The Brits are on a manhunt. Via the Wall Street Journal:

British police have asked their European counterparts for information on a Moroccan man, Mohamed Guerbouzi, in relation to the terrorist attacks in London yesterday, a Brussels-based European police official said. Mr. Guerbouzi has been under investigation in Britain in connection with two previous attacks, a 2003 suicide bombing in Morocco and last year’s attack in Madrid. He has been living in Britain for about a decade, the police official said.

It was unclear yesterday, however, whether Mr. Guerbouzi was in British police custody, and whether he was suspected of direct involvement in yesterday’s attacks or was a potential witness. A British police spokesman said he wasn’t aware of any arrests in connection with yesterday’s bombings.

U.S. officials said they had gathered significant intelligence in recent months that senior al Qaeda operatives were seeking to target rail systems in Europe and the U.S., but the information wasn’t specific enough to warn of an actual attack.

A senior U.S. intelligence official said Washington was receiving evidence from London yesterday that cellphones and timing devices were used. He also said that he learned that British officials had gathered a number of suspicious items around the bombing sites, including one that they detonated through a “controlled explosion.”

Evan Kohlmann at TCB provides background:

Guerbouzi (a.k.a. Abu Aissa) [is] an influential military commander with the Al-Qaida-affiliated Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (MICG). If correct, this could prove to be a major development in the London bombings investigation. Guerbouzi is a longtime resident of London who, according to credible sources, met while in the United Kingdom with another infamous Moroccan terrorist suspect — Jamal Zougam. Zougam is currently on trial for his alleged role as a lead bomber in the Madrid 3/11 terrorist attacks and is also suspected of having played an organizational role in the 2003 Al-Qaida suicide bombings in Casablanca, Morocco. Reportedly Zougam visited London “in search of funding and logistical help” and contacted a number of North Africans living in Britain, including Guerbouzi.

Evan also points to this blood-boiling story about Guerbouzi in The UK Mirror, detailing how he’s been living comfortably in a flat just blocks from Downing Street with his wife and six kids despite being accused of playing a key role in the Madrid atrocity, as well as a dozen suicide bombings in Casablanca last May which left 33 dead.

How the hell was he able to stay in the country, when Morocco has had an outstanding international warrant for his arrest since 2003? Scotland Yard explained:

“We don’t have any extradition treaty with Morocco and no evidence has been submitted before the courts to consider an arrest.”

This problem, according to War on Terror analysts, has contributed to Britain becoming a safe haven for many other radical Islamist leaders and their followers. Found this buried in a UK Mirror piece:

For many years prior to September 11, politicians maintained that Britain must not be allowed to become a haven for international terrorists. But it has and, arguably, still is. More than half a dozen governments have filed diplomatic protests with the Foreign Office about the presence of such groups.

They included Egypt, whose President Hosni Mubarak even denounced Britain for “protecting killers”. His principal complaint was that supporters of extremist groups that wanted to overthrow the government in Cairo were operating out of London.

Among them are leaders of al-Gama’at al-Islamiya (Islamic Group), which in November 1997 carried out a massacre of tourists in Luxor in which 62 people, including Britons, died. Several members of the group were, or still are, living in Britain, some as political refugees.

After the Luxor massacre, the Egyptian government posted a list of 14 men it said were linked to terrorism. Seven were living in London.

Organisations allegedly linked to Egyptian terror movements have operated out of London under a variety of names. Algerian terrorists, too, operate in London.

France, which has been the target for terrorist attacks, has sought, often in vain, to have the alleged perpetrators extradited. In 1995, after a wave of bombings on the Metro, the French government said the campaign had been ordered from London.

It asked for the extradition of Rachid Ramda, 35, said to be the organiser of al-Ansar, a newsletter of the Algerian Armed Islamic Group, who was alleged to have passed on funds to Islamic terrorist units in France.

He is still in custody 10 years after his arrest, although Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, agreed in April to extradite him after the French issued their third warrant. However, he has lodged an appeal and remains in Britain.

The difficulties of extraditing suspects and the apparent unwillingness of the British authorities to close down their operations contributed to the country’s reputation as a haven for terrorists.

One American-based security group even called for Britain to be placed on the list of countries that sponsor terrorism.

Most of the dissidents in London have either been granted political asylum or exceptional leave to remain, both of which carry some obligations not to break the law or foment trouble.

Some who were considered a threat were imprisoned, but the law lords ruled that this was discriminatory and disproportionate and the former detainees are now subject to special orders limiting their movements and contacts.

They include Abu Qatada, a London-based Muslim cleric, who has been identified as the most significant Islamic fundamentalist in Britain and an “inspiration” for terrorists.

***

Related:

The 7/7 attacks: Britain’s breeding ground for suicide bombers
The 7/7 attacks: Who did it?

comments (0)   trackbacks (26)