Leading London Islamist Put on Trial for Supporting Terrorism

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An Islamic preacher who heckled former Home Secretary John Reid encouraged followers to join insurgents fighting British troops in Iraq, a court heard yesterday.

Omar Brooks, 31, also tried to raise money to send to the Iraqi fighters, it is claimed. He is on trial with seven other men variously accused of funding and inciting terrorism overseas.

Jonathan Laidlaw, prosecuting, told Kingston crown court in London that five of the men “encouraged others to join in the jihad in Iraq, to join the insurgency”. The charges relate to speeches on November 9, 2004 at the Regents Park Mosque in London - at the time “coalition forces were engaged in a hotly contested battle for Fallujah”. The jury heard a DVD of the speeches was found in 2006. The defendants deny all charges. The trial continues.

YouTube - UK Home Secretary John Reid heckled by Islamist

* Brooks, who described the 7/7 suicide bombers as “completely praiseworthy,” is also a signed up member of a Muslim marriage website. Although already married with three children and living off £700 a month in state benefits, the 31-year-old announced he was seeking more wives, with the intention of fathering more than nine children.

On the site MuslimIntro.com, Brooks - using his Muslim name Abu Izzadeen - describes himself as the “life of thee party.”

He says he is looking for a “second, third or fourth wife” and does not care about their ages as long as they are older than 16 and younger than 40. Under the category “My Personality”, Brooks boasts that he is “passionate, bold, protective, witty and sensitive”. He says the “best aspect” of his personality is that he is “very funny loving [sic] and humble towards the believers inshallah [if Allah wills it]”.

He prays, he says, more than five times a day, fasts at Ramadan and has performed hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca. Born Trevor Brooks to a Jamaican family in Hackney, he adds that there is “nothing except Islam”.

Brooks says his most attractive physical feature is his long beard - although he adds that it “doesn’t grow beyond a certain limit”. He describes himself as “muscular”, 5ft 11in tall, with hazel eyes.

In 2005, he told BBC2’s Newsnight: “What I would say about those who do suicide operations or martyrdom operations is they’re completely praiseworthy. I have no allegiance to the Queen whatsoever or to British society, in fact if I see mujahideen attack the UK, I am always standing with the Muslims, never against the Muslims.

“I would never denounce the bombings, even if my own family was to suffer, because we always stand with the Muslims regardless of the consequences.”

MuslimIntro.com, whose tagline is “Muslim matrimonial introduction made easy”, said the website has about 14,000 members worldwide and it is not uncommon for subscribers to seek more wives.



“Traditionally many Muslim men have one, two, three or four wives,” said founder Mandar Maratha. “We have many women who want to be a second or third wife. They couldn’t get married under UK law but they could get married under Islamic law.”

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