Politicians, Muslim community leaders and relatives of victims yesterday strongly reacted to a videotape of Mohammad Sidique Khan, the ringleader of the men responsible for the suicide bombings on July 7 on the London transport system which claimed the lives of 56 innocent people, for trying to justify the devastating attacks. In a chilling video message broadcast for the first time on Thursday night by Al-Jazeera Television, the 30-year-old Khan from Dewsbury in West Yorkshire, blamed the British public for the bombings because of its support for Prime Minister Tony Blairâs government and other Western governments which âcontinuously perpetuate atrocitiesâ against the Islamic world. This he said made them âdirectly responsibleâ.Khanâs uncompromising and unapologetic address, and the fact that his message was accompanied by one from Al-Qaedaâs Number 2 Ayman Al-Zawahiri, has sent intelligence services and counter-terrorism experts scurrying for clues and hidden messages. âWe are at war and I am a soldier,â he said and warned of further attacks.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said there could be âno excuse, no justificationâ for the terror ideology.
From bereaved families of the victims to Muslim community leaders, the message was to the point and unequivocal. This was an act of barbarity and nothing to do with Islam. Khanâs Member of Parliament (for Dewsbury), Labour MP Shahid Malik, said he was âshocked and disturbedâ by the video. âKhan accuses âWesternersâ of being responsible for the London bombings but we must be clear that the only people responsible for these heinous acts were him and his twisted associates. Far too many Muslims have been living in a state of denial but now they have heard it from the horseâs mouth and must come to terms with the undoubted challenge that this presents. We must not allow the evil few to hijack issues such as Palestine or Kashmir or Iraq,â he warned.
Another Labour Muslim MP (for Tooting in south London) Sadiq Khan, described the video as âdespicableâ. The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), who has come under attack for failing mainstream Islam in Britain, said it was âobsceneâ to suggest justice for the people of Iraq could be obtained by committing an act of injustice against the people of London. Inayat Bunglawala, spokesperson of the MCB stressed that âholding all British people responsible for the Iraq war is just plain wrong .â However, in a swipe at Prime Minister Tony Blair, the MCB reminded that âthis tape does serve to confirm that the war in Iraq and our policies in the Middle East have indeed led to a radicalization amongst a section of Muslim youth.â