Britain made "little progress" in reaching out to Muslim communities despite investing "considerable time and resources" after the 7/7 London bombings in 2005, US diplomats concluded in cables passed to the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks.
A powerful critique of the government's efforts to engage with British Muslims, outlined in a cable published as police investigate the UK connections of the Stockholm suicide bomber, shows the US embassy in London concluded that both sides often appeared far apart.
"Since 7/7, HMG has invested considerable time and resources in engaging the British Muslim community," a diplomat at the US embassy in London wrote in August 2006 after the failed liquid bomb plot to blow up transatlantic airliners. "The current tensions demonstrate just how little progress has been made."
US fears that Britain was struggling to deal with extremism, outlined a year after the 7/7 bombings, are highlighted as police continued to search a house in Luton as part of an investigation into Taimour Abdulwahab al-Abdaly.
The Iraqi-born Swede, who set off a car bomb in the Swedish capital on Saturday night before killing himself with a second bomb strapped to his body, was believed to live in the house while studying for a BSc in sports therapy at the University of Bedfordshire. He graduated in 2004 and lived in Luton for a decade.
Muslim leaders in Luton spoke today of how Abdaly, 28, stormed out of a local mosque when they confronted him over his extremist views. Farasat Latif, secretary of the Luton Islamic Centre, said Abdaly was popular when he attended the mosque for a couple of months in 2006-07, though there were concerns about his violent views.
"One day during morning prayers in the month of Ramadan – there were about 100 people there – the chairman of the mosque stood up and exposed him, warning against terrorism, suicide bombings and so on," Latif said. "He knew it was directed at him. He stormed out of the mosque and was never seen again."
The challenge of confronting extremists is highlighted in US embassy cables which warned of British Somalis returning to the UK after indulging in "jihadi tourism". In a cable on 2 December 2009, a diplomat at the US embassy in Nairobi wrote: "There is believed to be a certain amount of so-called 'jihadi tourism' to southern Somalia by UK citizens of Somali ethnicity. The threat from Somalia is compounded by the fact that within East Africa there is a lack of local government recognition of the terrorist threat."
The cable, which reported on a meeting between US and UK counter-terrorism officials in Addis Ababa last October, also found:
• Fears that the new government in Britain would take a "simplistic" approach to fighting terrorism. It said: "Many of the people who will form the new government have been outside of government policy circles for a long time, and they may have a simplistic point of view on CT [counter-terrorism] issues."
• Concerns were raised that a "Mumbai-style attack" could be launched in Britain.
• The "highly controversial military operations ongoing in Afghanistan" is a "massive" political issue.
• A "wave of litigation" relating to actions taken by UK citizens and residents rendered to Guantánamo Bay is having a "severe effect on what counter-terrorism tools are available to the UK authorities".
• Security for the 2012 Olympics was a big issue.
Separate cables published by WikiLeaks show that prominent British Muslims were highly critical of initiatives introduced by the British government in response to the 7/7 bombings. One cable reports that Sadiq Khan, who is now shadow justice secretary, criticised a programme introduced by the last government.
In the cable sent on 14 August 2006, a year after his election to parliament, the diplomat wrote: "Labour MP Sadiq Khan said the community feels 'let down' by HMG efforts to date, particularly the 'Preventing Extremism Together' task forces, which the Home Office created after the 7/7 attacks. Very few of the 64 measures recommended by Muslim leaders on the task force have been implemented, Khan said, creating an 'air of despondency' and leading the community to believe that the entire exercise was just a publicity stunt."
Khan was one of a series of prominent Muslims who felt so uneasy that they wrote to Tony Blair on 12 August 2006 warning the "debacle of Iraq" provided "ammunition to extremists" who threaten everyone, according to the cable.
Khan maintains that the letter was prompted by the war in Lebanon. At the time he was highly critical of Tony Blair's reluctance to criticise Israel.
The diplomat claimed that the letter, signed by Khan and his fellow Labour MP Shahid Malik, was prompted by the frustration prominent Muslims felt after the "bruising" their community had taken after 24 "UK-born" Muslims were arrested in response to the failed liquid bomb plot.
Three men were found guilty in July of conspiracy to murder in the plot. They were cleared last year of targeting aeroplanes by smuggling liquid bombs in drinks bottles on planes bound for the US and Canada but retried for conspiracy to murder. Two other men were found guilty of the airline bomb plot last year.
The same diplomat wrote: "The Muslim community's reaction to the arrests of 24 of its own sons – a kneejerk reaction blaming HMG – shows that its leaders too have far to go … That said, the Muslim community is not the only element in Britain blaming HMG's foreign policy for inciting radical elements; the left in particular but even the mainstream press has expressed the belief, reportedly widespread, that homegrown terrorism is an 'inevitable' response to the UK's involvement in Iraq and reluctance to call for an 'immediate ceasefire' in the Middle East.
"HMG's rather heated response to the letter is undoubtedly aimed at swaying broader opinion."
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