for London conference By Khaled Dawoud Representatives of nearly 15 major Islamist movements are due to meet in downtown London tomorrow for a seminar on the "Western Challenge and the Islamic Response". That is, "if everything goes fine," says Omar Bakri, the Syrian-born leader of the London-based pro-militant organisation Al-Muhajiroun. Bakri's tone of uncertainty is understandable. Strong protests by several Arab and Islamic countries, led by Egypt, resulted in the cancellation of a similar conference in London the same time last year. That time, representatives of the major illegal Arab and Islamist militant organisations were planning to meet in order to close ranks shortly after Egypt's largest militant organisation, Al-Gama'a Al-Islamiya, took responsibility for the brutal massacre of 58 tourists and four Egyptians in Luxor on 17 November. Following strong protests from the Egyptian government, British authorities pressured the organisers to cancel the proposed meeting. "This time we are trying to play it low-key," Bakri said. "We did not announce the seminar in the Western media and we only informed a few Arab newspapers in order to avoid repeating last year's experience. I don't think that even the British government knows that we are holding this meeting." Moreover, in the wake of the bombing of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in August, the situation could not be worse for members of European-based militant organisations. According to security sources and experts on Islamist groups, for several years militant organisations took advantage of the freedom they enjoyed in several European countries to raise funds and plan anti-government attacks by their followers in several Arab countries. According to the same experts, London was "the Mecca of militants" at one stage. Following the Kenya and Tanzania bombings, however, several European countries, including Britain, Germany, France and Italy, moved to crack down on suspected militants believed to have links with Arab militant organisations or those financed by the Afghanistan-based Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden. The United States has officially charged bin Laden with masterminding the bombing of the two US embassies as well as the bombing of American military compounds in Riyadh and in Khobar, Saudi Arabia, in 1995 and 1996. In a telephone interview with Al-Ahram Weekly, Bakri who is known for his close links to bin Laden, described him as "the leader of all Islamist movements, whether we like it or not". Bakri described the planned London meeting as a four-hour "cultural and intellectual seminar" in which the participants hope to discuss several issues which they see as a challenge to Islam and Muslims. But for others, the conference could be anything but cultural or intellectual. The presence of militant organisations, the topics under discussion and the fact that the meeting will be preceded by a demonstration in front of the American Embassy to protest its policy on Iraq seem to drive home the message. According to Bakri, participants will include: Egypt's outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, which will send its permanent representative in London, Kamal El-Helbawi; the Lebanese Hizbullah; the Islamic Group of Pakistan; the International Islamic Front (which Bakri described as the political wing of the International Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders led by bin Laden); some representatives of Egypt's Islamic Jihad (responsible for several major anti-government attacks); Supporters of Al-Shari'a (led by an Egyptian known as Abu Hamza who issued statements praising the bombing of the US embassies and warning of what he described as more "revenge attacks"). Others are the outlawed Algerian Islamic Salvation Front (FIS); the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas); the Saudi Committee for Defending Legal Rights; the Turkish Nourris movement; the Pakistani Islamic Tanzimi, which calls for establishing an Islamic caliphate in Pakistan; the Afghani Taliban Council of Europe; and several independent Islamist figures. Bakri said Egypt's Al-Gama'a Al-Islamiya will not be represented. According to experts on Islamist groups, the absence of the Gama'a seems to be in tandem with its recent policy of distancing itself from groups known for their close links to bin Laden. Bakri told the Weekly that most of those planning to attend the meeting were either based in London or were there by coincidence. "There are also some people to whom we sent special invitations and we hope that they will be able to show up," he said. Bakri refused to reveal the names of those planning to come from outside Britain. Adel Abdel-Meguid, one of six Egyptian militants detained briefly by British authorities in September, told the Weekly in a telephone interview that he did not expect many participants from outside Britain. "We are facing many problems right now all over Europe," he said. "I don't think that many people would take the risk and go to that meeting." Abdel-Meguid was sentenced to death in absentia by an Egyptian military court in 1997. Bakri said that if Friday's meeting is successful, the organisers will announce the dates and venues of two future meetings to be organised by Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and Algeria's FIS. Bakri said that the issues to top the agenda at Friday's meeting will be: "Israel's continuous aggression against Muslims; the agreements signed between Arab countries in the name of combating terrorism, although they are actually agreements to fight Islam and Muslims; and the American aggression and war against Islam, as we saw in Sudan, Afghanistan and the Gulf during the latest confrontation with Iraq." Participants will also discuss what Bakri described as the "bin Laden phobia" which emerged in the West after the bombing of the US embassies. "We will discuss the acts carried out by the Islamic Front for Jihad against Jews and Crusaders to determine whether they are in accordance with Islamic law and whether we should support them or advise the Front to refrain from acts which might lead to the killing of innocent civilians," he said. Bakri, however, dismissed the American charges against bin Laden, saying that even if it was proven that he was responsible for the bombings in Saudi Arabia, Kenya and Tanzania, "those still remain legitimate acts." He added: "The American troops in the Gulf region are there to fight against Islam and Muslims. Their presence is not legitimate and fighting against them is the duty of every Muslim. The American bombing of Sudan and Afghanistan, the war against Iraq and America's blind support for the Israeli enemy -- these are acts of war against God and his Prophet."
