Militant Imams Under Scrutiny Across Europe

[drdon326]

After eavesdropping for months on his nightly praise of the Sept. 11 hijackers and of suicide bombings, Scotland Yard said last week that it was investigating Sheik Omar, the leader of Al Muhajiroun, Britain's largest Muslim group, and officials are exploring whether they can deport him. "We're fed up with him," said a senior British official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "He needs to be stopped, or he needs to go."

The more aggressive approach toward Sheik Omar is part of an increasing effort to monitor and restrict militant imams in Britain and across Europe. Authorities have stepped up surveillance of militant mosques in several countries, including Germany and France. French officials deported an imam this month after officials said he was inspiring men to join the jihad.

One major concern, officials say, is that more heated religious rhetoric is encouraging young men to leave home to fight in Iraq.

Although the dimensions of the recruitment effort from Europe to Iraq are not clear, there are indications that it is intensifying.

On Sunday, the German police arrested a man suspected of being a member of Al Qaeda and charged him with recruiting men to carry out suicide bombings in Iraq. These arrests were part of an ongoing investigation in cooperation with the United States of recruitment and other terrorist activities in Europe. A senior German official said he was certain there would be additional arrests of militants inside the country who have set up sophisticated recruitment and smuggling networks that lead to Iraq.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/25/international/europe/25imams.html?hp&ex=1106715600&en=ec4624f04036c6ee&ei=5094&partner=homepage

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[Stella_Artois]

1. Britain's largest Muslim group

I stopped reading there.

Al Muhajiroun is nothing more than a fringe group with a knack for doing things that grab headlines.

There was a documentary on the BBC last year on these folks. It covered a meeting of their membership in Luton, described as their stronghold. There were 17 people there.

Larger than the British Council of Imams and Mosques ?