.

What a terrible thing for their family.

[mr_hat]

2. Passport stamps? Passport stamps? >

We don't need no stinkin' passport stamps.

[mbperrin]

3. Hmmm...find pieces of folks who "look like" the suspects desired,

and pin it on them?

Maybe. One thing for sure - THEY can't defend themselves!

Just a notion......

[schrodingers_cat]

5. I had that same hunch from the news reports last night

They said that they were led to the house by a piece of paper found at a bomb site with these folks' names on it. So far it sounds kinda thin. Let's see if they come up with corroborating evidence - I don't know all of the facts, but that's the feeling that CNN's reports left me with yesterday.

[Art_from_Ark]

15. The British version of the "passport in the rubble"

[anotherdrew]

4. tavistock ain't just a square

that's all I'll say

[katty]

6. Amen to that!

[JoFerret]

12. What does that mean?

.

[Nihil]

17. Might be reaching here ...

... but I'm guessing they're referring to the Tavistock Institute.

(Note that this isn't based anywhere near Tavistock Square and so
I think this is completely unrelated ... sometimes coincidences
are just coincidences ... in addition, you could make a "connection"
between almost any London address and one of the many shadow bodies
around the world if you really wanted to.)

[Igel]

7. I feel sorry for his family.

On the other hand, it's also a common litany when they interview the families of suicide bombers. A few are proud of their kids' deeds.

Most deny it was them, at least to the western press, and say they couldn't have done it.

And then there's always the sinister forces lurking behind the scenes, corrupting good Muslims. When there was a shootout in Jeddah, it took over a week for the Sa'udi authorities to stop seeing "a foreign hand" and "Zionists" behind it--even when they had the guys, an official was still saying that Zionists must have corrupted the good Muslims lads.

Or there's the Egyptian representative last week, soon after the bombing, suggesting maybe it was something like the Bader-Meinhof brigades using the al-Qa'ida name for diversion.

[mallard]

21. Re: "his plan was to go into sports"

These well-adjusted South Asian immigrants just don't fit the profile for vengeful, bloody fanaticism leading to random murder and suicide.

Besides the backlash they've supposedly caused for their families and their fellow 'apparently normal' Muslims across the western world, they have - assuming the charges being made against them were actually valid - demonized their own religion and its membership by making Muslims look not only murderous, but quite obviously stupid.

Now why would they want to kill themselves for these self-defeating reasons? Wouldn't they have at least tried to explain their strategy with some sort of suicide notes?

How about if they were covertly recruited for the terror drills, recruited to check out the Pakistan scene, being trustworthy types who wouldn't tell anyone they were secretly serving a national cause?

[sleipnir]

8. I remember the same sentiments about the 9-11 terrorists.

Granted, we got very little out of their families, but the background was the same. Well educated, financially secure, a little "international travel" to the Afghan/Pakistan region, family members that were unwilling to believe it was their son, etc...

I do remember one family adamantly refusing to believe their son was involved in 9-11.

Methinks this is the type of person that the terrorists are looking to recruit. They sure don't have a high profile and draw little heat at the border. You couldn't tell the fanatic from the outside, they would look just like your "everyday," secular Muslim.

[AndyTiedye]

9. Some of the Alleged 9/11 Hijackers Were Even More Surprised...

...to be named as hijackers. The fact that they are still alive,
and in some cases were not even in the US on 9/11 obviously tends
to support their claims of innocence.

Why assume that terrorists would use their real names?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1559151.stm

[leesa]

10. And seven of them were proven to be alive and well.

Don't buy horseshit just because someone tells you it's high grade tobacco. Is the report of the autopsy of the remains back from an independent TRUSTED coroner? Otherwise, I would treat it as a conspiracy theory.

[Miss Chybil]

14. You can't tell anything about anybody from their outsides.

Look at Ted Bundy, or the BTK killer. When a different race is involved it's psychologically easier to be suspicious because they are the "other." But, I wouldn't know a radical Muslim from a "secular" Muslim until he blew me up. Anymore than I would have known Ted Bundy was a serial killer.

[LisaL]

18. Some people have very good reasons for refusing

to believe their son was involved in 911. At least a few of 911 terrorists have been mis-identified, as they are alive and well today.

[Swede]

11. They have to silence those clerics that spread hate.

One of the suicide bombers was just 18,these assholes that sent him have to be rounded up.

[JoFerret]

13. Don't trust the Mail

....however, there does not seem to be any justification for this level of suspicion and paranoia just yet. The scenario of radicalized youth is logical.

[bleedingheart]

16. The movie "My Son the Fanatic" is about how one man

deals with his son who has become an islamic fundamentalist.

[leftofthedial]

19. I din't thenk there were any training camps in Afghanistan anymore

didn't we "win" there and restore power where it belongs--to the warlords?

Isn't Pakistan where the radical madrases are?

[emcguffie]

20. How about this: The UK just picks 4 young Muslim guys --

-- identifies four young Muslims who died in the blasts, and then blames them? As part of a cover-up?

[Maat]

22. I have been wondering about that too. (n/t)