The British authorities must think that they win the hearts and minds of Muslims by doing things like this. They will, eventually, be disabused of this notion. “Hate preacher Abu Qatada’s new £450,000 four bedroom home – paid for by you,” by Russell Myers for the Daily Mail, December 15:
Radical preacher Abu Qatada has moved into a new taxpayer-funded house worth £450,000 near to a church — and the furious owner wants him out.
The fanatical Muslim, who preached hate sermons towards the West — arrived in the leafy suburb of North-West London last week.
He had left his previous £400,000 four-bedroom rented home near Wembley Stadium after apparently complaining it was too small for him and his family.
He shares his new detached home, which is paid for by state handouts, with his wife and four of their five children. Similar homes in the area have sold for close to £500,000.
But the woman who owns the smart four-bedroom house reacted angrily last night after discovering the identity of her new tenant — and said she would try to evict him….
Speaking from her home, the owner said: ‘I had no idea who was living there. I have read about this man and why he was in prison, he does not seem like a nice character.
‘A family member was living at the house until they recently passed away. Now we are letting it out via a local estate agent — who told me they would most probably let it to a member of their staff.
‘We signed a contract with the company for six months but there is no way I would have given my permission to rent the house to a man like that — not ever….
‘I do not want this man in my house and we will be taking steps to remove him if we can.’
Neighbours also reacted angrily to Qatada’s move yesterday as it emerged that two security cameras had been installed above lampposts opposite the house….
Another neighbour said: ‘Two men spent an afternoon erecting two security cameras opposite my house. When we asked them what was going on they told us to call the police.
‘But even now, when there are plain-clothed police outside our house, no one will tell us anything.
‘It just isn’t right we should have this stress brought to our doorstep. This is a very nice area for hard working, law-abiding people.’
However, the vicar at the church said: ‘Absolutely anyone is welcome to our church and I would encourage Mr Qatada and his family to join in our Christmas celebrations and reach out to the local community — especially at this time of year.’…
Oh, he’ll reach out, all right.
Qatada, 52, who has been described as Osama Bin Laden’s right-hand man in Europe, remains on bail in London. Home Secretary Theresa May lost the latest round in her battle to deport him to Jordan, where he is accused of being involved in bomb plots against foreigners.