Militant Islam Monitor > Weblog > Al Muhajiroun plans 3rd annual 'celebration' of 9/11 attacks - Group denied venue at last minute -cancels event
Al Muhajiroun plans 3rd annual 'celebration' of 9/11 attacks - Group denied venue at last minute -cancels event
September 5, 2004
MIM: Al Muhajiroun plans third annual 'celebration' of the 9/11 attacks in London. Instead of being jailed like his crony, Abu Hamza Al Masri , A M leader Omar Bakri is still walking around with impunity and planning another openly terrorist gathering to call youths to Jihad and screen films of operations by Al Qaeda and Chechen terrorists .Lectures on "slaughtering the infidels" and calls to "revive the commandent of Jihad" are part of the program.
An article in the Guardian related that ;
"Mr Bakri (the spiritual leader of Al Muhajiroun) was quoted in the London-based Arabic daily newspaper Al-Sharq al-Awsat as saying the conference would focus on the "anniversary of the division of the world into two great camps, the camp of faith and the camp of unbelief".
He said: "We want the world to remember this operation [9/11], that lifted the head of the [Muslim] nation ... a cry of jihad against unbelief and oppression."
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MIM :Even though the venue has not yet been announced some British groups which are being described as "right wing" in the press are calling for "patriots to stand up and be counted". Commentary on websites included ;
"The Muslims are celebrating in east London on the day and we gotta stop it" and "The plan is to lay a wreath, pay our respects to all those who died, then head over to east London to break up their celebration".
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http://www.israelnationalnews.com/print.php3?what=news&id=68455
Extremist Muslim Group In London announces 9/11 commemoration
An extremist Islamic movement Al-Muhajiroun in Great Britain has announced its third annual commemoration of the 9/11 attacks, with a convention in London titled, "The Choice is in Your Hands: Either You're with the Muslims or with the Infidels."
Al-Muhajiroun leader Omar Bakri told London's Arabic-language A-Sharq Al-Awsat that the convention would feature Al-Qaeda "surprises," with the screening of a never-before-shown video. "We want the world to remember this operation," Bakri said, "that lifted the head of the [Muslim] nation." He called 9/11 "a cry of Jihad against unbelief and oppression," and said that the aim of remembering it is to "revive the commandment of Jihad among the youth of the [Muslim] nation."
MEMRI also reported that Bakri said that a lecture will be delivered on the Islamic religious roots of "slaughtering the infidels," and that there will be films by Al-Qaeda and other terror groups. In a most timely manner, a film will also be screened on the most recent operations by Chechnyan Moslem terrorists - though it will not include the school massacre of last week.
The organization planned a similar anniversary event a year ago, called "The Magnificent 19 [Suicide Attackers]," but was forced to downgrade it at the last minute, and sufficed with a smaller "Introduction to the Magnificent 19 Conference." In 2002, it held an event called, "A Towering Day in History."
Al-Muhajiroun claimed, as of last year, no fewer than 30 offices across Britain, with branches in France, Pakistan, Algeria and throughout the Middle East. British media report that al-Muhajiroun was linked to attempts to recruit British Muslims to fight in Afghanistan and elsewhere, and to British suicide bombers who struck a pub in Israel last year.
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http://www.newhumanist.org.uk/news_more.php?id=971_0_20_0
Al-Muhajiroun secures East London venue for 9/11 ‘celebration'
Editorial Staff 07 Sep 04
Event will go ahead "barring outside intervention", claims spokesman
Following the controversial announcement last Sunday that the extremist Islamic group al-Muhajiroun will be holding a ‘celebratory' meeting on 11th September to honour the attacks in New York and Washington three years ago, Anjem Choudary, the group's secretary-general, has said that it will go ahead "in an East London location" but would not confirm the venue to New Humanist for fear of police intervention.
Speaking to us on the phone, he said the event would be commemorating the 9/11 hijackers and that there would be a dedication to the memory of three Al-Qaida commanders.
Earlier this week the London daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat reported that a film about recent operations in Chechnya would be shown at the event.
When asked about the massacre in Beslan, Mr Choudary told New Humanist : "The hostages [in the school] were mostly adults, and the children were offered to be released [by the hostage takers]. This was refused by the Russian authorities." Asked for his views on the attacks he defended the hostage-takers: "The Chechen mujahideen had very reasonable demands…lack of food, water and electricity was because of the authorities… Putin is the last one to negotiate." He went on to say, "These people have very few options available to them. They have every right to be retaliating against the Russian authorities."
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Al Muhajiroun Cancels 9/11 Meet
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/5983_1003880,00430005.htm
Islamic extremists who had planned to commemorate the 9/11 terrorist attacks were forced to call of their
Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed, leader of Al-Muhajiroun, was scheduled to give a lecture and show videos about the conflicts in
Anjem Choudary, a spokesman for the group, even told a press conference before the meeting that a Muslim flag would fly over
A spokesman for Friends House said the venue had been booked under the name of the Birmingham Youth Forum, and Friends House only discovered the real identity of the meeting's organisers after approaching the police for help.
"I am angry with the British authorities. If they want to proscribe us, then they should proscribe us, not treat us in this way," Omar Bakri said.
Scotland Yard, however, denied pressurising Friends House to cancel the booking.
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3482883
Islamic Group: 9/11 'Was A Towering Day in History'
By Vik Iyer, PA News
Anjem Choudary, of radical group Al-Muhajiroun, described Osama bin Laden, mastermind of the attack on the Twin Towers in New York, as a "Muslim brother" and claimed he would be elected leader in any Muslim country.
Al-Muhajiroun, which vowed that one day the Islamic flag will fly in Downing Street, had planned to stage a conference in London this evening to mark the third anniversary of September 11 but it was called it off on police advice.
Instead Mr Choudary held a news conference in the capital to declare that there had been positive outcomes as a result of 9/11. He said the act had divided the world into two separate camps, Muslim and non-Muslim.
Of bin Laden, he said: "He is my fellow Muslim brother. We believe in the same God, we believe in the same messenger ... whether he is an oppressor or oppressed.
"I do not believe he is an oppressor, he is on the right path.
"If you had an election in any Muslim country, he would win."
The group described 9/11 as a "towering day" in history and it also paid tribute to the "magnificent" 19 hijackers.
Mr Choudary stressed that the hijackers were educated men from rich backgrounds.
But he said Muslims who lived in Britain, under the covenant of security, did not have the right to carry out operations in this country.
Mr Choudary denied his organisation was a military one and said that it was not involved in training people to carry out terrorism in Britain.
Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed, the spiritual leader of Al-Muhajiroun, had been due to attend but did not show up at the last minute, with organisers claiming he had instead decided to speak to an Arab television station.
Mr Choudary added: "There is no doubt that 9/11 was a precursor for the dividing of the world into two camps.
"There are two types of terrorism. The type of terrorism which is praised by the almighty Allah and the type of terrorism which is dispraised."
He also denied that the terrorists behind the Beslan school siege in Russia had targeted children and claimed that they had made reasonable demands which would have resulted in all of them being released.
He finished the press conference by saying: "Islam will rule over Britain."
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Latest News:
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/09/05/wosse705.xml
Cleric supports targeting children
By Rajeev Syal
(Filed: 05/09/2004)
An extremist Islamic cleric based in Britain said yesterday that he would support hostage-taking at British schools if carried out by terrorists with a just cause.
Omar Bakri Mohammed, the spiritual leader of the extremist sect al-Muhajiroun, said that holding women and children hostage would be a reasonable course of action for a Muslim who has suffered under British rule.
In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Mr Mohammed said: "If an Iraqi Muslim carried out an attack like that in Britain, it would be justified because Britain has carried out acts of terrorism in Iraq.
"As long as the Iraqi did not deliberately kill women and children, and they were killed in the crossfire, that would be okay."
Mr Mohammed, 44, who lives in Edmonton, north London, but is originally from Syria, also claimed that the Chechen rebels were not responsible for the deaths of more than 350 people - at least half of them children - who are so far known to have died in Beslan.
"The Mujahideen [Chechen rebels] would not have wanted to kill those people, because it is strictly forbidden as a Muslim to deliberately kill women and children. It is the fault of the Russians," he said.
The father of seven came to Britain in 1985 after being deported from Saudi Arabia because of his membership of a banned group. He has since been given leave by the Home Office to remain in Britain for five years but the Government is reviewing his status.
He gave an interview yesterday to promote a "celebratory" conference in London next Saturday to commemorate the third anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
Andrew Dismore, the Labour MP for Hendon, was infuriated by Mr Mohammed's comments. "That sounds to me like incitement and I will report him to Scotland Yard," he said. "It is an insult to most moderate Muslims, who are sick of people like this claiming to represent them."
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London convention celebrates 9-11
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=40299
An extremist Islamic movement in Britain plans a convention in London titled, "The Choice is in Your Hands: Either You're with the Muslims or with the Infidels," to mark the third anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
As WorldNetDaily reported, last year the group, Al-Muhajiroun, had planned a similar anniversary event called "The Magnificent 19 [Suicide Attackers]," but canceled it at the last minute.
The group's leader Omar Bakri, a Syrian residing in London, told Al-Sharq Al-Awsat the convention would feature al-Qaida "surprises," with the screening of a never-before-shown video, reports the Middle East Media Research Institute, or MEMRI.
He said the convention will focus on "the anniversary of the division of the world into two great camps -- the camp of faith and the camp of unbelief," and would take place Sept. 11 from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Bakri added: "On this day, we will talk about the ramifications of these [9-11] operations for Afghanistan and Iraq ... . We want the world to remember this operation ... that lifted the head of the [Muslim] nation."
Bakri called 9-11 "a cry of Jihad against unbelief and oppression" and said the aim of remembering it is to "revive the commandment of Jihad among the youth of the [Muslim] nation."
Bakri said the convention also will feature a lecture about the Islamic religious roots of "slaughtering the infidels," referring in part to the beheading of foreigners in Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
It will include films by al-Qaida, the Tawhid and Jihad organization and the Brigades of the Two Holy Places in the Arabian Peninsula.
Also, the conference will feature a film on the most recent operations in Chechnya, he said. He added that one of the speeches, by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al-Qaida's military commander in Iraq, will be translated.
Another lecture, he said, will be dedicated to the memory of three al-Qaida commanders: Abd Al-'Aziz Al-Muqren, killed in June 2004 by Saudi security forces; his predecessor Yousef Al-Ayyiri, killed in June 2003 in a clash with Saudi security forces; and Abu Hafs Al-Masri, a top al-Qaida military officer, killed in the U.S. attack on Kandahar in late 2001.
According to Bakri, the anticipated criticism of Al-Muhajiroun for the organization's insistence on memorializing 9-11 will be "a simple sacrifice in comparison with what we must actually do -- that is, support the Jihad led by bin Laden."
Attorney Anjam Choudry, secretary-general of Al-Muhajiroun in Britain, said, "A large hall has already been secured for the convention, but the announcement came only two days ago for fear that the British police would try to cancel it, as happened with the previous convention."
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http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=581525§ion=news
Marginal Muslim group cancels September 11 rally
Sat September 11, 2004 11:10 AM ET
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LONDON (Reuters) - A tiny British Muslim group that hails the September 11, 2001 hijackers as heroes cancelled at the last minute a rally to mark the anniversary of the attacks on Saturday for the second year running.
Mainstream Muslims expressed annoyance at the hype they said was being given to the fringe group, which idolises al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and which initially summoned the press to announce the rally.
The group, Al Muhajiroun, has been a staple of the front pages of Britain's tabloids and attracted international media attention for announcing annual events to commemorate what they call the "magnificent" attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.
Reporters and TV crews crowded into a news conference only to be told after an hour that the rally had been cancelled because the venue had pulled out.
But the group used the occasion to praise bin Laden.
"He is my Muslim brother," Muhajiroun UK head Anjem Choudhury said. "We believe he is on the right path. We believe he is struggling. We believe he is leading Muslims on the right path."
Spokesman Abu Sahlihah called the attacks "that magnificent operation carried out by the Mujahideen on September 11, 2001".
Tabloids have called for the group's leader, Sheikh Omar Bakri, to be imprisoned, and compared him to radical clerics Abu Qatada and Abu Hamza al-Masri, both held in terrorism-linked cases. But police have not pursued Bakri with much intensity.
Inayat Bunglawala, spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain, blamed the press for spreading the message of a group that had never managed to show more than a small following.
"They are a miniscule group. In the UK we have more than 1,000 mosques and Al Muhajiroun doesn't control a single one," he said.
"Their whole purpose seems to be to provoke the public and create friction between Muslims and non-Muslims. They are unwittingly aided in this by our tabloid press which gives them coverage way out of proportion to their influence."
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Islamist meeting to mark 9/11 sparks fears of backlash
Police suspect rightwingers will try to attack convention where extremists plan to commemorate terror attacks and watch videos of Bin Laden
Rosie Cowan, crime correspondent
Thursday September 9, 2004
The Guardian (UK)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1300050,00.html
There were fears yesterday that a controversial conference to commemorate the 9/11 hijackers and other al-Qaida terrorists would provoke rightwing thugs to attack British Muslims.
Omar Bakri, leader of the extremist Islamic group al-Muhajiroun, plans to hold the convention this Saturday, the third anniversary of the attack on the twin towers, at an as yet undisclosed location in east London.
Anjam Choudry, the UK secretary general of al-Muhajiroun, rejected suggestions that the conference would be a celebration of the 9/11 hijackers, but confirmed it would feature videos of Osama bin Laden and discussions of jihad, as well as a lecture dedicated to dead al-Qaida leaders.
However, some supporters of a group called the United British Alliance, which intends to lay a wreath at the US embassy on Saturday to commemorate the victims of 9/11, have threatened to "stand up to" those they see as apologists for terrorism.
Although the United British Alliance states on its website that it is anti-terrorist, not anti-Islamic or racist, informed sources say it has attracted support from rightwing extremists intent on using the anniversary and the al-Muhajiroun conference as an excuse to attack Muslims.
One unofficial West Ham football club supporters' website contains a chat forum about the commemoration, calling for "patriots to stand up and be counted".
Comments on it included "The Muslims are celebrating in east London on the day and we gotta stop it" and "The plan is to lay a wreath, pay our respects to all those who died, then head over to east London to break up their celebration."
"It's obvious some hardcore lads will go along, hoping for a punch-up at the very least," said a source.
A Scotland Yard source said "these sorts of groups" were closely monitored by the intelligence services, and the police would deal with any public disorder or law-breaking.
Mr Choudry refused to give details of the conference but said al-Muhajiroun was fully justified in airing a different point of view about al-Qaida and Bin Laden from that generally presented in the west.
"We've made it clear it's not about celebrating the deaths of people. We may not have remorse but we do not celebrate these things," he said.
"We will be looking at Iraq and Afghanistan, and some of the al-Qaida personalities who have become household names. The media don't want to hear that Osama bin Laden may have a cause, they just want to demonise him."
He denied that Muslim hostage takers had killed children in Beslan, claiming the Russians were responsible for the slaughter.
"Muslims would never deliberately kill children," he said. "The Russians were the cause of what happened.
"If others hold a minute's silence for the 3,000 who died in 9/11, then there should be a couple of hours for the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. It's total hypocrisy otherwise."
But Inayat Bunglawala, general secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain, accused al-Muhajiroun of contributing to the marginalisation of British Muslims by deliberately provoking public outrage.
"I'm very sceptical about who's going to turn up: I doubt al-Muhajiroun could rally 100 people to this meeting," he said. "But Omar Bakri specialises in enraging the ordinary public in a way that has done the image of Islam so much damage, and encouraged the polarisation of communities in this country. The British National party has no better recruiting sergeant."
Mr Bakri was quoted in the London-based Arabic daily newspaper Al-Sharq al-Awsat as saying the conference would focus on the "anniversary of the division of the world into two great camps, the camp of faith and the camp of unbelief".
He said: "We want the world to remember this operation [9/11], that lifted the head of the [Muslim] nation ... a cry of jihad against unbelief and oppression."
Mr Bakri, a Syrian father of seven, moved to the UK in 1985 after being deported from Saudi Arabia because of his membership of a banned group. The Home Office has given him leave to remain in the UK for five years but is reviewing his status.
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Excerpt from :" The dead of September 11th are remembered in poignant silence "
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?reportID=61063&storyID=3590819
Islamic extremists in the UK yesterday hailed 11 September as a "towering day" in history.
Anjem Choudary of the radical group al-Muhajiroun described Osama bin Laden, mastermind of the attack on the twin towers in New York, as a "Muslim brother" and claimed he would be elected leader in any Muslim country.
Al-Muhajiroun called off a rally in London on police advice but called a press conference. Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed, the spiritual leader of al-Muhajiroun, did not attend.
A group calling itself the United British Alliance picketed the hotel in Stratford in east London where the meeting was called, carrying flags of St George.
Leaders described it as a non-racist, all-inclusive group, but there appeared to be only one non-white member among the 100 marshalled by police.
George W. Bush: September 11 remembrance address
MIM: Note that the the person expressing outrage at the Osama Bin Laden posters is Dr. Mohammed Naseem , head of Birmingham mosque, which was investigated in August after the gunning down of two of it's members by others in the course of an internal mosque dispute.
Last month , Naseem expressed indignation after the leaflets were "found" in the Birmingham mosque attributed to Al Muhajiroun. The leaflets exhorted Muslims to join with terrorists". As can be expected the leafletters were never found, and as in the case with the Osama posters, Al Muhajiroun is a convienent scapegoat for the Birmingham mosque to use to deflect attention from their own militant Islamist agenda and the on going murder investigation involving two congregants who were gunned down .Several members of the mosque, including the Imam were charged with involvement in the shootings.
http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/298
Terror leaflets found at mosque": Police last week were called in to investigate after hundreds of leaflets urging Muslims to become Mujahideen fighters and ask them to "pray for death and decay to be visited upon the West" were distributed at Birmingham Central Mosque, one of Europe's largest Islamic centers . The flyers were signed by Ahle Sunnah Wal Jamah, said by mosque officials to be an alias of Al Muhajiroun organization, which I have elsewhere described as "perhaps the most extreme Islamist group operating in the West." Interestingly, the mosque's chairman, Mohammed Naseem, blamed the British government for Al Muhajiroun's presence. "Its leaders continue to preach and incite terrorism and yet the Government does not nothing about it. These people should be removed from the country." It bears noting that on July 29, 2004, Azmat Yaqub, a person associated with the Birmingham Central Mosque died in a hail of bullets at a gymnasium, after having survived a similar assault in March 2003 in what the press reported as a dispute between factions at the mosque. This mosque appears to be out of control; one wonders if it will it go the way of its Finsbury Park counterpart. (Aug. 15, 2004)
City outrage over pro-Osama poster
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By Staff Reporter, Evening Mail | |
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Stickers "promoting terrorism" by praising Osama bin Laden and the September 11 hijackers have been plastered in Birmingham streets, it was revealed today. The stickers, which show bin Laden and US President George Bush and the doomed twin towers of the World Trade Center, have left a church group outraged and embarrassed the leader of the city's central Mosque. They exhort people to: "Remember remember 11 September." They have been put up in Alum Rock Road, apparently by the extremist Al-Muhajiroun organisation. Today the inter-faith Saltley Gate Peace Group called on the city council to remove the stickers immediately and for a police investigation. The group, which is based at Saltley Methodist Church, said it feared that as the 9/11 anniversary approaches this weekend the stickers would result in "vandal-ising the image of communities and promoting terrorism amongst a very young and vulnerable population of Muslim youth." The group also claimed that Al-Muhajiroun members had distributed leaflets praising bin Laden outside Birmingham Central Mosque, despite being banned from the premises. "The local police officer on site viewed the material afterwards and claimed that the leaflets could be potentially explosive if they got into the wrong hands, causing friction between communities," the church statement said. It condemned Al Muhajiroun as a "terror-supporting organisation" and criticised the city council for failing to remove similar stickers which first appeared 12 months ago. Today Dr Mohammed Naseem, chairman of Birmingham Central Mosque, was quick in his condemnation of the stickers and leaflets. He said: "When you have friends like this who needs enemies? Whatever they recommend is not permitted in Islam. "They boast that they can never be touched and the Government is protecting them. "I would ask people to ignore these posters and stickers and what they are saying, which is un-Islamic. "They have a small following of misguided young people who have little knowledge of Islam." Dr Naseem added: "This kind of polarisation between Muslims and non-Muslims is un-Islamic and is not how the Prophet behaved." A spokesman for the council said: "The ones we didn't remove from last year were those left on private property, but we removed all the others. We will also take these new ones down." No-one was immediately available for comment from West Midlands Police. | |
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Islamic lhttp://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=40338eader hails
Chechen attack
Says similar operation would be justified in UK
Posted: September 8, 2004
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Aaron Klein
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com
A UK-based Islamic extremist movement said that last week's abduction of Russian children by Chechen terrorists should be repeated in Britain.
Al-Muhajiroun spiritual leader Omar Bakri hailed last week's attack on a school in southern Russia in which close to 400 people, including many children, were killed, and said that holding women and children hostages would be reasonable for a Muslim who has suffered under British rule.
Bakri told The Sunday Telegraph, "If an Iraqi Muslim carried out an attack like that in Britain, it would be justified because Britain has carried out acts of terrorism in Iraq. ... As long as the Iraqi did not deliberately kill women and children, and they were killed in the crossfire, that would be OK."
"The mujahedeen [Chechen terrorists] would not have wanted to kill those people, because it is strictly forbidden as a Muslim to deliberately kill women and children. It is the fault of the Russians," said Bakri.
Al-Muhajiroun maintains a branch in Queens, New York that claims to be involved in "only peaceful activities." The group holds closed-door meetings and study sessions at a mosque in Jackson Heights, Queens, led by an older spiritual cleric identified as a Sheikh Choudray.
The Queens branch youth leader, Abu Yousuf, a U.S. citizen who says he attended a "camp" in Sudan and takes computer courses at the City University of New York, speaks at universities throughout New York City at events usually sponsored by the Muslim Student Association.
At one Al-Muhajiroun event at Queensborough Community College sponsored by the MSA and attended by WND, a Muhajiroun speaker working with Yousuf said, "We reject the U.N., reject America, reject all law and order. Don't lobby Congress or protest because we don't recognize Congress! The only relationship you should have with America is to topple it!"
The speaker continued, "The so-called terrorists are the only people who truly fear Allah. ... They are the only worthy causes, and the mighty superpower only fears them."
In a private interview with WND, a Queens-based Al-Muhajiroun leader said he would be "absolutely honored" to give up his life in a "martyr operation" against American civilians. The leader warned that "a jihad is coming to America because of the moves of the Bush administration."
As WorldNetDaily reported, Al-Muhajiroun announced plans to host a convention in London titled, "The Choice is in Your Hands: Either You're with the Muslims or with the Infidels," to celebrate the third anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Said Bakri: "On this day, we will talk about the ramifications of these [9-11] operations for Afghanistan and Iraq. ... We want the world to remember this operation ... that lifted the head of the [Muslim] nation.
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http://www.breakingnews.ie/2004/09/09/story165696.html#
Russia accuses Britain of weakening anti-terror fight
09/09/2004 - 9:37:34 AM
Russia's foreign minister pointed an accusing finger at Britain today for exercising double standards by granting asylum to Chechen separatists.
Sergey Lavrov said the moves weaken global anti-terror efforts.
His comments, in a Moscow newspaper interview, reflected long-time Russian anger over what Moscow sees as the West's receptiveness to Chechen militants accused of a string of recent terrorist attacks.
The Kremlin instead contends that the militants are trained and supported by international terrorist groups, like al-Qaida.
"Granting asylum to people involved in terrorism – and Russia has documented evidence of this – not only causes us regret but also effectively undermines the unity of the anti-terrorist coalition," Lavrov said.
Russian officials have been particularly angered by Britain's granting of asylum to Akhmed Zakayev, an envoy for Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov, and the US granting of asylum to Ilyas Akhmadov, who was foreign minister under Maskhadov during Chechnya's de-facto independence in the late 1990s.
"It is enough to recall Akhmed Zakayev's statement made from London, in which he plainly and bluntly and without any intricacies blamed what happened in Beslan on the Russian leadership. I believe the cynicism of this statement is clear to everybody," Lavrov said.
"We are far from accusing the leaders of major countries … of deliberately preserving this double standard," he said. "But the inertia is still very strong."
The attacks – the downing of two airliners apparently by explosions, a suicide bombing outside a Moscow underground station and last week's school siege - prompted officials to offer €8.8m for information leading to the killing or capture of top Chechen rebel leaders and a pledge to go after terrorists all over the world.
Russia consistently brushes off criticism that its policies in Chechnya and the brutality of its troops there feed resentment that boosts support for rebels waging a five-year insurgency.
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