Posted on July 31, 2011 by Richard Bartholomew
From Hugh Muir in the Guardian: …while the [English Defence League] says it eschews violence, there are claims that some of its people may have been taking a less than constructive approach to two former members who were poised to lift the lid on the group in association with the counter-extremism thinktank, Quilliam. Harry Burns […]
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Posted on July 30, 2011 by Richard Bartholomew
FBI Confirms Book by Robert Spencer Since Dropped From Reading List Wired magazine draws attention to an alarmingly poor Powerpoint presentation which was used to train the FBI’s Law Enforcement Communications Unit about Islam: As recently as January 2009, the FBI thought its agents ought to know the following crucial information about Muslims: They engage in […]
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Posted on July 29, 2011 by Richard Bartholomew
Today’s Times leads with a (paywalled) article about Paul Ray, dramatically headlined “‘I’m Sorry If I inspired Norway’s Mass Killer’ – British Extremist Admits Breivik Approached Him”. The article is, alas, botched in several ways that I had hoped yesterday’s blog entry might have avoided. First, there’s a suggestion of a link with Breivik: Paul Ray… […]
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Posted on July 28, 2011 by Richard Bartholomew
BBC News 24 has reportedly announced that police want to talk to blogger Paul Ray about possible links to Anders Breivik. This comes a day after the Guardian carried an item in which Ray – who vigorously denies any link – expressed his willingness to speak to the authorities in the UK about the matter. As […]
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Posted on July 27, 2011 by Richard Bartholomew
October will see the Ninth Conference of the International Counter-Terrorism Officers Association take place at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas. Among the speakers will be a certain William Gawthrop, billed as “FBI Senior Intelligence Analyst” and speaking on ” Strategic Themes & Drivers in Islamic Law ” and “Influence of the Shariah on Law Enforcement Investigations”. As with […]
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Posted on July 26, 2011 by Richard Bartholomew
The Daily Telegraph ponders “Richard”, the man described by Anders Breivik as his “mentor” in his purported “Knights Templar” group: A blog was discovered by The Daily Telegraph written by an individual called the Lionheart, who has written about “Moslem’s soldiers … seeking to conquer our lands and take our civilized world back into the ‘Dark Ages’”. […]
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Posted on July 24, 2011 by Richard Bartholomew
Claims links with Serbian “cultural conservatives” A number of reports have described Anders Behring Breivik as a “Christian fundamentalist”. However, there are no reports claiming that he belonged to any particular church, and he hasn’t claimed to have been inspired by God or the Bible. He does appear obsessed with “Crusader” themed fetishism, but this is more likely […]
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Posted on July 24, 2011 by Richard Bartholomew
I don’t usually use this blog for general ruminations and observations, but here goes: 1. Given the continuing threat from Islamic extremists, it was reasonable to suspect (although not to conclude) that the terrorist attacks on Oslo-Utoya were the work of Jihadi terrorists. 2. However, if you’re right-wing nationalist or “anti-Jihadist” who confidently asserted that this was Islamic […]
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Posted on July 24, 2011 by Richard Bartholomew
From the Sunday Express: Finnish psychologist, Dr Rauni-Leena Luukanen-Kilde, who has lived in Norway for 20 years, believes Breivik is unlikely to have been a lone wolf. She said: “An attack of this magnitude would have taken such a degree of planning it would have been virtually impossible for one person to pull off. “He […]
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Posted on July 23, 2011 by Richard Bartholomew
Electronic Intifada carries an attack on Will McCants, describing him as a “clueless ‘terror expert’”. The author, Benjamin Doherty, complains that McCants had drawn attention to a statement posted by a certain “Abu Sulayman al-Nasir” to an Arabic-language Jihadi forum, Shmukh, in which a group called Ansar al-Jihad al-Alami took responsibility for the Oslo/Utoya tragedy. Doherty opines that: The […]
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