>>Islamists to mark 'positives' of Sept. 11
By Bassam Alloni
From the International Desk
Published 9/5/2002 5:38 PM
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LONDON, Sept. 5 (UPI) -- A London-based Islamist group will mark Sept. 11 by hosting a conference of
Taliban and al Qaida sympathizers, the group's leader, Sheik Omar Bakri, said Thursday.
The London conference, Bakri told United Press International, was meant to shed light on "positive points"
resulting from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington and on "victories achieved by the
Islamic movements."
"The Sept. 11 attacks stripped off the mask the United States had been wearing in its Crusader war against
Islam and the Muslims," said Bakri, founder of the Muhajirun (Immigrants) Movement that is organizing the
meeting.
The Muhajirun is an international Islamist group that supports the establishment of Islamic shariah law in
place of all other legal systems and the re-creation of the caliphate, the office of successor to the Prophet
Muhammad. It was last held by the Turkish sultans and abolished in 1924 by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the
secularist founder of the Turkish republic.
The republic was the successor state to the Ottoman Empire.
Bakri said the gathering was to be attended by Muslim personalities from salafi and jihad bodies in Britain
and other countries.
Salafi Muslims seek to re-establish what they believe was the pure religion and society of the early days of
Islam. Members of jihad groups participate in or support armed struggles to overthrow existing governments
and establish rule under shariah.
A letter from Mulla Omar, leader of the Taliban, ousted from ruling Afghanistan by a U.S.-led coalition, will
be read. The letter was received, Bakri said, through the Taliban Internet website. So will messages from
the terrorist network al Qaida, also received by way of the Internet, he added.
The site of the conference will be disclosed a day before the gathering next Wednesday and only a limited
number of journalists will be invited, Bakri said. <<
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