Radical cleric Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammad plans to return to Britain to see his wife and children and meet with his students but ruled out âa permanent move to London even if they gave me Queen Elizabethâs throne.â In a telephone conversation with Asharq al Awsat on Saturday, the firebrand cleric indicated that his return depended on renewing his Lebanese passport and affording a plane ticket, which he expected to pay for by studentsâ donations. The Syrian-born Islamist Sheikh, who is barred from returning to Britain in the wake of the July 7 attacks, revealed he had not âasked his lawyer Ikbal Ahmad Haq to appeal against the decisionâ.
Instead the spiritual guide of the al Ghurabaa movement and the former leader of al Muhajiroun which disbanded itself in October 2004, will apply for a tourist visa. The British authorities had informed him in an official report, handed over to the Lebanese authorities, that his leave to remain in the United Kingdom was revoked and he would not be allowed to return. The 46-year old confirmed that he needed a tourist visa to fly back to Britain and added that his children had already applied for one on his behalf and were awaiting the result. âMy wife and children live in London and so do hundreds of my students who call for my return,â he said.
Asked whether he would exercise his legal right to appeal the British Home Office's decision to revoke his residency, Bakri said he did not to do so for reasons relating to Islamic Shariaa. âClaiming political asylum is allowed in our religion since the early Muslims migrated to Abyssinia ,â he added. âFrom the point of view of Shariaa (Islamic law), Islam permits me to travel a second time to Britain as a visitor or a new migrant.â On the contrary, his permanent return to Britain would involve appearing before an appeals judge who would not follow the rule of God in his ruling, which he considered âidolatryâ.
Bakri denied that the British governmentâs failure to secure its anti-terror bill as MPs voted Wednesday to reject a 90- day detention for terrorism suspects was an open invitation for his permanent return to Britain. However, he did say that if the Commons had refused to allow the 28-day detention without trial of suspects, he would return to London the next day.