Omar Bakri, To Be Sure?

LEBANON calling, Lebanon calling. Come in Britain. Do you read me Tottenham?

It’s Omar Bakri, the nation’s favourite mad mullah, they man in the wiry beard, oversized NHS bins and green Ford Galaxy.

Bakri has been banned from performing in Britain but he can still reach our ears via the wonder of the Internet.

As the Mail reports, Bakri has, apparently, been praising the July 7 bombers in an internet chatroom. Reports suggest that he has also been advocating an attack on Dublin Airport.

Bakri is said to have opined: “How can you condemn these great men – it’s not something so bad, something so good, something so good to be involved in.”

Should we be scared? On the face of it, maybe. But look at the cadence of Bakri’s language. The repetition lacks the epizeuxis of Tony Blair’s pledge to education. It has traces of anaphora about it. It’s the kind of thing Mel Brooks puts to music.

And here is more. The Star reports that Bakri may be using a variety of pseudonyms to broadcast his message to the masses (ie tabloid journalists surfing the web for traces of the man and a few assorted nutters).

Listen up as what might be Bakri says that Dublin Airport should be hit “very hard” because US troops pass through the airport on their way to Iraq.

“Hit the target and hit it very hard,” says Bakri, the Star reports, “that issue should be understood.”

It is hard not to understand. The comments appear to be coming through very clear. But the man who may be Bakri was making his thoughts known to an undercover cop working for a group called Vigil, which aims to disrupt extremist activity.

Thankfully, no randy, mentally negligible raving loon heard him.

Unless, of course, they happen upon a copy of the Star…

Posted: 15th, November 2006 | In: Broadsheets Comment | TrackBack | Permalink