This man has lived in Sweden since he was 18. Now how and where would he get the idea that Osama was a hero? Why didn’t they tell him at his local mosque that to have such a hero was to place himself out of the bounds of Islam? They didn’t because it doesn’t. But no one in Sweden and few elsewhere are facing the implications of this. “Man linked to London bombings threatens Sweden,” from Sweden’s The Local, with thanks to Paul:
The 39-year old Swede suspected of involvement in the London bombings has said that Sweden would be “punished” if he was handed over to a foreign power.
The man, who is originally from Lebanon, has lived in Sweden since he was 18. In an interview with Dagens Nyheter last October, he denied that he had met Osama Bin Laden but said that he “loved him”.
“I am proud of Osama bin Laden. I am proud of everyone who wages war for justice.”
The man also told Dagens Nyheter that he thought the September 11th attacks against the United States were “very good.”
The man refuted accusations that he had been at a terrorist training camp in Oregon in 1999. He admitted, however, that he had lived with Abu Hamza, a controversial Muslim preacher at the Finsbury Park mosque in London, who is currently awaiting trial in Britain on terrorism and race-hate charges.
The Swedish man says that he lived with one-eyed, hook-handed Hamza “for medical reasons, as a nurse.”
The man, who is described by the FBI as “very dangerous”, denies that he was involved in the London attacks of July 7th. In an interview published by Expressen on Friday, he says that he has not left Sweden in the past three years.
Responding to reports that he had flown to the United States in 1999 in the company of Haroon Rashid, suspected mastermind of the London bombings, the man said he does not know who Rashid is, and has never met him.
While denying involvement in the London bombings, the man said that the suicide bombers who attacked three underground trains and a bus were “martyrs,” adding that he hoped also to become a martyr one day.
“They are not terrorists, as they are doing what Islam requires,” he said.