Even in Beirut, Karma is a *****
Posted By Blackfive

"Enjoy your holiday - make it a long one." - Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, standing in for Tony Blair, in a message to Bakri in 2005.

Ray sends this story that warms the cockles of my heart:

Banned cleric begs UK: Save me

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- A hard-line Muslim cleric barred from Britain for glorifying violence said on Friday he tried to get on board a British warship to flee Beirut but was turned back.

"The answer was, 'unless you have a British passport you are not entitled to come on board'," Omar Bakri told Sky News on Friday.

Syrian-born Bakri left Britain for Lebanon last August, saying he was going on holiday, after British Prime Minister Tony Blair pledged to silence Islamists glorifying violence.

Bakri, who had lived in Britain for 20 years, said he had shown his British driving licence and his cancelled British passport.

"I know myself I am not welcome in the UK ... but I have the right like everyone else to safety," he said. "It is better to try and fail."

Britain barred him from returning to the country as part of a government crackdown on Islamic preachers who it says inspires suicide bombers like those who attacked London's transport system last year, killing 52 people.

The British Home Office said he had been barred because his presence was "not conducive to the public good."

In an interview with Reuters in Beirut last August, the bearded cleric said he had no intention of returning to Britain because of the way Muslims there were being treated.

This just boosts irony to a whole new level.

Update: Here's what Omar Bakri has said to get him banned from the UK.



Some quotes from the Times UK:

The 9/11 hijackers: "The magnificent 19"



Osama bin Laden: "Why I condemn Osama bin Laden for? I condemn Tony Blair, I condemn George Bush. I would never condemn Osama bin Laden or any Muslims"

The London bombings: "I blame the British Government and I blame the British people. They are the ones who should be blamed"



Suicide bombings: "We call it self sacrifice. You must fight for the way of Allah - to kill first and be killed. If somebody decided to land an aeroplane over 10 Downing Street, for example - this is a form of self sacrifice"



Israel: "We are talking about a cancer in the heart of the Muslim world. It must be eradicated and removed"



Britain's foreign policy: "Evil. I think, they pushed the Muslims to the wrong direction"



Radical Muslims: "We are part of the solution and not part of the problem"



His potential deportation: "If God destined for me to be deported, or to be imprisoned, nobody can save me. I would never challenge the legal system"

Full Article
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4133150.stm

Ellie