Treason law to deter Muslim 'jehadis'

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, OCT 31. The British Government has wheeled out a 650-year-old treason law to deter British Muslims from going to Afghanistan to fight alongside the Taliban against allied forces.

Long-term residents who are not British citizens are likely to be prosecuted under the treachery act or the new anti-terrorism law on their return from the war ``front''.

The move follows reports that a large number of Muslim youths, mostly from Pakistan, are enlisting for the so-called ``jehad'' and some have already gone to Afghanistan.

At least six are reported to have been killed in ``action'', though their families have disputed claims by extremist organisations that they had gone there to join the fighting.

The family of one such person, Yasir Khan from Crawley, said he went to help out with humanitarian aid, while a man from Luton Aftab Manzoor, being portrayed as a ``martyr'', was in fact killed in a car accident, according to his friends quoted in the media.

The police are reported to have been instructed to keep a watch on organisations such as al-Muhajiroun which claim to be recruiting volunteers, and the Government has warned potential recruits that they face prosecution for joining the ``enemy'' forces in Afghanistan.

The Home Office Minister, Lord Rooker, told the House of Lords on Tuesday that any activity against the country attracted the provisions of the 1351 Treason Act. ``If you take up arms against your own country or State, whether in that State or abroad against that State's agents, that's an offence under the 1351 Act,'' he said.

His statement came a day after the Defence Secretary, Mr. Geoff Hoon, warned that anyone ``contemplating going to Afghanistan'' should think ``very carefully about the consequences...as well as the legal action that might follow when they return''.

While Downing Street sought to play down media reports suggesting that hundreds of Muslim youths are heading for Kabul, the Government was believed to be concerned over the shrill propaganda claims of extremist groups.

It also faced pressure from the Opposition with the Tories calling for action against those who might choose to fight against their own country.

``If they come back to this country, they shouldn't imagine that they can then just enjoy the democratic freedoms and rights of a free society, when they have fought against it,'' the former shadow home secretary, Ms. Ann Widdecombe, said.

Moderate Muslims have attacked fundamentalist groups for whipping up passions to suit their own political agenda. They fear that exaggerated claims about Muslim youths queuing up to sign up with the Taliban would fuel the simmering anti-Islam backlash.

``Muslims are already feeling the heat of these claims; they are being spat at, called names like `bin Laden' and terrorists,'' said Dr. Ghayasuddin Siddiqui of ``Muslim Parliament''. He accused al-Muhajiroun activists of trying to extract political mileage from the crisis, and said they were either ``lunatics'' or working for people who wanted to portray Muslims as ``fifth columnists''.

Observers said that coming from someone who is himself regarded as a fundamentalist, these were strong words and reflected the widespread ``disquiet'' among Muslims over the activities of extremist organisations.

Dr. Zaki Badawi, a distinguished Muslim academic and former adviser on Islam to Prince Charles, said there was ``no evidence that thousands upon thousands of Muslim young men are going to fight''.

``There are some hotheads who are talking and bragging,'' he said, while a spokesman of the Muslim Council of Britain condemned the recruitment drive and said those behind it were held in contempt by majority of the Muslims in Britain.

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Section  : International
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