Onislam
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Scotland Yard has put several figures from the British Muslim
community under police protection after a recently released video has
singled them as possible targets of attacks by Somali militant group
Al-Shabaab."We are aware of the video and we are assessing its
contents and looking into it," a Scotland Yard spokesman said, The
Express reported on Saturday, October 19.
According to reports,
the video singles out British Muslim commentator Mohammed Ansar as one
of those who "distanced themselves" from those who carried out the
attacks and as having "mutilated the teachings of Islam".
Ansar is
one of a number of prominent Muslims to claim police have issued
warnings to following credible evidence of potential threats against
them.
The imam and broadcaster Ajmal Masroor wrote on his Facebook
page that two Metropolitan police detectives arrived at his home on
Wednesday night to warn he was "in imminent danger from the terrorists."
"The police officers were visiting me to give me a warning and asking me to be more vigilant," he wrote.
"As
soon as they left my house I started digging further and found an
al-Shabab video has been uploaded on the internet and in it they name me
as a Muslim who is an enemy of Islam and should be eliminated.
"They name a few others in their video message and encourage people to resort to using knives to behead people like me."
Writing
on Twitter, Ansar said: "Nice visit from the police at midnight to talk
to me about the fact I'm in the latest al shabab terror video. Erm, as a
potential target."
"More security briefings following threat by
Al-Shabaab (sic) against me and a number of prominent figures," he wrote
in a later tweet.
Muslim commentator Mohammed Shafiq also tweeted: "I was also visited by the police and told of threats made against me."
Al
Shabaab, which is battling Kenyan and other African peacekeepers in
Somalia, had repeatedly threatened attacks on Kenyan soil if Nairobi did
not pull its troops out of the Horn of Africa country.
Shabaab militant group has been launching deadly attacks against the Somali government over the past four years.
Last
month, Somalia’s militant al Shabaab group claimed an attack on a
Nairobi shopping mall in which more than 60 people were killed.
Declaring its affiliation to Al-Qaeda in 2010, Shabaab announced struggle against neighboring countries.
In
a fatwa issued earlier this month, Somali religious scholars condemned
al-Shabaab's use of violence, saying the group had no place in Islam.