Islamic radicals in London decry bombings

An attack on Italy would have put pressure on the government to withdraw troops from Iraq, much as last year's Madrid bombings led to the fall of Spain's conservative government and the departure of Spanish troops, Fagih said.

Fagih, who is under U.N. sanctions for alleged links to al-Qaida — links he denies — said he believed bin Laden knew that an attack on Britain would turn Muslims in Britain against al-Qaida. That's something he says bin Laden would have wanted to avoid.

Al-Thaydi, the Saudi writer, said London was the cultural base of the radicals, while Germany was where military planning took place. Members of the so-called Hamburg cell, for example, allegedly carried out the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

"Military operators didn't work in London. They used to come here on holidays," al-Thaydi said.

London attack expected
But to many people, an attack on London was just a matter of time.

"London was a college for many radicals," said Jamal Khashoggi, a spokesman for the Saudi Embassy in London. "They were graduating radicals; they were exposing them abroad and it wouldn't surprise me that some of them are the ones that carried out the attacks or (were) some of their students."

London has its share of extremist preachers, including Abu Qatada, the 45-year-old Palestinian cleric described by British officials as bin Laden's "spiritual ambassador in Europe" and an inspiration for Mohammed Atta, the lead Sept. 11 hijacker. His real name is Sheik Omar Mahmood Abu Omar.

After spending three years in jail, he was freed in March and has been kept under strict surveillance — he is electronically tagged and required to live under a 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew. He is denied the use of telephones or the Internet and must apply to the government to talk to outsiders.

Other radical preachers include the jailed Abu Hamza al-Masri as well as Omar Bakri. London is also home to a wide range of radical thinkers who espouse the al-Qaida ideology.

Islamist activist: Brits won't react like Americans did
Many Islamist activists expressed hope that Britain wouldn't resort to curbing free expression or cracking down on their activities.

"The British will not react like the Americans (did) — revenge cowboy behavior response," Fagih said. "The British will sit down and discuss the reasons, the circumstances, the consequences and they will take the decision accordingly."

"And I think they will reach the conclusion that putting restrictions on freedoms of Muslims will not help. It will actually increase the chances of terrorism," he said.

The London bombings fresh in the minds of Americans, President Bush called on Congress on Monday to extend provisions of the Patriot Act that are set to expire at year's end.

The Patriot Act, Congress' swift reaction to the Sept. 11 attacks, allowed expanded surveillance of terror suspects, increased use of material witness warrants to hold suspects incommunicado and permitted secret proceedings in immigration cases. Now, more than a dozen provisions are set to expire later this year. Congress has begun working on renewing them amid fresh criticism — from members of both parties — that the law undermines basic freedoms.

A headline in the London-based Asharq Al Awsat, a Saudi-owned paper, reflected the apprehensive mood of some mainstream Muslim Arabs in Britain.

"We told you to ban (the radicals). Today we say expel them," the headline appearing on an article by Abdelraham Rashid said.

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