This is probably the most difficult post I'm going to write on this blog so... I'm going to take time and save it. Its coming. Its halloween. Got to go.

ATILLA STRIKES OIL

ITN

Dawoods tapes are much better. Very posh voice. Quite camp.

"I thought he was a pooftah" said Hajj when he came up in conversation recently.

Much easier to hear in the courtroom than through the PA in the public gallery anyway. Atilla is really going on about the same stuff he used to shout about on the street. Its mainly him and Hamid doing the talking. Both build up to maxi decibel shouting, everyone must have been sitting well back. Atilla says that there should be a half hour reading of the Koran during which everyone should be silent. he says that if people don't agree with this he wouldn't come to the meeting anymore.

Lots of stuff about Muslims not making the effort, Muslims saying that Abu Katadah, Hamza et al were bad Muslims, Muslims who aren't up for sleeping in ditches cos they missed their wives- oh and Atilla says that whilst on holiday he found oil on his land in Cyprus.

In the many short breaks today I started reading Will Self's Great Apes. I think I'm going to give up though. What is it about scag heads and long complicated words? I don't get it.

HAMZA

Alan Jones, QC, for Abu Hamza, told City of Westminster magistrates that some of the evidence against his client included information extracted from two men who were tortured at Guantanamo Bay. Timothy Workman, the senior district judge, rejected this argument, saying that the US no longer relies on the evidence of one witness, and that the other is a defendant.

Also Film jeopardises Hamza Terror trial

BOLLOCKINGS ALL ROUND

I arrived at court late this morning to be told the public gallery was still closed, as this undercover guy, Dawood would still be giving evidence. I waited to see if the judge would let me in behind the witness box. Pretty soon the court emptied of journalists on mobile phones ringing their news desks.

Apparently both defence and prosecution had complained about bias and fabrication in news articles over the weekend.

In this blog I try not to complain about press or broadcasters or Police for that matter unless absolutely necessary. When Atilla's wife calls me about misrepresentations I told her the press were just informing the public about the case the prosecution were making. My opinions about the continuing coverage? Its written by people who want these people to be guilty. I don't assume skulduggery or conspiracy. It just looks like a better story.

When everyone was let back in I managed to get in myself past the reluctant security guard to find that the court had been phoned by a concerned member of the public with news of a jury member blabbing at length in some hair salon. Rather than suspend the whole process the judge called them in and delivered another strongly worded bollocking to the jury one of whom was obviously red faced, though from my seat I couldn't see them.

He also spoke to them about the difference between what they heard in the court room and what they might have read in the papers.

"I can see a couple of heads nodding..."

It just remains for me, in this spirit of reprimands to deliver a bollocking to anyone who might be reading this. You've been fucking told. Alright?

In the afternoon instead of Dawood we got some forensic computer geek giving evidence about wmv's and pdf's. No one gave him a bollocking though. The Policeman in charge of transcripts asked me how my website was going.

At least someone is reading I suppose...:-)

Hull, Hell and Halifax

BBC
Telegrah/ITN

I missed this. Was at a funeral in Hull where I learned the expression "God save us from Hull, Hell and Halifax" which apparently refers to the middle ages use of the gibbet on thieves which was considered barbaric compared to cities elsewhere who just hung them.

TV-LINKS UNDER ARREST

"There are criminal provisions in the Trade Marks Act, but they are intended to catch the sale of counterfeit goods, not the supply of a service. I'd be surprised if the provision of links was found to be a criminal offence under the Trade Marks Act."

JESUS

Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

DRUDGE NEEDS HILLARY

Democrats said they noticed an occasional Clinton-friendly tone from Mr. Drudge, whom New York magazine quoted as saying on his program: “I need Hillary Clinton. You don’t get it. I need to be part of her world. That’s my bank.”

ANORAK?

Just got this

Neither Musa, nor Atillas wife have spoken out in the media before. All this serious journalism about Atilla and they decide to comment on an article called "Pole vaulting for Allah." They are nuts. Both of them.

Atilla Ahmet's wife and brother speak out on Anorak (?) of all places. I'll put up the full text:

1. umm Says:
   October 15th, 2007 at 10:14 am

   The papers have all got it wrong,lies and more lies,I was there at the time of the made up song and and it wasnt like that at all,we were camping with our familys not with young men, or children and Atilla said to his friend in the camping grounds “ere i bet the trees are bugged and as a sarcatstic joke he made up a silly song as a wind up,but little did we know an undercover was recording.Atilla only ever went camping with his family so the papers should thire facts right.

2. 4
   umm Says:
   October 15th, 2007 at 10:39 am

   Also the reason he pleaded guilty was because he felt he wasnt going to get a fair trial,with the way the media demonized him,obviously he cant defend himself in court now,theres always 2 sides to a story. The cps have stitched him up and lied and theyre allowed to get away with it,and all the papers do is take what they say and add to it and twist the story so it looks like they are right.Had the cps played the recording of the song in court the jury would have heard he was messing around,but they read it out instead.

3. 5
   musa ahmet Says:
   October 15th, 2007 at 11:47 pm

   i am the elder brother of atilla ahmet, i was with him on the 1st of september 06 outside the bridge to chinatown restaurant, i was also arrested and spent 8 months in prison, the terrorist charges was dropped ,to justify 8months of being in prison, the cops(pigs)still took me to the old bailey to face a charge under the firearms act, i was found NOT GUILTY august of this year 2007,the press lied about my case, especially the BBC, i would not spit on the media as my spit would become contaminated, thats how filthy they are,and now more and more lies about my brother atilla, you are not satisfied that my brother has pleaded guilty even though he is not guilty, when will the lies stop,when will the media tell the truth,the answer, NEVER NEVER NEVER..

OFF TO MOROCCO ITS GOING TO BE GREAT

Managed a couple of hours of garbled tapes this morning. They had stepped up security considerably with armed Police just inside the entrance and another check by the public gallery entrance. Maybe a more serious terrorist case was going on next door in Court 2? Don't know.

Mr. Defence cross examined the guy who made the transcripts about Hamid's referral to the "Magnificent 15" as it had been suggested that he was referring to the 9/11 hijackers. The prosecution stood and said that was no longer the case.

So much for all this.

He also said that whilst he was not acting for Atilla Ahmet, it could be said that he was upset about being called "Al-Qaeda's No 1 in Europe" not boasting about it. I have film somewhere of Atilla complaining when this allegation was first made, a long time ago in the Turkish press if I remember rightly.

I heard a lot of garbled stuff about making a strong brotherhood, and supporting each other financially and how great a trip to Morocco for 100 quid each would be. Without transcripts I can't really help you. Fuck knows what is going on down there really.

via Harry's Place: Muslim contractor waives fee to build synagogue


"Abraham is our forefather," Bayyari said. "We're first cousins. How we got to hate each other is beyond me."

OUTDATED POLITICS

I don't really give a shit about leftist infighting anymore but this is very funny:

"Off you go - fuck off, fuck off the lot of you"

No one knows where UK blogging is going to be headed over the next twelve months, least of all me.

God Will Kill Everyone

"I will sweep away everything in all your land," says the LORD. "I will sweep away both people and animals alike. Even the birds of the air and the fish in the sea will die. I will reduce the wicked to heaps of rubble, along with the rest of humanity," says the LORD. "I will crush Judah and Jerusalem with my fist and destroy every last trace of their Baal worship. I will put an end to all the idolatrous priests, so that even the memory of them will disappear. For they go up to their roofs and bow to the sun, moon, and stars. They claim to follow the LORD, but then they worship Molech, too. So now I will destroy them! And I will destroy those who used to worship me but now no longer do. They no longer ask for the LORD's guidance or seek my blessings."
(Zephaniah 1:2-6 NLT)

BLOW UP INNOCENT PEOPLE

via Stuck on Stupid

CONSPIRACY THEORIES

Yup. Definitely heard some conspiring today but it was fucking hard work getting there.

"Get your feet off the glass."

"Yes mate. Get the fucking sound working."

"Yes mate."

There are some very nice staff in Belmarsh, I've heard it is true on the inside as well. The defendants certainly started in high spirits. The staff at the Old Bailey are ten times nicer.

I saw Atilla plead guilty there thanks to Daniel. I called Atilla's wife for confirmation. I had heard a rumor also from Hajj. I brought my girlfriend along to hold my hand as I wasn't sure how emotional I would get. The lovely Barbadian court attendant (Barbadan? fuck knows.) was gushing about how much healthier I was looking, and quick to attribute it all to my beautiful girlfriend. I agreed.

Obviously this "Jihad calypso" upset me, I called his wife who told me it was preceeded by "Just in case the tree's are bugged..." and was a joke, he didn't know the tree's were actually bugged. I got a call back, Atilla's wife puting the phones together I heard a familiar voice.

"Don't believe what they say about me in the papers."

Anyway back to the current story...

Hamid pronounced Atilla the Emir.


Hamid declared the group, who were arguing about a trip to Morocco to be the "Inner Circle." He then went on to say that nothing that was said in the room should be repeated outside it, not even to your wife. Atilla also said words to this effect as did a deep Jamaican voice I took to belong to Mousah Brown. Atilla said that there were brothers who should have been there who weren't and said that you couldn't even get enough brothers around for a good trip to Morocco these days

Mousah said the Police had spoken to them on the way in from France and given them a proper talking to.

A conspiracy is hatched. Whether it is a holiday to Morocco, a terrorist conspiracy or a group of Islamic warriors fighting against a satanist conspiracy I am not sure. I asked for some transcripts but I heard that even some of the defense don't have any.

Looking down from the public gallery as I sank lower and lower into my chair I felt as if the whole courtroom was like the final scenes from Titanic. A sea of people wading and wading through garbled cassette tape. Hamid is fucking impossible to understand. Very dramatic. Atilla is more bassy but further away, Mousah is crystal clear and very bassy.

I couldn't blog about it at the time, when Atilla for whatever reason changed from Aranis representing him to Paul Butcher, I handed over my tapes and had two conversations about my take on the guy. I was told that I couldn't go to the court case, as I was a potential witness which sort of fucked me up documentary wise. I thought Mr Butcher, who has previously tangled with the Fake Sheik, very able to defend Atilla, but I wasn't sure that me appearing in such grand circumstance would particularly help Atiila's case, unless I was allowed to play guitar to the jury or something.

I've had to split my head in two for this one. I don't know Hamid well. I've only met him twice I think. For some reason, Hamza's trial was much easier. I was pretty convinced, after seeing him in the street, that he was against randomly blowing innocent people up in London. He preached this a number of times.

He seemed to think he was shouting his point across, and that he should address the cameras while they were on him so although I never really liked him, nor he I, I thought he was who he says he was in court.

I have yet to hear the evidence from Yemeni phone conversations.

I could see that amongst Muslims Hamza had indeed said some very dodgy things he needed to be held to account for, but on the street in the glare of publicity he cooled all this a fucking hell of a lot, and seemed desperate to ally himself to the majority in this country who he felt opposed the actions of the government. Anyway enough about Hamza.

Without at least meeting Atilla I can't really see how the jury can get a true picture of this conspiracy. He pleaded guilty but to what? Was he the Emir? What was he planning to do?

Scotsman
I must have missed this witness. This is rubbish. As I've said before, Hamid used to come up the mosque very occasionally, but he certainly wasn't part of the tiny "inner circle" around Hamza as far as I could see.

TEDIUM AD NAUSEUM

I could only handle a few hours of listening to garbled tapes yesterday. The jury had headphones and a transcript. Every ten minutes or so the PC who made the transcripts was cross examined. I head Atilla's voice for the first time in court, which for some strange reason seemed a little clearer in the recording. I was waiting to hear something incriminating. I think I made out him saying that there wasn't much point in protesting and something about standing silently in a long line. Fuck knows.

Save me, O God,
for the waters have come up to my neck.

2 I sink in the miry depths,
where there is no foothold.
I have come into the deep waters;
the floods engulf me.

3 I am worn out calling for help;
my throat is parched.
My eyes fail...

ITN

Aching Heart

Mohammed, a friend of Lennart's who appears briefly in the film, leaves to fight with the islamist forces in Somalia and is killed in a U.S. bombing raid.

Yet the picture is not all bleak. By giving them faces and voices, Hedin said, he believes Sweden - and many other countries in Western Europe facing similar problems - can deal more effectively with the threat such militants pose.

"These are regular guys, in a sense," Hedin said. "By talking to them, by having an open debate, I hope we can stop some of what they're doing, and maybe understand some of their reasons."

Hedin chosen the title "Aching Heart" to underscore how all these "regular guys" have histories that viewers can relate to, histories that might provide some of the keys to solving the problem of Islamic radicalism in the West.

YAWN

I actually fell asleep in court this afternoon. We were let in downstairs because some surveillance officers were giving evidence behind a screen. I got a tap on the foot from a journalist. I don't think they were as bored as I was. I think my coat is a bit too warm and sleeping bag like.

In the morning another Cumbrian cop turned up, to back up his pals description the previous day of seeing the guys training military style. Seems he backed it up a bit too well.

"So you didn't just copy his statement at a later date?" asked Mr defence..

"No."

"Can I remind you you are under oath? let me ask that again..."

"No."

"I'll read your friends statement, line by line, stopping to let you read a line of yours..."

They matched exactly, all the way through. To the letter.

"And you didn't copy your mates statement?"

"No."

We missed the first bit of screened officers giving evidence but when we came in for the second half the defence were making a big deal about the fact that the written statements didn't match up to the photographs and video evidence they provided, which seemed to amount to film of the guys (including Muktar Said Ibrahim) waking up in the morning and scratching their butts etc, and film of them running haphazardly down a slope with a few of them doing sit-ups at the end. There were also 70 photographs of them playing football.

In a written statement one of the covert surveillance guys said that whilst playing football they would often hit the deck and mime throwing hand grenades, or mine holding rifles.

"Go through them slowly and tell me which of the 70 photographs you took show this?"

"None of them."

Also in a written statement they refer to "leopard crawling" and "anti ambush training".

We watched again the tape of the guys running down the hill, some of them slowing down at the back, with maybe three of them doing sit ups, this time with the sound up. You can hear the voice of the officer giving evidence describing this as "Anti-Ambush training".

Telegraph
BBC
Newham recorder

BORING

Very boring day hearing from an Indian Policeman who arrested Hamid and Muktar Said Ibrahim, being called a "Cow worshiper" in the process. The chief defence guy (Joel) gave him a thorough questioning. Another stranger and much larger white female Police officer with blonde hair which was died a punky red underneath at the back, maybe to enable her true colours to be hid within a pony tail whilst on duty.

She, during investigations into 7/7 and 21/7 had taken a statement from Hamid about his knowledge of the 21/7 bombers. Of note (to the defence) within it he stated that he didn't believe either 9/11, 7/7 or 21/7 were the work of Islamic extremists and gave her copies of Illuminazi and a 9/11 conspiracy film.

We also heard from a very sweet "Community support" officer who had obviously spent a bit of her time on duty listening to Hamids rants about conspiracies.

"He was quite often depressed?" asked Joel (chief defence)

"Yes."

"Did you think of him as eccentric?"

"No." she answered.

Next we heard from an extremely nervous Cumbrian farmer. I mean seriously, this guy looked like he thought he was going to be dragged off and locked up himself at any moment. During some inordinately long and cruel gaps his eyes darted around the court room, probably in the same manner as one of his sheep when cornered.

"Did you have any contact whilst they were there?" asked the prosecution.

"No."

"Did you know why they stopped coming?"

"No."

"Did you ask them to stop coming?"

"No."

So much for newspaper tales of "My Taliban".

Mr Defence snidely suggested the farmer was running his campsite as a cash business on the side.

We then heard from two Cumbria Policemen, one of whom spoke of seeing three men doing forward rolls with sticks held like rifles, another who saw Asian looking dudes in military formation. He said that he himself was ex-military and had instructed on similar training courses.

One of the defence showed the second cop a video from covert surveillance showing the guys running down a hill and doing sit ups at the bottom.

"If your troop were training like this you'd send them all back up the hill with instructions to do it double time no?"

"Those I saw were much better trained than that."

From the start I thought we weren't going to hear what the witnesses had to say upstairs behind glass because the witness box microphone wasn't switched on. Being a bit too English I took my time asking one of the court staff to sort it, and when it eventually was sorted we had continual trouble with feedback.

Why are these able lawyers and court staff such ludites? Surely everyone knows that if you point a fucking microphone at a speaker you get feedback. I explained this a couple of times, it was relayed downstairs to the court usher who uselessly went over, tapped the microphone and left it in the same position.

After a long lunch I was able to frantically wave directions through the glass. I'd forgotten how tedious court cases are sometimes. I don't know how the jury stay awake.

I'm not sure about all this business about "Jihadi training". Everyone in Finsbury park believed Allah commanded them to train. They train together all the time. They all believed very strongly that some apocalyptic purge against Muslims was coming soon, and they had to be in shape to be able to defend their families. They believed it and it happened- to them. They are a self fulfilling prophesy.

Anyway on the way home I indulged one of my "other" obsessive compulsive habits. Anyone who's read my blog before might know that I collect newspaper advertisements with "double meanings". When I was more depressed and a lot crazier I used to rip out ones that offended me, ones which said RAPE!!! MUGGING!! EXCLUSIVE PICTURES!!! and suchlike.

I had to have this one:


I instantly had an image of an evil cartoon skunk with a mad grin on his face turning on a huge tap.