Exiled militantsSome Islamic militants have made London their home, writes Mohamad Bazzi in Beirut
When Islamic militants massacred 58 tourists in Egypt in 1997, the government issued a list of 14 most-wanted militants it accused of inspiring the attacks. Half lived in London, and none was arrested.
A year later, when suicide bombers attacked two US embassies in east Africa, killing 224 people, three men with ties to Egyptian militant groups were arrested in London for circulating claims of responsibility. They are still fighting extradition to the US.
For two decades, London has been a haven for Islamic militants fleeing crackdowns by their home governments in the Middle East. For the first time, the city appeared to fall victim to Islamist violence, with four explosions on Thursday.
"Britain could become a new front line in the conflict between Islamic militants and the West," said Mohammad Salah, an expert on militancy at the pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayat. "It has become harder for militants to reach the US. That makes Britain a more tempting target, especially because the militants have had a long time to establish networks there."
For years, the British government monitored Islamic extremists but did not clamp down on them. Officials feared that arrests would drive the groups underground, making them more difficult to control. That strategy changed after September 11th.
Yet, despite a substantial increase in police and immigration/asylum powers, London is still home to dozens of militants from Egypt, Algeria, Yemen, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
The presence of Islamic extremists in London, and their pronouncements criticising Middle East regimes and at times supporting Osama bin Laden, has long strained relations between Egypt and Britain, which has been the favoured destination of militants targeted by President Mubarak's regime.
Since the early 1990s, Egypt has tried unsuccessfully to extradite nearly 20 militants from Britain. Before the September 11th attacks, the British had also rebuffed extradition requests from Algeria, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. British courts have repeatedly ruled that militants should not be sent back to countries where there is a death penalty or where they cannot be assured fair trials.
Egyptian officials were especially angered by the granting of asylum to Yasser al-Sirri, a former leader of Islamic Jihad, the group that assassinated President Sadat in 1981 and later waged a long campaign of terror aimed at toppling the government.
Al-Sirri, who has been sentenced to death in absentia by an Egyptian military court, fled to London in 1993. He set up the Islamic Observation Centre. He says it is a group that disseminates information about Islamic causes.
"In Britain, there is a system of law, which Tony Blair must obey," al-Sirri told Newsday in October 2001. "Hosni Mubarak does not obey any law."
Shortly after the interview, al-Sirri was arrested for issuing statements on behalf of militant groups. He has been in and out of British prisons since, and is fighting extradition to the US.
Abu Hamza al-Masri is another Egyptian militant who won asylum in Britain. He was arrested last year at the request of US officials, and is also fighting extradition. The Finsbury Park mosque where al-Masri usually delivered the Friday sermon was shut down in January 2003, after being raided by anti-terrorism police. The mosque had been frequented by September 11th suspect Zacarias Moussaoui and shoe-bomber Richard Reid.
Even after the shutdown, al-Masri continued to preach in a nearby park. "Try to do actions that subject you to death," he told an audience of young men in April 2004. "If you die to defend your religion, you are a martyr."