http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2013/05/201352362828813162.html
UK: Soldier's murder may be terror-related
Prime Minister Cameron condemns attack in London in which soldier was hacked to
death and says Islam must not be blamed.
Last Modified: 23 May 2013 13:08
British police are investigating the murder of a soldier who was attacked with
a meat cleaver near an army base in South London.
The victim was hacked to death with a cleaver in the Woolwich
district in the southeast of the British capital on Wednesday before the
attackers were shot by police.
A second meeting of the government's emergency COBRA security council has been
held and David Cameron, British Prime Minister, made a
statement about the results.
"This country will be absolutely resolute in its stand against extremism and
terror," he said after the meeting.
"This action was a betrayal of Islam and the Muslim communities that
give so much to our country. We will defeat violent extremism by
standing together.
"We will not rest until we know every detail."
Cameron also praised the actions of Ingrid Loyau-Kennett, a cub scout leader
who confronted the attackers immediately after the violence and
tried to talk them down.
"They told her they wanted to start a war in London and she replied,
'you are going to lose, it is you against many," Cameron said.
"She speaks for all of us."
Al Jazeera's Rory Challands, reporting from Westminster, said that on leaving
the meeting London Mayor Boris Johnson indicated that people
could go about their business as usual.
"Reading in to this a little bit, it seems to be that political
leaders do not seem to think this attack poses any greater threat to
security," our correspondent said.
Video footage
Johnson also made a statement ahead of the meeting in which he emphasised that
religion should not be blamed.
"It is completely wrong to blame this killing on the religion of Islam," the
mayor said.
"It is also wrong to draw a link between this and British foreign
policy and soldiers risking their lives in the name of freedom.
Police forensics officers investigated the crime
scene where the man was killed [Reuters]
"The fault lies exclusively in the warped and deluded mindset of the people
that did it."
Video footage filmed by an onlooker and broadcast by Britain's ITV
news channel showed a man with hands covered in blood and holding a
bloodied meat cleaver and a knife.
"I apologise that women had to witness this today but in our lands,
our women have to see the same," he said. "You people will never be
safe. Remove your government, they don't care about you."
Al Jazeera's Laurence Lee, reporting from Woolwich, said it was
essential that political and religious leaders restore calm in the face
of violence from the UK's far-right.
"The English Defence League, wanted to use this to their advantage,
they came out last night chanting 'no surrender to Muslims,' and clashed with
riot police," our correspondent said.
"That expression of theirs has been widely echoed. There were two
attacks on mosques overnight and there is a growing unease of unease
about who this man was and whether he is part of a broader movement."
'Truly barbaric'
The man, who has been confirmed as being a British soldier, was
reportedly first hit by a car before the two men in that vehicle came
out with a machete and a gun and started to attack to man.
Witnesses said the attackers had approached police when they arrived and were
then shot.
Our correspondent, Laurence Lee, said people on social media
platforms were expressing anti-Muslim sentiment after the incident as
the men were said to have shouted "Allahu Akbar" as they attacked the
man.
Security was tightened in the area and at all London barracks after the
incident.
The Muslim Council of Britain condemned the attack, saying: "This is a truly
barbaric act that has no basis in Islam and we condemn this
unreservedly."
Shiraz Maher, of the International Centre for the Study of
Radicalisation at Kings College, told Al Jazeera that British security
services have become good at foiling large-scale conspiracies.
He said al-Qaeda has now told Muslims in the West who are sympathetic to their
cause to instead launch small-scale attacks, without talking
to others, "maybe do it alone, or with another friend; get a knife, get a
machete."
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies
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