CONTROVERSIAL CLERIC TALKS OF 'WAR' ON WESTERN GOVERNMENTS
Tue Dec 17 2002 23:32:17 ET
Outspoken Muslim cleric Sheikh Abu Hamza has launched a new attack on the West, talking of a "war" against its governments, financial institutions and armies.
The sheikh, who is facing possible removal from his base at the North London Central Mosque in Finsbury Park, following complaints to the Charity Commission about his activities, also spoke of his admiration for Afghanistan's former rulers, the Taliban.
BBC 2's Newsnight showed footage of the sheikh urging on his followers the merits of attacking banks. He told Newsnight last night: "None of these statements is against your people, because our war and struggle is against governments, institutions like banks and also armies ..."
Asked whether he still maintained that it was legitimate to "loot and shoot" in banks, the sheikh said: "Banks are a different story. Banks are imposing on us poverty ... they are enslaving Africa and our countries."
The sheikh said his original comments related to banks in France, because of the country's activities in Algeria.
But asked whether it would also be legitimate in Britain, he said: "Maybe it is not legitimate for everybody, but the question was from somebody who was Algerian, whose family were being killed, and their property being taken.
"And if somebody is similar to him in England then he has the right to do so. Islam doesn't say you turn the other cheek ... you defend yourself in the appropriate way."
Asked whether he believed it was legitimate to blow up embassies, the sheikh said: "These embassies have been blown up as a result of ... basically they have been used as a spy place."
Asked if there was a government on earth which he admired, he replied: "The Taliban."
When it was pointed out to him that the Taliban had been forced from power, he said he hoped for its return. "The coming Taliban, hopefully," he said.
