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From The Times

July 3, 2007

‘My son is innocent, his only aim to be a doctor’

Jamil, father of Mohammed Jamil Abdelkader Asha, gestures as he speaks at his home in Amman, 02 July 2007

Rana Sabbagh-Gargour in Amman and David Lister in Paisley

Jamil Asha was expecting his son Mohammed, a gifted young doctor working in Britain, to return home to Jordan for a holiday on July 12 with his wife and baby son. That looks extremely unlikely. His son has been arrested in connection with the attempted car bombings in London and Glasgow.

Mr Asha heard the news on the BBC at midday yesterday and told The Times that he could scarcely believe what was happening. “My son is incapable of such acts,” he said. “Not all Arabs are terrorists.” He acknowledged that his son was a “devout Muslim”, but insisted that he did not belong to any militant Islamic groups and that his only goal in life was to become an outstanding doctor. Mr Asha even appealed to King Abdullah of Jordan to intervene with the British authorities.

Is it possible that Dr Asha, 26, and other young doctors who have dedicated their professional careers to saving lives could, in their private capacities, be intent on murdering and maiming scores of innocent civilians?

Jordanian intelligence sources told The Times that Dr Asha had no criminal or security record. “We know nothing about the suspect other than him being a medical doctor,” an official said. “We are waiting to hear from the British interrogators.”

There was nothing in Dr Asha’s background to suggest that he would be susceptible to the blandishments of terrorists. He would, however, not be the first Muslim from a good home and with a decent education to be radicalised after moving to the West.

Mohammed Asha is one of six brothers and two sisters, three of whom have now qualified as doctors and one as an engineer. They lived in Saudi Arabia, where his father taught Arabic, until the family returned to Amman in 1991. There they lived in a rundown block of flats, all owned by different members of the family, in the poor neighbourhood of Jabal Zuhour.

Mohammed Asha excelled quickly. He won a scholarship to the Jubilee School for gifted children. Later, at high school, he ranked third in the country in science. He obtained a medical degree from the University of Jordan in 2004, graduating with such distinction that he won a place at the University of Birmingham to specialise in neurology. He left for Britain in March 2005.

A spokesman for the Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust said that he spent a postqualification year working at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and the Princess Royal Hospital in nearby Telford. He ended up at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire in Stoke-on-Trent, renting a detached house in Sunningdale Grove, Newcastle-under-Lyme.

Dr Asha lived there with his Jordanian wife, Marwa, 27, whom he had known since childhood and married while at university in Jordan. She had trained as a laboratory researcher but was not working in Britain.

Dr and Mrs Asha were in their car with their son, Anas, who is nearly 2, when the police stopped the vehicle on the M6 near Sandbach at 9.15pm on Saturday evening. The couple were arrested, and on Sunday their home was searched.

Dr Asha’s older brother, Ahmad, who is married to a Ukrainian Christian, showed The Times Mohammed’s tiny, dusty one-bedroom flat, which was devoid of any religious paraphernalia. He said that his mother was devastated by what had happened, but he was optimistic because his brother had a “scientific mind” and was not interested in Islamic militancy.

Indeed he had refused to join his university student council because it was too politicised. “He was always exemplary. He’s a genius. If he wasn’t a genius he would not have gone to Britain and nothing would have happened to him,” Ahmad Asha said.

The police also searched a four-bedroom, mock-Tudor house in Priam Close, Newcastle-under-Lyme, barely a mile from Dr Asha’s house, arriving shortly before dawn on Sunday. They tore up carpets and floorboards and virtually dismantled a maroon Ford Mondeo parked in the driveway.

Neighbours said that they took away a young Asian couple, one of whom they believed to be a doctor, though the police would not confirm this. The two properties were rented from the same letting agency, Homesearch, which refused to comment.

One of the occupants of the blazing Jeep that crashed into the front of Glasgow airport on Saturday was certainly a doctor, though it remained unclear last night whether he had any connection with Dr Asha. He was named as Bilal Talal Abdul Samad Abdulla, an Iraqi who qualified in Baghdad in 2004 as the insurgency against the USled invasion was gaining pace.

Patients and staff at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley turned up for work to find armed police ringing the grounds and forensic science officers searching an accommodation block used by junior doctors and other staff. Explosives experts carried out controlled explosions on two suspect cars. “I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” a pregnant women said as she left the nearby maternity unit. “I was going for a scan and police officers with machineguns were all over the place.”

Late on Sunday night the police arrested two other suspects, aged 28 and 25, at the same hospital. Reuters news agency reported that they were both believed to be doctors, of Middle Eastern origin, working in Scotland, but there was no confirmation of that.

Experts have long cautioned against the assumption that only the ignorant and poor embrace radical Islam. There is no shortage of Western-educated, middle-class professionals in the Arab world who are furious about what is happening in Iraq, and at the West’s perceived lack of concern for the plight of the Palestinians. Doctors have suffered particularly badly in Baghdad. Many have been killed, many more have been forced to flee and there is a desperate shortage of medicines and equipment.

Bob Ayres, an associate fellow at Chatham House, who specialises in security and intelligence, said that it should be no surprise if any of those behind last weekend’s foiled bombings turned out to be a doctor. “There’s nothing magic about doctors,” he said. “To be surprised you would have to assume there’s some linkage between a person’s political and/or religious values and their occupation . . . This phenomenon of Islamic fundamentalism is not economic. It’s ideological, and anyone can subscribe to the movement regardless of their economic circumstances.”

*Additional reporting by Andrew Norfolk in Newcastle-under-Lyme

The investigation

Was it the work of al-Qaeda?
Gordon Brown said that the plots were linked to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda terrorist organisation

Did they come to Britain as sleepers, taking up respectable jobs as cover?
The security services discount this, saying that it’s too conspiratorial, and that it’s more likely the latest suspects became radicalised before turning to terrorism

Why did the West End bombs not go off?
The bombs were properly primed but required a signal from a mobile phone to set them off. It’s believed that the mobile to trigger them failed to send an adequate signal

Did the bombs have an explosive component as well as petrol and gas canisters?
Scotland Yard said that the devices included the means to detonate an explosion

Are those arrested all Middle Eastern?
Yes, although they are of mixed ethnic backgrounds, with at least one of the two doctors arrested known to be Jordanian. None of them is Iranian, according to security sources

Were all the suspects arrested already known to the security authorities as radicalised Muslims?
No, after a search through MI5 and police databases, no trace has yet been found of the suspects in surveillance operations

Was this another plot planned and authorised by al-Qaeda terrorist leaders in Pakistan?
The judgment so far is that this was not a Pakistan-linked plot

Is it a surprise that the suspects so far appear to be in the medical profession and at the higher end of the social scale?
No, there is no template profile for a suspect. From previous bomb plots, it has become apparent that Islamic terrorists come from a whole range of different social and educational backgrounds. Some have been intelligent, well-integrated professionals, others have been social outcasts from poor backgrounds, or asylum-seekers.

Why has it been so difficult to identify the latest suspects?
It takes time to discover who a suspect really is. One asylum-seeker who turned terrorist claimed to have originated from a particular country in order to seek residency in Britain, but it was later discovered he had a different nationality altogether. International terrorists have multiple identities

How long will the “critical” threat level be maintained?
For as long as the police and MI5 believe there are members of the terrorist group still at large, although it is acknowledged that the highest threat status cannot be maintained for too long because of the pressure it places on the organisations and agencies having to work round-the-clock

What is the next objective of the police and security authorities?
After the arrests have been completed, every effort will be made to trace the international links to the London and Glasgow plots

I belong to the Ahmadiyya Muslim community in Islam which was founded by the Promised Messiah in 1889. He came to remove all the ignorant practices that had crept into Islam. The motto of our community is "Love for all, hatred for none". Suicide and killing of civilians (innocent or otherwise) is not allowed in Islam so there is no question of reward for the perpetrators. On the topic of virgins, muslims do not believe in a physical paradise. The descriptions are metaphorical like the song of Solomon. Only defensive wars are permitted when they're the only alternative left as happened during early Islam and they weren't allowed to practice their faith. Even then the Quran says churches, synagogues and other places of worship are not to be attacked. When Mecca was conquered by the muslims the majority of non -muslims were forgiven who were guilty of great acts of cruelty. Islam put an end to burying of baby girls, gave women inheritance rights and gave them equality. Read the Quran!

Mubarika Sami, Epsom, U.K

Each day produces ever more unlikely allegations to further confuse an already absurdly contradictory picture.

The only rational explanation to explain it all is that these people have been set up.

Oh, and Eric from Fort Leavenworth, you plainly have never read a single word of the Koran. Before you make such a monumentally sweeping judgement as "the â€˜fruitâ€™ of the koranic teachings are â€˜death to infidels!â€™ " you really should attempt to verify your irrational prejudice by actually reading the book. You will discover that whoever filled your brain with such poison is an out-and-out liar. As is/are the person or persons who have convinced you that "The British mosques are silent." The British mosques have never been louder in their condemnation of pseudo-Islamic terrorism. Like me, however, they clearly smell a rat in all this and are awaiting the liberation and exculpation of most if not all of the detainees.

Gerard Mulholland, Paris, France,

â€œMy son is incapable of such acts,â€ he said. â€œNot all Arabs are terrorists.â€

While it is true that not all Arabs are terrorists, ALL ISLAMIC terrorists are MUSLIM! One cannot expect peaches to come from poison hemlock.

Christian teaching is, "the fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self control".

The "fruit" of the koranic teachings are "death to infidels!"

The only problem is, I being a follower of Jesus, am an infidel.

The final question is what is your source of inspiration? It does matter. Let's let responsibility stay where it lies...with the source. The British mosques are silent. Perhaps a peep of victimhood but no responsibility.

The liberal, enamored with blissful tolerance, cannot this time blame the "poor unfortunate oppressed muslim". The fact is
ALL Islamic terrorists ARE MUSLIM.

eric, leavenworth, USA/wa

The media are really lapping this story up and assuming those arrested are all guilty.

The evidence against some of them may be simply having received a few mobile phone calls from those caught in the act and of being of middle eastern descent.

I agree, let's wait until the proper investigation before making a conclusion.

Will the same level of publicity be given if in a few days or weeks if some or many of those arrested are released without charge ?

Graham, Wales,

Doctors are very easily disheartened/depressed from viewing images/videos of the death and destruction of hundreds of thousands of women and children killed and millions displaced, in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Dr Matthew Charles, Westminster, UK

"Experts have long cautioned against the assumption that only the ignorant and poor embrace radical Islam. There is no shortage of Western-educated, middle-class professionals in the Arab world who are furious about what is happening in Iraq, and at the Westâ€™s perceived lack of concern for the plight of the Palestinians."

What a joke........this stuff has very little or nothing to do with Iraq or the Palestinians and nearly EVERYTHING TO DO WITH theocracy and Islam. It may be politically convenient and expediant to think otherwise; however, such expediency creates a blindness that only further harms western societies. If it were otherwise then why all of the terrorist attacks that predate Iraq. For that matter, if the worry was Iraq why not attack within Iraq prior to Hussein's demise. Afterall, he was only a mass murderer responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of Muslims....devout and otherwise.

Steve, Charlotte,

Bravo,England,and to Prime Minister Brouwn,we don't yield,not even an inch to these people!!I hope that England will arrest all suspects in the near future.

Dijkhuyzen, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

Followers of every faith, should express concerns over the recent attempts of terrorism in 2 major british cities.

Concerns, anger and hatred among the public, is certainly an appropriate response. No disputes about that...

However, if educated fundamentalists have used their faith to promote violence (which is out right mockery), on the other hand, educated anti-fundamentalists have used freedom of speech as a means of provocation and spreading hatred among the society.

It is imperative that such acts of terrorism be condemned without qualifications, also when adhering to the need of the hour, any imagined or living situation is irrelevant to the repulsive nature of such hideous terrorist adventures.

ashraf, Dubai , U.A.E

I am a Lebanese Christian living in an area dominantly Moslem .Not all moslems are murderers.But unfortunately Islam teaches jihad (in other words : violence,hatred , and murder )that is compensated in 'heaven'.....with virgins ,milk and honey.If their religion orders them to do that then they think it is right.
The only way as one moslem friend of mine put it :Several pages should be torn out of the Koran.Otherwise don't call Islam a religion of peace.

Joseph, Tripoli, Lebanon

It is interesting to note that these physicians, why do they pretend to be academics, have brought the competence usually associated with their profession to this activity.
On the subject of competence however we must not forget the efficiency with which our finest brought the Birmingham 6 to justice!

John Camus, Colchester,

I realize that these men are innocent until proven guilty by a jury of their peers, but I would also have assumed that these professional and medically trained men took the Hippocratic oath? Or did they take the hypocratic oath?

Marlene Koenig, Alexandria, VA/USA

While I understand that Islam, for the majority of it's practitioners, is a peaceful religion this does not negate the responsibility of those more moderate (or sane) Muslims towards preventing terrorist attacks. The problem seems to be cultural more than anything else but If otherwise rational people won't stand up and say anything if it may save innocent lives then we should ask what loyalty we owe them. If we're not careful we could get to the stage of race rioting again, which may be something that the more radical (and for that read loony) element desire but I for one have no desire to get a head full of nails just because I'm a white non-believer any more than i feel that an asian muslim (or even asian non-believer) should be assaulted, intimidated or worse. As the poet said, "Why can't we be friends" ad nauseum

Jojo Jojojo, Liverpool,

Sir,
"So Arabs are concerned about Iraq and the Palestinians and that is why they commit terrorist acts. Well I'm not too thrilled about the way Darfurians are being treated by other Muslims, but I wouldn't condone bombs in Riyadh, Cairo or Gaza to show my displeasure.

geoffrey , melbourne, australia"

If terrorism is defined as politically-motivated violence, then it is a surprise that post 11/9, "our" representatives have seen it fit to indulge in the GWOT. Many leaders have abandoned all sense of balance behaving as a roving colonial lynch mob. Terrorism can be perpetrated by individuals or by the state e.g. Irgun or the anti-Greenpeace actions of the French security services. However, it is gratifying that many of us in the West have stood up, in a civic manner, against the juvenile rants of the hysterically paranoid armchair generals.

SC, London, United Kingdom

I read in a earlier description that the guy who was badly burned had a smirk on his face as he poured petrol over himself....Bet he's not smirking now.

I hope the father is right when he says his son is innocent....as currently this guys aim was to send people TO the doctors....or their death.

kirk, Rotherham, UK

Our government has been enthusiastically recruiting young doctors, and other professionally skilled and qualified people, such as these young men, from all over the world with apparently little thought of the possible security aspects, presumably because it's so much quicker and cheaper than educating people here.

How many people of a similar turn of mind to these young men are in sensitive IT roles, I wonder?

Gill, Southampton, UK

Christina, I love it "innocent until proven guilty"
Perhaps staggering from a jeep with your ass on fire is not proof enough, maybe to be a devout muslin and visit terror training camps in pakistan, Quite frankly I don't care, any religion that teaches its children to blow up others is deeply suspect. Not since the 16th century have christian religions worshiped the devil in the name of God

James, Edingburgh, Scotland

I thought doctors were supposed to be good at science and reasonably efficient. These supposed "bombs" were remarkably inefficient, if the aim was to kill people. If doctors are this incompetent, I'm really worried about the state of the NHS.

kath, Nottingham, England

Yes, Hadeel is more worrying than the bombs. A man in complete denial of reality and yes, this applies to a large percentage of the Muslims in the world. Wow ! what a problem we all have. Until the 'decent' ones get a grip on their lunatic fringe (and I see no signs of that) it is all quite hopeless right now.

victor M., Malaga, Spain

These educated ? men have done irreparable damage to to the Islamic image.
Already under fire, Islam now shows the sickness of murder spreads across all social classes.
As for this father saying he knew his son was devout did he never wonder why ? he also has to acept some blame for indoctrinating his children with his own beliefs.
The [ mental sickness ] delusion they have been brought up with is pathetic, only when Islam teachings remove rewards for martyrdom will there be any change.
It's no good saying the Kuran does not reward for killing innocents , because we that live a democratic , normal life [ to us ] are all guilty in the eyes of Islam.
So these madmen will still think they get the virgins in heaven, why the hell can they not do that on earth instead.?

Maggie Millington, Brittany, France

So Arabs are concerned about Iraq and the Palestinians and that is why they commit terrorist acts. Well I'm not too thrilled about the way Darfurians are being treated by other Muslims, but I wouldn't condone bombs in Riyadh, Cairo or Gaza to show my displeasure.

geoffrey , melbourne, australia

What will it take to convince the likes of Hadeel, Manchester that all the recent terrorist attacks that have taken place in the UK have been carried out by Muslims? How many times does Bin Laden and his accomplices need to broadcast that they are behind this? Islam is a religion of peace, so who on earth is blowing up each others mosques in Iraq? Who are these people in Iraq with suicide belts walking into crowds and blowing up Iraqis. Who are these people with vehicles packed with bombs targetting innocent Iraqi people? Its time you faced reality, these people are gving your religion a bad name.

Alan Lewis, Bangkok, Thailand

â€ He acknowledged that his son was a â€œdevout Muslimâ€ Within the context of this article to use the word "acknowledged" as opposed to alternatives such as "confirmed" implies that to be a devout Muslim is suspect. I would welcome more careful choice of language. As far as I am aware there is, enshrined in British law, the principle that a person is innocent until proven guilty. The tone of this article implies that to be a Muslim in Britain...

christina dickinson, Skopje, Macedonia

To Hadeel,
This is one of the problems with the terrorist threat. Even though the terrorist in the Glasgow incident was shouting "Allah" as he burned, the Muslim community seem to be denial about the fact that these people are muslims. This see no evil, hear no evil attitude only segregates muslims even further. Wake up to the fact that not all muslims believe Islam is about peace. And the argument that it is only the stupid ones can be put to rest now that one of the bombers is a doctor.

Ed, London,

The poor and ignorant generally don't form terror groups, though they are eventually recruited by those that do. The paragraph beginning, "experts have long cautioned..." shows the lack of understanding the media have about this issue, believing events in palestine and iraq are the primary cause for these personsâ€™ actions and why they always seem so perplexed when 'educated' people are willing to commit these sorts of crimes. The truth, which media and governments seem so completely unable to fathom, is that islam itself generates this action (not reaction).

neil, sydney, aus

i think we should all wait the end of the investigation.
Islam is about peace. and as a Muslim i should say that we regret such acts and consider any person link Islam to his own interest is not Muslim. i was not surprised when media claimed that both bombing attempt were by Muslim hands. we all feel that somebody wants to convince the world that Islam is bout terrifying people. please keep Islam away from such horrible acts.

hadeel, manchester, U.K.