ONE of Britain’s most notorious Islamist preachers has warned that any Muslim joining the army should expect to be beheaded.

Omar Bakri, who fled Britain weeks after the 7/7 London bombings, said on the internet that Muslim troops were “apostates”.

His video was posted shortly after the death of the first British Muslim to die on active service in the war on terror. The killing last year of Lance Corporal Jabron Hashmi, 24, is said to have inspired the alleged plot to kidnap, torture and behead a British Muslim soldier in Birmingham.

This weekend, Bakri confirmed that he endorsed the execution of British Muslim soldiers captured in Afghanistan and Iraq. “British Muslims who join the army and kill other Muslims are terrorists,” he said.

Bakri, who led the banned Al-Muhajiroun group, continues to direct his followers in Britain with messages through secure websites. On the video, he says: “I hope they capture British Muslims who are really in the army there in Iraq and Afghanistan. They are apostates.” He adds:

“We will strike your neck.”

Bakri’s comments will fuel concerns that radicals are fomenting terrorism because the authorities fear alienating Muslim communities. Last week’s arrests sparked anger in Birmingham, where Dr Mohammed Naseem, a Muslim leader, said British Muslims were being treated like Jews in Nazi Germany. He told a 2,000-strong congregation outside the Birmingham central mosque: “There is a political objective behind these arrests. It is something that has been magicked up.”

West Midlands police have handed out 5,000 leaflets and are keen to avoid comparison with a raid last June in Forest Gate, east London, where a man was shot.

The Sparkbrook Islamic centre, just a few streets away from where a suspect was arrested last week, held a conference last year where a speaker gloated over the death of L/Cpl Hashmi. An undercover reporter heard him say: “The hero of Islam is the one who separated his head from his shoulders.”

The Maktabah bookshop, where one of the suspects worked, is notorious for stocking inflammatory works about Jihad. But for all the outward signs of extremism in Birmingham, neighbours of the men arrested last week insisted they were well-respected members of the community.

Pervaiz Khan, 30, an unemployed father of four, was described as “the best Asian footballer in the area, an Asian Roy Keane”.

He is a friend of Amjad Mahmood, 29, a father of two, who works 14-hour days at Khan’s general store alongside his father.

Azzar Iqbal, 38, has three daughters and runs a pizza business in the area. Zahoor Iqbal, a 29-year-old teacher who lives in north Birmingham, is a cricketer known as “the terminator” for his ability to demolish opponents at the wicket.

Abu Bakir worked at the bookstore. All, according to friends, are “nice guys”.

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Science News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• Donor organ allowed child’s own heart to heal
• Michael Jackson: Not the final chapter
• Brüno toned down for 15 rating