'Islamic Extremists' Misquote Quran in Bombing Claim

[paparush]

CAIRO, Egypt - A group calling itself “The Secret Organization of al-Qaida in Europe” posted a claim of responsibility for Thursday’s blasts in London, saying they were in retaliation for Britain’s involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The authenticity of the message could not be immediately confirmed.

The statement, which also threatened attacks in Italy and Denmark, was published on a Web site popular with Islamic militants, according to Elaph, a secular Arabic-language news Web site, and Der Spiegel magazine in Berlin, which published the text on their Web sites.

“Rejoice, Islamic nation. Rejoice, Arab world. The time has come for vengeance against the Zionist crusader government of Britain in response to the massacres Britain committed in Iraq and Afghanistan,” said the statement, translated by The Associated Press in Cairo. The AP was unable to access the Web site where it was posted, which was closed quickly after the reports.

But MSNBC TV translator Jacob Keryakes, who said that a copy of the message was later posted on a secular Web site, noted that the claim of responsibility contained an error in one of the Quranic verses it cited. That suggests that the claim may be phony, he said.

"This is not something al-Qaida would do," he said.

The group al-Qaida in Europe claimed responsibility for the last major terror attack in Europe: a string of bombs that hit commuter trains in Madrid, Spain in March 2004, killing 191 people. Two days after that attack, a video was found in a trash can outside a Madrid mosque with a statement purported to be from the group’s spokesman, called by the nickname “Abu Dujan al Afghani.”

In the new statement, the group said “the heroic mujahedeen carried out a blessed attack in London, and now Britain is burning with fear and terror, from north to south, east to west.”

“We warned the British government and the British people repeatedly. We have carried out our promise and carried out a military attack in Britain after great efforts by the heroic mujahedeen over a long period to ensure its success.”

“We continue to warn the governments of Denmark and Italy and all crusader governments that they will receive the same punishment if they do not withdraw their troops from Iraq and Afghanistan,” the statement went on.

http://michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3242

[Kraklen]

1. So is the suggestion that it's a setup...

like the Anthrax letters with the phony Arabic accents?

[sojourner]

2. that's how it sounds to me.....

[bryant69]

3. Not necessarily

They could be Europeonized Muslims who belive in the cause but don't speak the language as well, I suppose.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[jobycom]

5. Or that the group claiming credit isn't the one who did it

There are always pranks, and people claiming credit for terrorist attacks and crimes they didn't commit--either to gain attention, or to implicate someone they want implicated. Usually the investigators are good at weeding out such claims--that's why they withhold details of crimes.

This just implies the message may have been phony. It doesn't say one way or the other who might have have done it.

Also, even fundies misquote religious versus, in any religion. Just because they claim to be following a holy book doesn't mean they get it right all the time.

I would say wait and see what the authorities discover, but unfortunately, we don't have those kinds of authorities anymore.

[Kraklen]

8. Fundies misinterpret religious verses...

But usually they're quite obsessive about the literal quotations themselves.

[jobycom]

10. Some are, some aren't

I've met fundies who can't get the words of a Bible verse down to save their lives. Imagine Bush trying to quote the Bible, with his penchant for misquoting everything.

The problem with Bush is that he has pissed off so many people that there are "Muslim extremists" now who weren't just a few years ago. They aren't in it for Islam, just for revenge, so their knowledge of and interest in the Qur'an may not be that great.

I'm just guessing, I haven't seen the mistake. Without seeing more, it's hard to know for sure how serious it is, or even if it was a mistake, rather than a mistranslation on the part of the English translators.

[BlueStateGirl]

4. Does anyone know which verse? I have read this , but have not

seen the verse quoted in any of the articles.

[H2O Man]

7. That would be interesting.

I'm curious about that.

[seabeyond]

9. me too. have read this twice looking for the specific error

i have yet to see what the "error" is.

[dogday]

6. Who is being set-up?

and who is doing the setting up?