Author: Steven Edwards
Publication: National Post
Date: August 10, 2011
URL: http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/08/10/would-be-terrorists-looking-to-capitalize-on-u-k-riots/
Islamist extremists are trying to capitalize
on the riots engulfing Britain, calling on their followers to help incite
further violence so that a terror attack can be launched amid the chaos.
Via "jihadist" websites, the extremists
say English-fluent Muslims should infiltrate social media with messages that
encourage the rioters so that the police remain "preoccupied" by
the disturbances, according to the Washington-based monitoring group SITE.
The extremists are characterizing the violence
as "useful" for London-based terror cells, saying the rioters are
young and impressionable, and can be easily manipulated if the messages appear
to be the sort of things they would write.
The extremists reason that by extending the
violence, the police will drop their guard against jihadist terror planning.
The increased chaos could also force the British
government to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, some of the sites say.
"The events in London are an opportunity
for the mujahedeen to make a move in London and attack," says one prominent
entry, adding that continued violence "may weaken the position of (the
British) staying in Afghanistan, because the soldiers will be needed in London."
The riots spread after Saturday night when
a small protest over the police shooting of Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old suspected
gang member, escalated into violence.
"We are all Mark Duggan" and "The
people want punishment for the killers of Mark Duggan" are among a string
of slogans another jihadist site provides as examples it is seeking from English-speaking
Muslims.
Other examples mimic typical slogans of the
political left in Britain, such as "No to favouritism and austerity"
and "The people want a dignified life." Yet another - "A call
for free people of Britain to stop racism" - is a clear reference to
the fact Duggan was black.
"We ask the brothers who are fluent in
the English language to write a number of inciting sentences (at least ten
sentences or phrases) and post them here in the subject," the site says.
"We will do the rest with permission from Allah."
Other sites call for English-speaking followers
to post slogans directly, with one providing a list of Facebook addresses,
mainly of prominent English soccer clubs, including Manchester United, Chelsea
and Liverpool, and also of British universities.
One site expresses the hope that the riots
will escalate to mirror the "Arab Spring" demonstrations that have
swept the Middle East and North Africa, toppling some regimes.
"Just as they supported the Arab revolutions
through Facebook and Twitter, and elsewhere, we want to export these revolutions
to them," this site says. "Enter their pages . . . and spread photos
of their revolution and incite them to continue. Make video clips of their
protests and heroic acts."
This site posts a picture of three masked
youths, the centre one holding the Union Jack, as smoke surrounds London's
Big Ben. "Welcome to London and Europe: Spring Revolutions World,"
the picture is titled.
"Those who are demonstrating are mostly
young people, and it is easy to make use of their enthusiasm," the site
adds cynically.
In the absence of opening the way to a terror
attack, efforts to encourage more violence may achieve other jihadist aims,
according to a supporter of the jihadist entries. "One of the goals of
this workshop is to exhaust the economy of the British government," the
supporter says, according to SITE.
