Feb. 1, 2005
India Daily
An Islamic terrorist organisation, Al-Takfiri wa al-hijra (ex-communication and exile) considered more dangerous and extreme than Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda has taken root in Britain and is spreading across Europe, according to Jane's Intelligence Review. The Review said it has been able to set itself up in Britain because of lax asylum procedures. In Europe, it has been growing through a loose network of Imams and supporters. The group is so extreme that according to Jane's, it once tried to assassinate Bin Laden. It is also now considered to have been behind Madrid train bombings, which killed hundreds. The intelligence agencies are worried that Al-hijra which had support base in other countries might become an active terror group in Europe. It is considered more dangerous because it has no identifiable leadership structure and exists as " a web incorporating scattered groups of militants separated by geography, connected only by radical ideology". This is why it is difficult to locate its activists but sources said it could have its presence in all "bushfire" areas including Kashmir. Jane's says, the movement has a known presence in France, where 16 mosques have been linked to it and also in Germany, Italy and Britain. " The UK is believed to be major transit point for Takfiri recruits because it has been regarded as a relatively open distribution point for the '' revolutionary message of jihad''." Significantly, the new Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair, on assuming charge today, warned that the threat of strikes on London by terrorists was still very much there. The group originated in Egypt as a peaceful Islamic movement in the 70s but turned to violence and was implicated in murders of two ministers.
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