Militant Islam Monitor > Satire > Blairs asks Saudis for support for Paid Assassins Gaza takeover -Saudi's accuse UK of giving sanctuary to terrorists
Blairs asks Saudis for support for Paid Assassins Gaza takeover -Saudi's accuse UK of giving sanctuary to terrorists
July 4, 2005
MIM: Saudi Prince Abdullah and Prince Nayef have their "headdresses all in a twist" about the British decision to allow Saad Al Fagih (the head of MIRA and the CDLR ) asylum in Britain. Al Fagih is head of the Committee for the Defense of Legitimate Rights - which bills themselves as a Saudi opposition group. Both the CDLR and MIRA do oppose the rule of the Saudi Royal Family whom they do not consider Islamist enough and want to overthrow them to put a Taliban style of shar'ia government in their place. Al Fagih fled arrest in Saudi Arabia to London and is aligned with Osama Bin Laden. According to the article Al Fagih's name was added to a UN list of people 'suspected to have links to Al Qaeda'. The only problem with the list is that the United Nations itself is providing Al Qaeda with cover as NGO's and humanitarian organisations. Some of the biggest terrorist fund raising operations in the world (such as the Muslim World League) are operating and receiving support from the UN. As far as the Britain being a haven for terrorists who have been kicked out of Muslim countries, Dr. Daniel Pipes reports that;
"...More than half a dozen governments have filed diplomatic protests with the Foreign Office about the presence of such groups. They included Egypt, whose President Hosni Mubarak even denounced Britain for "protecting killers". His principal complaint was that supporters of extremist groups that wanted to overthrow the government in Cairo were operating out of London. Among them are leaders of al-Gama'at al-Islamiya (Islamic Group), which in November 1997 carried out a massacre of tourists in Luxor in which 62 people, including Britons, died. … After the Luxor massacre, the Egyptian government posted a list of 14 men it said were linked to terrorism. Seven were living in London. …
France, which has been the target for terrorist attacks, has sought, often in vain, to have the alleged perpetrators extradited. In 1995, after a wave of bombings on the Metro, the French government said the campaign had been ordered from London. It asked for the extradition of Rachid Ramda, 35, said to be the organiser of al-Ansar, a newsletter of the Algerian Armed Islamic Group, who was alleged to have passed on funds to Islamic terrorist units in France. He is still in custody 10 years after his arrest, although Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, agreed in April to extradite him after the French issued their third warrant. However, he has lodged an appeal and remains in Britain.The difficulties of extraditing suspects and the apparent unwillingness of the British authorities to close down their operations contributed to the country's reputation as a haven for terrorists.
One American-based security group even called for Britain to be placed on the list of countries that sponsor terrorism..."http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/298
For more on the CDLR and MIRA see:http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/248
Blair seeks Saudi backing for Palestinian package
Sun Jul 3, 2005
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/050702/325/fmjkf.html
By Dominic Evans
RIYADH (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair sought Saudi backing on Saturday for a "package of support" he hopes G8 leaders will extend to Palestinians next week ahead of Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
Blair, who held 90 minutes of talks with Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler Crown Prince Abdullah, said he wanted to focus on raising Palestinian living standards but gave no details of his plans.
"We discussed the Middle East situation and I explained that we wanted to have an initiative at the G8 next week to help the Palestinian Authority in the wake of the disengagement," Blair told reporters after his talks with Abdullah.
"Obviously the support of Saudi Arabia would be important for that," he added.
G8 leaders begin their annual meeting in Scotland on Wednesday, ahead of a withdrawal next month of Israeli soldiers and settlers from Gaza, home to 1.3 million Palestinians.
Blair said on Friday he detected a fragile "atmosphere of hope", and promised to set aside time at the summit to discuss his plan.
"The most important thing is that we are raising the living standards of people on the Gaza (Strip) and West Bank when the disengagement happens," he said in Riyadh.
PEACE INITIATIVE
Blair, on his first visit to Saudi Arabia since October 2001, met Abdullah after a formal dinner at the prince's palace in Riyadh.
Abdullah launched an Arab peace initiative in 2002 offering Israel normal relations in return for its withdrawal to the borders as they stood on the eve of the Middle East war of 1967, a condition the Jewish state has rejected.
"Both of them talked about the Palestinian issues as the primary (element) for any security and stability in the area," Saudi Arabia's ambassador to London Prince Turki al-Faisal said.
He said they also discussed the need for stability and security in neighbouring Iraq, where more than two years after U.S. and British troops invaded to topple Saddam Hussein, they are fighting a bloody conflict with insurgents.
Prince Turki said they touched on "cooperation in the fight against terrorism", but declined to say whether Saudi Arabia had sought the extradition of a dissident it accuses of involvement in an alleged Libyan plot to kill Abdullah.
London-based Saad al-Fagih denies any connection to militant groups, but his name was added in December -- at U.S. and British requests -- to a U.N. list of people suspected of links to Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.
Interior Minister Prince Nayef publicly questioned Britain's commitment to fighting terrorism in March as long as it gives "sanctuary" to Fagih.
The row could hurt trade relations just as Saudi Arabia, flush with record oil revenues, is unveiling billion dollar power and water projects and showing interest in potentially lucrative jet fighter purchases.
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