Police probe far-Right links to 'poison packages' at mosques

MUSLIM leaders across London are on high alert after fake anthrax was posted to five mosques by suspected far-Right extremists.

Detectives from Scotland Yard's Counter Terrorism Command are investigating after imams at the mosques received bags of white powder.

One package, sent to the Finsbury Park mosque, also contained "evil drawings" of the Prophet Mohammed similar to cartoons published in Denmark.

The Evening Standard understands up to five other mosques in pockets of extremism outside London - thought to be Luton and Birmingham - were targeted in the past 10 days.

Scotland Yard is so concerned about the threat to community cohesion that it has sent a warning to more than 200 mosques in the capital. An email from the Association of Muslim Police warns staff to avoid touching any mail they deem suspicious.

It says: "The inquiry relates to suspicious but non-hazardous packages sent to mosques. Inquires are ongoing and no arrests have been made at this stage. We recognise the distress and disruption caused by such incidents and will continue to investigate them, and any others which come to light, robustly.

"Anyone receiving an item they think is suspicious should treat it seriously and follow the following advice: Call 999; 1. Do not touch or handle it any further; 2. Remain calm; 3. Move everyone away to a safe distance; 4. Safely communicate instructions to staff and public; 5. Ensure that whoever found the item or witnessed the incident remains on hand to brief the police."

Detectives are studying hours of CCTV footage as many of the packages did not have stamps and are thought to have been hand-delivered to the mosques.

Some of the mosques were evacuated while specialist officers in protective suits checked the suspect material.

When a package arrived at the Finsbury Park mosque last Thursday, police closed the building and surrounding roads for four hours.

Ahmed Saad, the imam at the mosque, told the Evening Standard: "Our security guard was in the office when I opened the letter and he called the police right away.

"He told me to wash my hands and face just in case the powder was dangerous. The police arrived with ambulances and evacuated the building.

"It could have been anything in the envelope, my first thought was that it could be anthrax, or it could be some kind of [other] poison.

"It was very frightening. Something like this should not happen, we live in a multi-cultural society."

Mohammed Kozbar, the manager of the mosque, said: "We often get a lot of malicious communications but this is worse than anything that happened before. The envelope also had nasty, devil, evil drawings of the Prophet Mohammed and Muslim women in hijab clothing.

"It is very bad - we have worked hard to change the culture of the mosque since the case of Abu Hamza [the extremist former imam]. These racists won't succeed and we will carry on with our work."

In 2005, a Danish newspaper published 12 offensive cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. The row triggered protests across the world and led to the bombing of the Danish embassy in Pakistan.

Mr Kozbar believes the package was sent by someone with far-Right views.

A BNP spokesman said: "We are in the political business now and we certainly do not indulge in any activity of that sort."

Scotland Yard said "no line of enquiry had been ruled out".

Meanwhile, a counter-extremism group has warned British Muslims could also end up victims.

Ghaffar Hussain of Quilliam, a counter-extremism thinktank, said: "This is a reminder that British Muslims can also be victims of extremism and intolerance."

The History of the Finsbury Park Mosque

Prince Charles opened the Finsbury Park mosque in 1994 to serve the large Muslim population in north London.

However, it soon gained notoriety when its members appointed Abu Hamza al-Masri as imam in 1996.

The notorious hook-handed cleric used his position to spread messages of hate and his violent sermons have been linked to several Al Qaeda terrorists, including "shoe-bomber" Richard Reid and 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui.

In 2003, more than 100 armed police raided the Finsbury Park mosque during an investigation into the alleged Wood Green ricin plot.

And three of the 7/7 bombers - Jermaine Lindsay, Mohammad Sidique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer - also attended sermons given by Abu Hamza prior to their Tube attack in 2005.

In April, leaked Wikileaks documents revealed American intelligence chiefs once believe Finsbury Park mosque to be a "haven for Islamic extremists from Morocco and Algeria" and "an attack planning and propaganda production base".
New leadership took over the mosque when Abu Hamza was eventually jailed for inciting murder and race hate in 2006.

Despite working hard to rebuild its battered public image, its chequered past means Finsbury Park mosque remains a prized target of Islamophobes. Last July, it was the victim of another attack when vandals mounted a pig's head on its gates.

Comment: by Ghaffar Hussain head of outreach at Quilliam, a counter-extremism thinktank based in London

Although the suspicious packages recently sent to a number of London mosques fortunately turned out to be harmless, they are a reminder that British Muslims can also be victims of extremism and intolerance.

While newspaper headlines focus on the threat of Islamist terrorism, far-right extremists in London and elsewhere in the UK are posing an increasing threat, both to Muslims and to wider society.

The recent packages sent to mosques are not one-off incidents; they are part of a clear trend of attacks aimed at intimidating British Muslims.
Last year, a pig's head was dumped in Finsbury Park Mosque, one of those targeted in the latest anthrax scare.

In March, a gang of six men shouting anti-Muslim slogans tried to break into another mosque in Redbridge as local Muslims were preparing for their evening prayers. The men threw bricks at worshippers and attacked nearby cars before being arrested.

And only last month in Lancashire two men went on trial for daubing racist graffiti on a local mosque in Lancashire.

Britain's minority communities have been subjected to racist acts since the 1960s. However, these new attacks are the result of far-right groups like the British National Party (BNP) focusing their attention less on race and more on religion.

As racism becomes less and less acceptable in society, they think that attacking and scapegoating Muslims is an easy way to win new supporters - particular in view of widespread (and often legitimate) fears about Islamist terrorism and extremism.

Attacking people because of their religion is not and can never be acceptable. British society needs to stand firm both against religious extremists and against those who incite hatred against people simply because of their religion.