British Muslims moving into Mideast terror
Groups in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen seen
shifting focus

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Posted: May 2, 2003
12:00 p.m. Eastern



© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com

British counterterrorism officials are looking
inward amid word the two suicide bombers in Israel
were British citizens and the appearance that
members of militant Islamic groups in Afghanistan,
Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere have shifted their
focus to terrorism in the Middle East, reports the
New York Times.

Asif Hanif, 21, died after detonating an
explosives belt he was wearing outside a Tel Aviv
nightclub Tuesday. Omar Sharif, 27, fled the scene
after the bomb taped to his body failed to
explode. The men´s British passports were left
behind. Three people were killed and at least 55
were injured in the blast.

WorldNetDaily reported Hanif and Sharif posed as
anti-war activists and "human shields" and had
participated in a Palestinian march to commemorate
the death of American anti-war demonstrator Rachel
Corrie, killed in March by an Israeli bulldozer.

The Times points out the pair add to a growing
list of British Muslims linked to terrorist
activity, including several caught fighting for
the Taliban in Afghanistan; others accused of
attacks in Yemen; Ahmed Omar Saeed, who was
sentenced to death in Pakistan for the kidnapping
and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel
Pearl and the notorious shoe-bomber, Richard Reid,
who is serving a life sentence in the U.S. for
trying to blow up a trans-Atlantic flight.

According to the paper, Hanif and Sharif have
backgrounds similar to these other militant
Islamic Britons. Both grew up in innocuous,
middle-class or blue-collar environments. Hanif
was raised in the suburb of Hounslow in west
London. Sharif comes from a relatively affluent
family in the English Midlands town of Derby,
which has been associated with Islamic militancy
among a minority of young people.

Sharif´s devotion to militant Islam was heightened
by a stint at college in London, from which he
reportedly returned with an Arab wife who dressed
in a full-length burka.

"We just can´t understand what happened to Omar,"
one of Sharif´s Derby neighbors, Hamida Akhtar,
was quoted in The Evening Standard as saying. "His
whole family was fully Westernized. Only English
was spoken in his home. They were gentle people. I
can´t think what made Omar change."

Militant Muslim leaders attribute increased fervor
among some young Muslims to the perceived
crackdown on Islam around the world.

"The feeling for jihad at the current time in
light of Iraq and Afghanistan and the continuing
intifada in Palestine is very hot within the
Muslim community," Anjem Choudhary, a spokesman
for Al Muhajiroun, a radical Islamic group, told
BBC radio.

WorldNetDaily reported British officials have
their eyes on Al Muhajiroun, which is led by Omar
Bakri Mohammed. The group held meetings at the
mosque in Hounslow that Hanif attended, and also
has a strong presence in Derby where Sharif lived.


Hanif and Sharif also might have met in Damascus,
indicating a probable link with other militant
organizations including Hezbollah.

Hanif was studying Arabic at Damascus University
and left for a tour of the Mideast to "explore his
culture," according to British reports.

Related article:

Suicide bombers posed as anti-war demonstrators