Far-right author kills two, then self in Florence

Gianluca Casseri

An Italian far-right author shot dead two Senegalese vendors and wounded three in Florence on Tuesday before killing himself in a daylight shooting spree that prompted outpourings of grief in the historic city.

Witnesses said they saw the gunman calmly getting out of a car at a street market on Piazza Dalmazia, north of the city centre, and firing off three shots that instantly killed two vendors and seriously wounded a third.

The white assailant, identified by authorities as 50-year-old Gianluca Casseri, then moved on to the San Lorenzo market in the centre -- a popular destination for the thousands of tourists who visit Florence every day -- where he wounded two more vendors. Casseri then turned the gun -- a Magnum Smith & Wesson revolver according to news reports -- on himself after he was surrounded by police.

Around 200 Senegalese marched through the city in an angry protest after the shootings, shouting "Shame!" and "Racists!" Hundreds of immigrants were later seen praying on their knees in tears in front of Florence's famous cathedral.

"The heart of Florence is crying today," Florence Mayor Matteo Renzi said in a Twitter message, declaring the city would hold a day of mourning Wednesday and would pay to repatriate the bodies to Senegal.

"I think the pain for the lives that have been cut short is not only for the Senegalese community but for all the citizens of our city," Renzi said.

International Cooperation and Integration Minister Andrea Riccardi and a Senegalese imam will attend a ceremony at Florence city hall on Wednesday.

"The Senegalese are good people, people who never get into trouble, who work every day," one Senegalese man told news channel SkyTG24. Another man said: "These lads who were killed were only earning money for their wives, their fathers, their children."

Roccangelo Tritto, a spokesman for local Carabinieri police, told AFP that the man wounded at Piazza Dalmazia would live but remain paralysed for life. The other two men were also in a serious condition -- one with a wound to the abdomen and another shot in the chest.

Casseri was the author of fantasy novels including "The Key of Chaos" about a wizard, a mathematician and an alchemist, which enjoyed some popularity. He also wrote an academic paper about Dracula folklore and was the editor of a niche magazine about fantasy and horror fiction and comics.

Casseri lived on his own in the Tuscan countryside near Pistoia. He was also a member of Casa Pound, a right-wing community group that is seen as more intellectual than other far-right organisations.

"He was a bit strange, a bit of a loner but he didn't seem crazy. He was living in his own world," said Fabio Barsanti, a regional coordinator for Casa Pound.

"He didn't seem capable of doing something like this," he said, adding: "We are against any type of violence. We consider the Senegalese humans like us."

Barsanti said Casseri was known locally mostly as a World War I buff.

While Casa Pound distanced itself from Casseri's actions, left-wingers were quick to pin the blame on a climate of racism in the country. Walter Veltroni, a lawmaker from the centre-left Democratic Party, said the shootings were "a terrorist attack by a right-wing extremist."

"What happened in Florence is the product of a climate of intolerance against foreigners that has grown over the years," he said.

Nichi Vendola, leader of the Left, Ecology and Liberty party, condemned what he said was "a racist and fascist Italy that sows hatred."

At the scene of the first shooting in Piazza Dalmazia, eyewitnesses quoted by Italian media said they were in shock and a newspaper seller said the gunman told him: "Get out of the way or I'll bump you off next."

"I heard the shots but I thought they were fireworks. Then I turned around and I saw three men on the ground in a pool of blood," one vendor said.

Another man said: "There are often Senegalese guys here who sell the usual stuff, they don't bother anyone and no one was expecting this."

African vendors can be seen on the streets of Italy's main cities selling sculptures, trinkets and fake designer handbags. They are often selling their wares illegally but are popular with tourists and local residents.

AFP

UKIP: the BNP in suits?

This article was submitted by one of our readers, Roddy Newman. We welcome any contributions from our supporters (as long as those contributions conform to the law and are in reasonably good taste). Please send your articles to us via email.

Many BNP voters are now turning to UKIP, because they do not like what they have heard about the BNP's fascism, and because they are unaware that leading UKIP figures themselveshave fascist links, which were discussed by then Labour MEP Richard Corbett in this article (PDF download) about UKIP. The fascist links include an unofficial pact between the BNP and UKIP which the BNP has now admitted to the existence of.

Richard Corbett's article also pointed out that the UKIP leadership refused to condemn a letter bomb campaign against MEP's from other parties, and said they could understand the reasons for the campaign.

Furthermore, since Corbett's 2004 article, UKIP MEP Geoffrey Bloom, who is a climate change denier, has praised the French Secret Service's 1985 terrorist bombing of the Greenpeace "Rainbow Warrior" ship, as this BBC News article reveals:

As leading UKIP figures have fascist links, and think terrorism is OK, it is clear that UKIP is not a normal democratic political party. In other Western European countries it would be viewed in the same light as their far-right parties in fact, as the BNP are so extreme by the standards of other Western European nations, that their far-right politicians refused to form a formal group with the BNP in the European Parliament, because they said they would be badly damaged in the eyes of their countries' voters if they did. For example, Belgium's Flemish Appeal was badly damaged after their then deputy leader questioned the size of the Holocaust.

By contrast, as Britain has, overall, by far the lowest quality newspapers in Western Europe, because so many British people prefer reading celebrity gossip to reading about news, Nick Griffin's past Holocaust denial has not been as big a political issue, and many BNP voters have as a result taken until recently to find out that the BNP is a fascist party which pretends not to be.

So, as many BNP voters are now turning to UKIP, anti-fascist activists ought to be aware that the fascism linked, pro-terrorism UKIP could become the main party of British fascism in the future, and that the far more fascism-linked, and far more pro-terrorism BNP could become a much smaller fringe party like today's NF.

I showed in this 2009 article, "The BNP and terrorism", that the BNP have more terrorist links than possibly any other fascist party on the planet, and showed in another 2009 article, that the BNP leader was an admirer of a now dead American fascist party leader who openly advocated killing all of the world's billions of non-white people and Jews, and machine-gunning feminists and anti-racists. Not even UKIP can compete with the BNP in the terrorism and fascism stakes.

Muslim peace conference condemns terrorism

Thousands of Muslims have attended a peace conference in London which has condemned terrorism.

About 12,000 Muslims gathered at Wembley Arena for Islamic group Minhaj-ul-Quran's Peace for Humanity Conference. The conference launched a campaign to get one million people to sign an online declaration of peace by 2012.

Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri said the conference would send a message that 10 years of extremist activity should end. Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri is the founder of Minhaj-ul-Quran and gave the keynote speech at the event, despite having received death threats after issuing a fatwa - or religious ruling - against terrorism last year. The cleric was repeatedly applauded during his address in which he said the "terrible" 9/11 attacks in the US had distorted perceptions of Islam over the past decade.

He told the audience: "In spite of statements and memorandum and condemnation of the terror, the voices of the 99% true, peace-loving Muslims have not been heard, they have been drowned out by the clamour and the noise of extremists. Islam has nothing to do with any act of terrorism. We reject every act of extremism and terrorism unconditionally."

The event, which took one year to organise, was attended by people from across the UK, many of whom arrived in coaches. Those who attended heard a series of lengthy and impassioned speeches, some in Arabic, from Islamic scholars denouncing terrorism and extremism.

Ghazala Hassan al-Qadri, president of the MQI Women's League, told attendees: "Islam teaches love, it teaches compassion, it teaches tolerance, it teaches mercy."

Another speaker - Egypt-based Islamic scholar Shaykh Hassan Mohi-ud-Din Qadri - told the conference: "Islam is a religion of justice, not a religion of injustice...is a religion of manners and co-operation, not a religion of extremism and radicalisation...is a religion of forgiveness and pardon, not a religion of brutality and revenge."

The audience heard pre-recorded messages of support from, amongst others, Prime Minister David Cameron, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, opposition leader Ed Miliband, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams. And there were prayers for peace from representatives from a number of different religions including the Bishop of Barking, the Rt Rev David Hawkins, Jewish rabbis and representatives from the Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh faiths.

The declaration of peace included a call for democracy and good governance in the Muslim world, respect for human rights, and alleviation of poverty throughout the world.

BBC

Six arrested over Leicester kebab shop explosion

Two men and four women have been arrested after a kebab shop in Leicester was destroyed in a blast.

Emergency services were called to reports of an explosion at a shop in Narborough Road about 02:20 BST and found the building demolished. The cause of the explosion was being investigated but was being treated as suspicious, police said. Fire crews said it was "incredibly lucky" passers-by had not been caught by flying debris.

A police spokesman confirmed a criminal investigation was under way. The fire service said a search and rescue dog was used to check for casualties but it is not believed anyone was in the shop.

Station manager Dave Watson said: "It is incredibly lucky that we have not had more injuries and more damage caused. The force of the explosion has blown objects for some distance and we have been very lucky that passers-by did not get caught by debris."

Several adjoining properties were evacuated as a safety precaution. Parts of Narborough Road were closed while investigations were carried out. Nearby resident Julie Bourton described the moment the explosion happened.

"I was in bed," she said. "There was a massive bang and I ran downstairs to see my dad was up and I asked him whether there had been an earthquake. He said 'No' and looked out of the window and there was just smoke. We went out to have a look and the shop was just gone."

Leicestershire Constabulary have appealed for anyone with information about the incident to contact them.

BBC

Thanks to Flash for the heads-up

Activists: EDL is gateway to terrorism

Gun-toting EDL members

A British campaign group against racism and Fascism says the far-right English Defense League is a “conveyor belt for potential terrorists,” warning the Home Office of threats posed by the group.

Nick Lowles, director of the campaign group Searchlight, said the revealed links between EDL and Anders Behring Breivik, the Norwegian Christian terrorist that killed 77 people in Oslo last month should prompt officials to take a more decisive action against the far-right EDL. The terrorist has repeatedly admired the far-right extremists in his manifesto and has claimed he has hundreds of EDL supporters as Facebook friends.

The EDL has insisted Breivik's praise of the group is a one way matter and that the group does not endorse his views, a claim disputed by Lowles.

“Indeed, several EDL supporters have written approvingly of the car bomb that ripped through the administrative heart of Oslo. Even its leader, Stephen Lennon, while distancing himself from the murders of young people, claimed that Breivik was articulating legitimate concerns,” Lowles wrote in an article on Searchlight's webpage.

Lowles also said the Home Office has so far refused to classify EDL as a far-right extremist organization and is treating it with complete leniency as “a law and order issue”.

Lennon told the media in the aftermath of the Norway massacre that it is a sign of “growing anger in Europe”.

“People should look at what happened in Oslo and understand that there is growing anger in Europe,” he told the press. “You suppress people's rights you suppress people's voices and people will just continue to go underground - but that doesn't make the problem go away,” he added.

According to Lowles, the EDL are a “dangerous” anti-Muslim organization threatening the lives of Muslims in Britain.

“It opposes all new mosques and other Islamic buildings, its slogans and chants abuse the Muslim faith and its supporters have increasingly been involved in violent attacks,” he said warning that the group “shares much of the same ideology … with the Norwegian killer.”

Lowles said officials are letting the EDL get away with murder despite their “growing militancy” in recent months quoting the description of the group by Deputy Director of Communications at the Community Security Trust Dave Rich as a “gateway organization to terrorism” as evidence of mounting fears about the EDL threat to Britain.

Lowles said a number of EDL supporters have even “called for the taking of arms” against Muslims in Britain with others actively demanding a more confrontational and violent approach.

“A cursory study of the Facebook pages of EDL supporters reveals many posing with guns and other weapons,” Lowles said. “The EDL arguably presents the biggest threat to community cohesion in the UK today. Its strategy of provocative marches and physical attacks on political opponents is designed to increase tensions and divisions in communities with a large Muslim population,” he added.

Lowles said the Home Office needs to monitor EDL activities “as an extremist organization” and instruct the police to allocate “the same manpower and resources on monitoring its activity as they would in relation to other extremist groups.”

PressTV

Thanks to NewsHound for the heads-up

Thinktanks must drop this cold war approach to Islamism

Fear of Islamism at an EDL march in Telford on 13 August 2011.
Photograph: Mirrorimage Photos/Demotix

Encouraging counter-subversion policies condemns peaceful Muslims while turning a blind eye to the threat of Islamophobia

Conservative thinktanks are in a bit of a bind when it comes to responding to the rise of Islamophobia. On the one hand they want to condemn the BNP and the English Defence League for their racism and violence, but on the other they want to downplay the extent and existence of anti-Muslim racism because it might deflect attention from "Islamism" – the catch-all term for politically active Muslims, which they see as the main problem facing the UK. The difficulty with their position is that they end up condemning the peaceful political activism of Muslim groups, while downplaying and even excusing the violent modus operandi of racist and Islamophobic groups such as the EDL.

In our report we examine two of the most prominent British thinktanks engaged in work on the role of Islam in UK politics. The Centre for Social Cohesion (CSC) is the smaller of the two, focusing mainly on Islam, while Policy Exchange has a wider remit. Nevertheless, their work has followed quite similar lines. They have both rejected counter-terrorism policies based on public safety and have instead sought to revive discredited counter-subversion policies from the cold war era – policies that targeted a generation of trade union leaders and peace activists, including future Labour ministers.

The counter-subversion thinking of this earlier period undermined civil liberties and had a problematic influence on counter-terrorism policy; they risked repressing those engaged in legitimate political activity, while misunderstanding those who present a genuine threat of violence. As a result of following this highly ideological approach, both thinktanks have regularly attacked politically active Muslims, Muslim organisations and traditional liberal institutions such as churches, universities, schools and libraries. In one report, The Hijacking of British Islam, Policy Exchange famously attacked mosques alleging that they were selling extremist literature. The report was subsequently removed from the thinktank's website after the BBC discovered evidence suggesting that the report's findings had been fabricated.

The record of these thinktanks is that their publications at best exaggerate the threat posed by "Islamists" and the supposed Islamisation of public institutions. Their concern is not over the threat of terrorism or even of any illegality. Rather it is based on their counter-subversion analysis. This leads them into suggesting – as Policy Exchange has in a report titled Living Apart Together – that experiences of Islamophobia and discrimination faced by Muslims in Britain are simply "myths" attributable to a "victim mentality".

This downplaying of Islamophobia is also seen in the thinktanks' analysis of the far right. The CSC has produced two reports on the British far right. One, on the BNP, in particular underplays the extent to which it has been influenced by other Islamophobic currents. The BNP's alliance with the counterjihad movement and the subsequent emergence of the EDL were among the most significant developments on the British far right in recent years. Yet neither of the CSC's reports on the far right adequately addressed them. This is, perhaps, not surprising in the light of the CSC's own contacts with members of the counterjihad movement, such as the US-based Robert Spencer. In marked contrast to the CSC's analysis of other forms of political extremism, its director, Douglas Murray, has characterised the EDL as a predictable response to political failure and has recently described the EDL as a "grassroots response from non-Muslims to Islamism".

Events in Norway have now directed attention to the violence of the far right and in particular serve to highlight the danger presented by the spread of Islamophobic ideas. It would be a mistake to replace an exaggerated fear of Islam with a mirror image fear of the far right. However, the double standards at the heart of the approach taken by Policy Exchange and the CSC suggests that any policymaker or politician genuinely interested in public safety and the health of the democratic system should recognise that Islamophobic ideas are not just a product of violent far right groups, but equally can be fostered even by apparently respectable thinktanks.

Comment is free

Thanks to Zaahid for the heads-up

Scheme to spot potential right-wing extremists in Lancashire

Potential right-wing extremists in Lancashire are to be spotlighted in a scheme originally set up to track would-be terrorists following the 9/11 and 7/7 attacks.

Police said the ground-breaking counter-terrorism programme Channel, which has so far concentrated at Islamic extremism, has been widened to take account of the rise in right-wing extremism in the county. Parents, teachers, community leaders and police officers are referring children and young adults who they feel may be at risk of being radicalised by groups such as the English Defence League.

Officers who run the Channel project said they had redrafted programmes and guidance in response to the growth of right-wing organisations. The move comes after Norway mass murderer Anders Behring Brevik was said to have been motivated by his extreme right-wing ideologies.

Since April’s high-profile EDL demonstration and counter-protest in Blackburn, in which 12 people were arrested, police said the project has received a number of referrals.

Channel is a national safeguarding initiative for individuals considered vulnerable to recruitment by violent extremists. It is an early intervention strand of the Government’s counter-terrorism ‘Prevent’ strategy.

Insp Bilal Mulla, Lancashire’s Channel co-ordinator, said: “Channel is not a tool for spying. It is making people understand there may be vulnerable people who are targeted by those with radical views who had a different agenda. It is not about criminalising people, it is early intervention before radicalisation. Think about what happened in Norway. Do we really want that sort of thing to happen in Lancashire?”

Insp Mulla said he wanted to encourage people to refer any ‘signposts’ of right-wing or other types of extremism to his team.

“It is not much different to child sexual exploitation. It can happen online and people are ‘groomed’ into a certain belief and ideology. We are constantly seeking more referrals and we want people to understand what we do and what Channel is for. It is about us building trust and confidence and making sure the right messages get out. We put interventions in place, not investigations.

"If someone is not suited for the Channel project, we pass them on to other authorities such as Youth Offending, mental health practitioners, probation for example. Just because Channel doesn’t take them on, doesn’t mean there are not other interventions available.”

Since the EDL protest and counter-demonstration was held, Channel has had referrals from adults concerned about children being ‘radicalised’. They said they had to update their literature to cater for the threat to community cohesion from right-wing groups. Insp Mulla said: “We get referrals from a wide range of agencies and yes, more of these referrals are now for people associated with groups like the EDL.”

In one case, a teacher referred a pupil for a race hate crime. His school is now working with the Channel team to look at his behaviour and his case will be put before the next panel later this month.

Insp Mulla said: “Teachers should be looking out for key indicators. Is the child not engaging with other communities? Are they writing concerning things in their exercise books like the 7/7 bombers did? We did have a number of individuals reported to us by our colleagues in the police after the EDL march. There were signs of vulnerability and it was right of the officers to flag it up. We spoke to their parents and dealt with it as low level criminality.”

The Channel programme has recently been streamlined to bring together experts from all agencies in the county to sit on one panel every two months, giving a more consistent approach to the referrals they assess from across Lancashire.

Lancashire’s counter-terrorism exercise ACT (All Communities Together) Now, which was the first of its kind in the country in 2008, has also seen a shift in emphasis to include right-wing extremism scenarios. Community Cohesion Sgt Colin Dassow, who runs the courses, said: “Right-wing extremism is having a big influence on what we do.”

To contact Channel, call 01254 353638.

This is Lancashire

Thanks to NewsHound for the heads-up

Extremism in the UK

Following the massacre in Norway and amid concerns over contacts between the killer and supporters of the English Defence League, the Government is reviewing its policing of right-wing terrorism.

James Silver examines far right extremism in the UK and reports from some areas with large Muslim populations where fears of 'Islamisation' are fuelling tensions between communities. We hear of the targeting of gay men in East London, as well as attacks on a mosque in Luton.

Is there a disenfranchised minority who feel they have no political voice and are now looking to networks like the English Defence League? And are the EDL right to suggest that the threat of anti-Muslim terrorism in the UK could grow?

Listen now (Radio 4)

BBC

EDL photo-SHOOT

It would appear that the EDL are intent on bringing their terror closer to home. Not content with Jewish extremists who like to blow things up, here is the West Midlands Division of the EDL standing in front of the flags and paraphernalia of the outlawed Ulster Volunteer Force and what appear to be imitation firearms for the purpose of a photo-shoot.

Time after time we hear from the likes of the EDL's leadership how they are a non-racist organisation and how "Tommy Robinson" and Kevin Carroll are proud of their Irish roots.

Perhaps they would like to act now and tell us how their non-sectarian and non-racist organisation will deal with the further adulation of gun-toting extremists, in particular the UVF an organisation that made its name in Ireland by murdering people whose soul crime normally, was that they were born Catholics?

During the EDL's violent march in Leicester, "Tommy Robinson" (real name Stephen Yaxley Lennon) spoke angrily about the protests that had met the recent visit to this country by the pope.

Perhaps this further exposure of the true nature of the EDL and its band of thugs, sycophants and would-be terrorists will serve to remind people that the EDL is just the other side of a coin poisoned by bigotry, violence and hatred

Hope not Hate

Lady Warsi claims Islamophobia is now socially acceptable in Britain

Conservative chairman believes prejudice against Muslims is seen by many Britons as normal

Islamophobia has "passed the dinner-table test" and become widely socially acceptable in Britain, according to Lady Warsi, the Conservative chairman.

Warsi, the first Muslim woman to attend Cabinet, is expected to use a speech at Leicester University today to raise the alarm over the way in which she believes prejudice against Muslims is now seen by many Britons as normal. She will also warn against the tendency to divide Muslims between "moderates" and "extremists", which she contends can fuel misunderstanding and intolerance.

Warsi is expected to say that terrorist offences committed by a small number of Muslims should not be used to condemn all who follow Islam. But she will also urge Muslim communities to be clearer about their rejection of those who resort to violent extremism.

"Those who commit criminal acts of terrorism in our country need to be dealt with not just by the full force of the law," she will say. "They also should face social rejection and alienation across society and their acts must not be used as an opportunity to tar all Muslims."

On the matter of portraying Muslims as either "moderate" or "extreme", she will say: "It's not a big leap of imagination to predict where the talk of 'moderate' Muslims leads; in the factory, where they've just hired a Muslim worker, the boss says to his employees: 'Not to worry, he's only fairly Muslim'.

"In the school, the kids say: 'The family next door are Muslim but they're not too bad'. And in the road, as a woman walks past wearing a burqa, the passers-by think: 'That woman's either oppressed or is making a political statement'."

The peer will also blame "the patronising, superficial way faith is discussed in certain quarters, including the media" for making Britain a less tolerant place for believers.

Warsi raised the issue of Islamophobia with Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to Britain last year, urging him to "create a better understanding between Europe and its Muslim citizens", according to extracts of the speech obtained by the Daily Telegraph.

Guardian

BNP serve to attack Britishness

What a paradox we witnessed last Friday when the most abhorrent political party in our history, the BNP, launched their manifesto on St George's Day.

I am sure that Nick Griffin must be aware that St George is not an "indigenous" Briton. Indeed, St George was most probably born in Eastern Turkey, became a senior soldier in the Roman Imperial Guard before being executed for his Christian beliefs on April 23, 303. He is not only the patron saint of England but the saint of at least seven other countries including Ethiopia, Russia and Georgia.

Under the immigration policy of the BNP, St George may well be our Saint but he would not be allowed into this country. How do they square that circle? The BNP define an "indigenous" Briton as someone whose "...ancestors were the earliest settlers here after the last great Ice Age..." How many people reading this would pass that test? I know I and my family would not.

They also talk about the "Threat to our security posed by Islamism. What a ridiculous view! Terrorism is our enemy, not Islam. The attackers on 9/11 did not differentiate between any religious beliefs...many Muslims lost their lives on that terrible day, just as other Muslims have been killed on other attacks.

St George symbolises all that is great about our country and the way we have always integrated with people of different cultural backgrounds throughout our history.

The actions of Westminster politicians in recent years is disgraceful and we must send them a powerful message at this election, leaving them in no doubt that we are all disgusted by their behaviour. But let's not legitimise parties like the BNP, who, rather than represent the core of all our Britishness, actually attack the very heart of it.

Redditch and Alcester Standard

White supremacist group 'considered itself most racist'

A white supremacist group considered itself the most racist and extreme neo-Nazi movement in Britain, a court heard today. Members of the Aryan Strike Force believed groups like the notorious far-right Combat 18 and Blood and Honour did "fuck all" and were more interested in raising money than fighting "scum".

The shocking revelation emerged during the trial of ex-milkman's assistant Nicky Davison, 19, who is charged with possessing terrorism manuals.

Newcastle Crown Court has already heard that the teenager was one of the founders of the Aryan Strike Force, an online far-right group set up by his father, Ian. Ian Davison, 41, a former pub DJ, has already admitted six charges related to this case, including producing ricin, one of the world's deadliest substances. The aim of the group was to carry out "ops" and overthrow the Government, which it believed had been taken over by the ZOG - the Zionist Occupied Government.

After studying videos, messages posted online and logs of internet chat, Dr Matthew Feldman, a lecturer at the University of Northampton, said the Aryan Strike Force considered itself the most extreme right-wing group in Britain.

"Some of these groups like Blood and Honour and Combat 18 are seen as not being 'active' enough," Dr Feldman, an expert in the ideology of post-war fascism and neo-Nazism, told the jury. "Aryan Strike Force would regard itself as the pinnacle and the most uncompromising form of neo-Nazis groups available in the UK. The Aryan Strike Force regarded itself as the most active, rejectionist and unwilling to compromise on its principles.

"The other movements would be more concerned about finances rather than focusing on direct action or revolutionary tactics. It was an unmistakable example of neo-Nazis in Britain and this permutation is the most overtly hostile. Legion88, the Aryan Strike Force and WolfPack represented the most aggressive and dangerous form of neo-Nazism. One, moreover, which seems to be on the most extreme form of (the) neo-Nazi spectrum, and this group may be considered an exemplar of violent revolutionary neo-Nazism."

Earlier today, jurors were read messages Davison had posted on online forums and heard he was prepared to "die fighting" for his cause. Andrew Edis QC, prosecuting, said Davison wrote: "I know my aims. I don't care if I am fighting a unwinnable battle. I would rather die fighting than let the scum of the earth walk over us."

Davison wrote of "taking control of national white countries by any means necessary and overthrow and see the downfall of the ZOG".

The court heard yesterday that in June last year police discovered copies of The Poor Man's James Bond and The Anarchist's Cookbook on computers at the home Davison shared with his mother and younger brothers and sisters in County Durham. Davison, of Grampian Way, Annfield Plain, denies three charges of possessing a record containing information useful in committing or preparing acts of terrorism.

Last month his father, of Myrtle Grove, Burnopfield, County Durham, admitted preparing for acts of terrorism and producing a chemical weapon from June 1 to 3 last year. He also admitted three charges of possessing a record containing information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing acts of terrorism relating to electronic copies of The Anarchist's Cookbook, the Mujahideen Explosives Handbook and Kitchen Complete on June 2. He will be sentenced at the conclusion of his son's trial.

Ricin is a toxin that is extracted from the castor bean and exposure to small quantities can be fatal. The US Centre for Disease Control suggests as little as 500 micrograms - about half a grain of sand - of the substance can be lethal if injected or inhaled. It has no known antidote.

Independent

White supremacist admits producing ricin for terrorism

A white supremacist today admitted producing deadly ricin while preparing for acts of terrorism. Ian Davison's home in Myrtle Grove, Burnopfield, County Durham, was raided by anti-terror officers who found the killer substance in a jam jar in his kitchen.

At Newcastle Crown Court he admitted producing a chemical weapon - ricin - and preparing for acts of terrorism. He also admitted three charges of possessing a record containing information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing acts of terrorism. The charge related to copies of three texts including The Anarchist's Handbook, which detailed instructions on making explosives.

Davison, who wore a pale blue, short-sleeved shirt and was flanked by four prison officers, also admitted possession of a prohibited weapon which related to a spray canister found during the raid on his home. He will be sentenced after the trial of his son Nicky Davison, 19, who denies two charges of possessing material containing information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing acts of terrorism. The case will be heard on April 12.

The father, a truck driver and ex-DJ, was remanded in custody and Judge John Milford warned him: "Doubtless you have been told only custody can follow."

Nicky Davison was granted bail until his trial.

Independent

Batley BNP man jailed over explosives arsenal

A drawer of weapons found at the home of BNP member Terrance Gavan

A BNP member who spent a decade building up a cache of weapons in a bedroom hideaway has been jailed for 11 years

Bus driver Terrance Gavan manufactured highly dangerous firearms and explosives at the home where he lived with his mother in Batley, West Yorkshire. Police discovered 54 improvised explosive devices including nail bombs and a booby-trapped cigarette packet at the address, as well as 12 firearms.

The former soldier told detectives that he had "a fascination with things that go bang", the Old Bailey heard. But Gavan also had a "strong hostility" towards immigrants and planned to target an address he had seen on a television programme that he believed was linked to the July 7 bomb attacks in London.

He told police he was a BNP member and letters to him from the party, as well as a copy of its magazine Hope and Glory, were found at his home. The court heard that hand-written notebooks were found, in one of which was written the slogan: "The patriot must always be ready to defend his country against enemies and their governments."

Gavan pleaded guilty to 22 counts including collecting information useful for terrorism and possessing explosives and firearms.

Yorkshire Evening Post

The BNP and terrorism

This article was submitted by one of our readers, Roddy Newman. We welcome any contributions from our supporters (as long as those contributions conform to the law and are in reasonably good taste). Please send your articles to us via email.

After 9/11, BNP leader Nick Griffin started moralising about Islamist terrorism, and pretended that the BNP was a mainstream political party like the big 3 parties, UKIP, and the Greens, but as I will explain in this article, the BNP has had links to fascist terrorists, while the five other parties have not. Moreover, as I will also explain in this article, Nick Griffin supported Iranian dictator Ayatollah Khomeini's terrorist regime during his period in the International Third Position group, who saw Khomeini's Iran, and Libyan dictator Colonel Gadaffi's terrorist regime, as a "Third Way" which was not "Jewish-controlled capitalism", or "Jewish-controlled communism".

The most notorious BNP linked former terrorist, is of course the London nail bomber, David Copeland, whose 3 bombs killed 3 and injured 139. Copeland had been a member of the BNP before he carried out his bombings, and he openly said that his bombs were designed to create a race war which would encourage white British people to vote BNP (one bomb went off in the primarily African-Caribbean Brixton area, and one in the primarily Asian Brick Lane area). The third went off in a Soho gay bar. See the June 30, 2000 BBC News online article, "Profile: Copeland the killer", to learn more about Copeland and his bombings.

Another BBC News online article, "Ex-BNP man jailed over chemicals" (July 31, 2007), discussed a second BNP former terrorist, Robert Cottage [pictured left], who stored bomb-making chemicals at his home, because he expected that immigration would lead to a civil war. A YouTube film, "BNP terrorist Robert Cottage", which is a clip from a Sky News report about his bomb-making hoard, mentions his involvement with the BNP, for whom he stood as a local election candidate 3 times.

A third BNP former terrorist, former BNP Propaganda Officer and Group Development Officer Tony Lecomber, who was taking a nail bomb to the headquarters of a left wing group when it went off in his car, was discussed in an article in "Searchlight", which is Britain's leading anti-fascist magazine, "Sacked terrorist ran BNP election campaign" (September 2006), and in a YouTube film, "BNP nail-bomber Tony Lecomber", which is a clip from a BBC "Panorama" documentary, "Under the Skin", which was originally broadcast on November 25, 2000.

The "Searchlight" magazine, which all 3 of the big political parties have asked for advice on how to defeat BNP candidates in elections, have discussed a number of other BNP former terrorists in their articles. In their November 2005 article, "Right-wing terrorism still alive and plotting", you can read about David Tovey, a BNP member who was caught with military plastic explosive, and remote control devices to set it off, and in March 2007's "AWB terrorist finds home in the BNP", you can read about Lambertus Nieuwhof, a white South African former terrorist who has joined the BNP, and who has created a number of its websites - for example, the website of the BNP's Barking and Dagenham branch, and the website of its Solidarity trades union.

As a March 31, 2007 article in "The Guardian" ("BNP activist took part in terror campaign") revealed, Nieuwhof planted a 25 kg bomb in a South African multiracial school, which thankfully failed to explode.

If Nieuwhof was a non-white, South African Islamist former terrorist, rather than a white South African former terrorist, there would no doubt have been critical stories in various national newspapers about his presence in Britain, but so far, only "The Guardian", and "The Independent" ("Johann Hari: The looming threat of terror that comes from the far right", October 14, 2009) have written about him.

Johann Hari's article, which was reprinted in "The Belfast Telegraph" under a slightly different title ("Johann Hari: UK faces looming threat of terror from 'neo-Nazis' out to kill black people, Jews and gays"), perhaps because that city is much more concerned about white terrorists than the mainland UK is, for obvious reasons, discusses several British fascist former terrorists, including David Copeland and Tony Lecomber.

The YouTube video "Lambertus Nieuwhof and the Afrikaner Resistance Movement", is a short clip from "His Big White Self", a 2006 Nick Broomfield TV documentary about the Afrikaaner Resistance Movement white South African terrorist group, who, as the film explains, set off about 120 bombs in the 1992 to 1994 period, to try to stop the transition to black majority rule. Broomfield made another TV documentary about the same terrorist group in 1991, "The Leader, His Driver, and the Driver's Wife". Both of the documentaries have now been released on DVD.

On a "Searchlight" HOPE not hate webpage, "The real BNP: The terrorist links", you can read about yet another BNP related former terrorist, BNP supporter Allen Boyce, who was given a 2 year suspended jail sentence after he passed bomb making instructions to a BNP activist, Terry Collins.

As I will now explain, even Nick Griffin himself has past terrorist links, as he is linked to an Italian fascist former terrorist who was convicted in absentia for being a member of an Italian fascist terrorist group. As I will now explain as well, Griffin also once backed 2 regimes which funded terrorist groups, and was allegedly once a "close ally" of a pro-terrorism American fascist party leader.

The Italian fascist former terrorist who Griffin is linked to, is Roberto Fiore, who fled Italy and made his home in Britain after the August 2, 1980 Bologna train station bombing (which killed 85, and injured more than 200), because his fascist terrorist group, the Armed Revolutionary Nuclei, were responsible for what is known in Italy as "The Bologna massacre". See 3 online articles, "Italy:Terror on the Right" ("New York Review of Books", January 22, 1981, Volume 27, Numbers 21 and 22), "Roberto Fiore: from terrorist to entrepreneur...and back again" ("Searchlight", July 1998), and the "Searchlight" HOPE not hate website's "Nick Griffin, BNP leader" (December 2008) to learn more about Fiore, the Armed Revoloutionary Nuclei, and the Bologna massacre.

Most people would no doubt assume that Nick Griffin, who moralises about Islamist terrorism, would have had nothing to do with a former terrorist like Fiore when he fled to Britain, but of course if you did assume that, you would be wrong, because Griffin has in the past said one thing to the general public, and a different thing to his own people. Griffin tells the general public that the BNP is now a moderate mainstream political party, but in a YouTube film of a Griffin speech, which has been posted under the title "BNP MEP Nick Griffin + KKK Terrorist", Griffin tells an American far right audience that he is merely repackaging his unchanged far right ideas to make them more acceptable to the British general public.

It is thus not surprising that Fiore is the political mentor and friend of Griffin, as a "Searchlight" article, "Nick Griffin political extremist and veteran splitter" (February 2008) pointed out, and that Fiore has financially supported Griffin, as a second "Searchlight" article, "BNP deputy leader addresses international fascist rally" (April 5, 2009) explained. It is thus also not surprising that Griffin used to be Fiore's business partner, as a third "Searchlight" article, "No beer, no bands, no fun" (September 2009) revealed, that Griffin and Fiore once shared a flat together, as a February 29, 2008 article in "The Guardian" ("Language school run by Italian fascist leader") stated, and that Fiore spoke at the BNP's Red, White and Blue Festival in August 2009, as an August 16 story in "The Times", "Convicted Italian fascist Roberto Fiore addresses BNP followers in Derbyshire" noted. Nor is it surprising that in a YouTube video which has been posted under the title "Nick Griffin and Christianity (BNP)", you can hear Griffin praising Fiore as "charismatic" and "magnetic".

If you know about the dirty secrets of the Italian fascist scene which the "charismatic" and "magnetic" Fiore emerged from, then you will also know that those dirty secrets make it extremely hypocritical for the BNP to moralise about terrorism. The Bologna bombing was initially blamed on an accident or the communist Red Brigades terrorist group, but it soon became clear that the fascist Armed Revoloutionary Nuclei had carried out the bombing, which was presumably designed to weaken support for the large Italian Communist Party, as Bologna was one of its strongholds.

The Italian Parliament's 13 year Slaughter Commission, which was investigating the Bologna massacre, and a series of other murderous "communist" and "anarchist" bombings in Italy in the 1960's, 1970's, and 1980's (hence its 'Slaughter Commission' name), concluded that the American CIA, and the Italian elite Masonic lodge P2, which included senior figures in the Italian Parliament, armed forces, secret services, and police forces, were responsible for the bombings, which it is now known were carried out by fascists to create public support for a fascist military coup.

On page 110 of David Yallop's book, "In God's Name: An Investigation into the Murder of Pope John Paul I" (Constable and Robinson, London, 2007), which has sold over 6 million copies around the world, and which is about the theory that P2 poisoned and murdered Pope John Paul I, because he was about to throw Freemasons out of the Vatican, Yallop mentions the fact that Italian former fascist terrorist Elio Ciolini, who had allegedly been a follower of P2's fascist Grand Master, Licio Gelli, had alleged that the Bologna bombing was planned at a P2 meeting in Monte Carlo on April 11, 1980.

Bologna was a well known stronghold of the Communist Party, so why would a communist terrorist group bomb the second class passengers' waiting room at its Central Station? Communists have historically got most of their support from working class people, who were probably the majority of the people in the second class waiting room on the morning of August 2, 1980. It is equally unlikely that anarchists, who have historically got most of their support from peasant and working class people, should have perpetrated the bombings which they were initially accused of in Italy, as those terrorist atrocities killed or injured many working class people.

Italian judge Guido Salvini indicted US Navy officer David Carrett as a suspect in a December 12, 1969 "anarchist" bombing of Milan's Piazza Fontana (Fontana Square), which killed 16, and injured 90, and which an Italian former fascist terrorist, Vincenzo Vinciguerra, has said was the work of fascist terrorists, and, although it should be pointed out that Carrett has never even been tried, never mind convicted for carrying out that bombing, it should also be pointed out if Salvini was indicting a US Navy officer as a Piazza Fontana suspect, it is hardly likely that anarchists were responsible for the atrocity.

The Piazza Fontana bombing also led to another death, that of Giuseppe Pinelli, an entirely innocent Italian anarchist railway worker, who "fell" to his death from the fourth floor of a Milan police station while he was being interrogated about his non-existent role in the bombing. Pinelli's death inspired Dario Fo's famous 1970 play, "Accidental Death of an Anarchist", which was broadcast on Channel 4 in 1983, and which has been performed in various British theatres in London, Birmingham, and other places.

Fiore's friend, political pupil, and former financial benefactor and business partner Nick Griffin, was also once a fan of 2 regimes which fund, or did fund terrorism (Colonel Gadaffi's Libya, and Iran's Islamist theocracy). A BBC News webpage, "Nick Griffin: Right wing chameleon" (June 29, 2001), explains how Griffin went to Libya to ask Colonel Gadaffi for funds for the National Front, which Griffin was then a member of. That visit is also discussed in a YouTube video, "Nick Griffin supports Muslim Extremism", which is a clip from an already mentioned BBC "Panorama" documentary, "Under the Skin". The "Panorama" documentary clip includes a photograph of Griffin in Libya, whose regime paid for his trip to Tripoli, as a "Searchlight" anti-BNP webpage which also includes that photo explains.

That webpage also mentions the fact that the "political soldier" wing of the NF, which Griffin created, as an already mentioned "Searchlight" article, "Nick Griffin political extremist and veteran splitter" (February 2008) pointed out, had been paying visits to the "Libyan People's Bureau" (the Libyan Embassy) in London, and had been expressing support for Colonel Gadaffi's Libya, so it is not surprising that the Libyan regime arranged an all expenses paid trip to Tripoli for Griffin. Colonel Gadaffi's Libya used to fund a number of terrorist groups of course, including the IRA.

The just mentioned "Searchlight" Stop the BNP webpage, and the previously mentioned "Searchlight" article, also refer to Nick Griffin's past support for Iran's Islamist theocracy, which has long funded Islamist terrorism (for example, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, and Hamas), so Griffin's past support for that regime is as hypocritical as his links to Fiore, and as his past links to Colonel Gadaffi's Libya.

Whether you believe the original theory that Ayatollah Khomeini's Iran paid Ahmed Jibril's Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine to carry out the Lockerbie bombing, to avenge the deaths of 290 Iranian pilgrims returning from Mecca, whose Iran Air Flight 655 airliner had been shot out of the sky by accident by the US Navy warship the USS Vincennes, or whether you believe the post 1991 Gulf War theory that Colonel Gadaffi's Libya was responsible (when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990, Iran was needed for the anti-Iraq coalition, so some writers, like the late Paul Foot of "Private Eye", have alleged that American and British intelligence agencies started to point the finger at Libya so Iran could become part of the anti-Iraq coalition), Nick Griffin backed the regime which was responsible for the worst terrorist atrocity in British history.

That atrocity killed all of the 243 passengers and 16 crew on board Pan Am Flight 103, as well as 11 people in the village of Lockerbie, because the plane's nearly full fuel tanks (and wings) fell on their homes and exploded.

9/11 created a "Who should we hate now?" moment for Europe's far-right, as a "Searchlight" article, "International far-right reactions to the terrorist attacks on the USA" (October 2001) showed, because some of Europe's far-right continued to primarily hate Jewish people, and what they saw as the USA's "Zionist Occupation Government", which led to them applauding the 9/11 attacks, while the rest of Europe's far-right, including Nick Griffin, switched to primarily hating Muslim people, which is why Griffin used the attacks as an excuse to begin hypocritically moralising about Islamist terrorism.

Griffin was also allegedly a "close ally" of a pro-terrorism American fascist party (National Alliance) leader, the late William Pierce, who openly advocated killing all of the world's non-white and Jewish people with nuclear weapons, and the use of terrorist violence to kill such people. See my September 13th Lancaster Unity article, "Do the BNP and EFP leadership still believe in the mass slaughter of billions?", to learn more about Pierce's pro-global genocide views, and about Griffin allegedly being a "close ally" of his.

Of course, other British fascist groups have terrorist links, which is why "The Guardian" of December 13, 2008 featured a story called "Racist who had bomb kit jailed for campaign against couple", which discussed Nathan Worrell, a British People's Party, Ku Klux Klan, and November 9 Society terrorist, and which is why another article in the same newspaper, "Neo-Nazi convicted of planning terrorist bombing campaign" (July 15, 2009), discussed Neil Lewington, who was found by police to have 2 home made bombs, and fascist (Ku Klux Klan and Combat 18) literature, as well a video about the ex-BNP nail bomber David Copeland. A YouTube video, "BNP + Nazi terrorist Nathan Worrell", includes film of the BNP stickers which were found at Worrell's home. Another YouTube video, "Nazi terrorist Neil Lewington", is a BBC News clip about that fascist would-be bomber.

A third non-BNP fascist terrorist, Martyn Gilleard, was the subject of a BBC News online article, "Man jailed over nail bombs plot" (June 25, 2008). Police found 4 home-made nail bombs at his home, as well as bullets, swords, and axes (and 39,000 child pornography images). A second BBC News online article, "Neo-Nazi had child abuse images" (June 25, 2008), states that: "At the time of his arrest he [Gilleard] was a paid-up member of the National Front, the White Nationalist Party, and the British People's Party...".

Andrew Wells and Ian Hindle

Gilleard's British People's Party membership is also mentioned in a YouTube film, "BNP and NF Pedos Martyn Gilleard, Roderick Rowley, Ian Hindle + Andrew Wells", which is a clip from a Channel 4 News report. The report only discusses Gilleard, but the "more info" information on the right hand side of the page when the video is playing, mentions former BNP election candidate Roderick Rowley's child pornography conviction, and the child sexual abuse convictions of BNP members Ian Hindle and Andrew Wells, which were exposed after the BNP's membership list was posted online in 2008.

Despite the existence of non-BNP British fascist former terrorists, the BNP are the largest British fascist party, so it is no surprise that they seem to attract the most terrorists, and it is also no surprise that even the non-BNP terrorists Nathan Worrell and Neil Lewington had BNP stickers, or a video about an ex-BNP former terrorist at their homes.

The BNP may even attract more terrorists than other countries' fascist parties, because "Searchlight" has foreign readers who write articles for them about fascism in other countries, but that magazine has primarily featured BNP-linked terrorists in its articles, which have included: "Belgium: Arrested nazi terrorists included soldiers" (October 2006); "Italy - An endless cycle of terror" (May 2002); "Portrait of a bomber" (February 2001), which was about a terrorist bombing that was carried out by a member of the New Force party (whose leader is a certain Roberto Fiore, who, in 1999, was allowed to return to Italy, where he became a fascist MEP); and "Unmasking the Anti Anti-Fa" (May 2000), which mentions German fascist terrorism.

See Martin Lee's book, "The Beast Reawakens: The Chilling Story of the Rise of the Neo-Nazi Movement" (Warner Books, London, 1998), to learn more about modern fascist terrorism in Italy, Germany, and Belgium.

Perhaps not even an American fascist party has attracted as many terrorists as the BNP, despite that country's size. See my already mentioned September 13th Lancaster Unity article, "Do the BNP and EFP leadership still believe in the mass slaughter of billions?", to read about various American fascist terrorists, who, like the ex-BNP London nail bomber David Copeland, were inspired by the genocidal ideas of the late National Alliance leader William Pierce.

A YouTube video, "BNP + Nazi Terrorism", which is a clip from a BBC documentary, "Panorama Special - The Nailbomber", which was originally broadcast on June 30, 2000, discusses David Copeland's [pictured left] involvement with the BNP, and his admission that his bombings were inspired by "The Turner Diaries", which the documentary said was "sold through BNP magazines". So much for the supposedly mainstream BNP. Do the big 3 parties, UKIP, or the Greens sell novels through their party magazines in which billions of people are exterminated with nuclear weapons?

In reality, like other totalitarian organisations, the BNP is a haven for psychopaths and other dangerous individuals, and has nothing to do with mainstream politics.

Another BNP type fascist group which is a haven for psychopaths and other dangerous individuals, the even more extreme National Socialist Movement, has a tiny past and present membership which includes 3 men who are serving life sentences for murders, London nail bomber David Copeland, Charlie Sargent, and Martin Cross, so it is no surprise that the BNP has had to ban convicted criminals from standing in elections, because anti-fascists had been able to use their leaflets to point to the numerous BNP candidates with convictions for terrorist offences, racist violence, gang rape, child sexual abuse, football hooliganism, and other violent crimes.

The NSM were profiled in an already-mentioned BBC documentary, "Panorama Special: The Nailbomber". They are not to be confused with a different National Socialist Movement of the past, whose members included a certain Andrew Brons, who is now the BNP MEP for Yorkshire and Humberside. While the previous NSM did not spawn any terrorists, it did spawn some arsonists, as a "Searchlight" HOPE not hate webpage, "The real BNP: Andrew Brons" explains. It states: "NSM members were responsible for an arson campaign against Jewish property and synagogues in the 1960's."

"Brons appears to have approved. In a [garbled] letter to [hardline fascist Colin] Jordan's wife, Brons reported meeting an NSM member who "mentioned such activities as bombing synagogues." He declared: "On this subject I have a dual view, in that I realise that he is well intentioned, I feel that our public image may suffer considerable damage as a result of these activities. I am however open to correction on this point.""

Like BNP founder John Tyndall, Colin Jordan was a disciple of the pre-World War Two Imperial Fascist League leader Arnold Leese, who advocated gassing Jews before the Nazis (in 1936).

Because British fascists are at least partly responsible for far more racist violence than fascists in any other Western European country, as an official European Union report which you can download here shows (in England and Wales, there are several times more racist crimes each year than in Germany, which has a roughly 30% bigger population than England and Wales), it is hardly surprising that the BNP appear to attract more terrorists than any other fascist party on the planet. As an April 22, 2009 EU Business article which you can read here explains, a survey has revealed that the true level of racist violence in the EU, is far higher than the level in official government statistics, which makes it even less surprising that the BNP attracts so many terrorists.

What had white supremacist planned?

Neil Lewington who turned his bedroom into a bomb-making factory has been convicted of terrorism and explosive charges. But how dangerous was he and what was he planning to do? Those are the two questions that have been hardest to answer in his trial at the Old Bailey. But what is clear is that his apprehension was a matter of good fortune alone.

In October 2008 he was travelling by train to meet a woman he had contacted in an internet chatroom on his mobile phone. He was drunk and abused the train guard. When he urinated on the platform at Lowestoft, he was arrested. But when officers opened his blue holdall, a public order arrest became a counter-terrorism investigation. Inside, they found two improvised but ingenious incendiary devices.

Counter-terrorism officers dashed to the 43-year-old's Reading home, which he shared with his parents. There they found extreme right-wing material, including videos of notorious racist or white-supremacist bombers. He had stockpiled chemicals, powders circuitry and wiring. In short, it looked like a bomb factory. And, according to the prosecution, Lewington was on the cusp of launching a campaign against anyone he regarded as "non-British".

But this case is full of mysteries. During 14 interviews, Lewington's only reply to counter-terrorism officers was "no comment". He chose not to take to the witness box at the Old Bailey - and his legal team offered up no other witnesses or material in his defence. He hardly looked up from the dock during the trial, sitting impassively as the proceedings went on around him.

Extremist material

Dr Matthew Feldman, an expert in neo-Nazi groups and imagery, gave evidence at the trial on the items that police recovered from Lewington's home.

He told the jury the material Lewington kept hidden in his room was exactly the kind of literature and notes you would expect to find belonging to a white supremacist neo-Nazi.

The most important document was Lewington's handwritten notebook entitled the "Waffen SS UK Members Handbook". Experts like Dr Feldman have not come across the title before, but its contents bore a striking similarity to other "field manuals" circulated among other neo-Nazi groups like Combat 18. Inside was a note written in Lewington's own hand.

"A new group has been formed, the Waffen SS UK. We have 30 members split into 15 two-man cells," it read. "We are highly trained ex-military personnel and will use incendiary and explosive devices throughout the UK at random until all non-British people as defined by blood are remoived from our country.

"This is no joke. In this country the most serious domestic terrorist threat is the ALF [Animal Liberation Front], start rewriting the books? Finally our motto: You CANNOT STOP WHAT CAN'T BE STOPPED"

The book included further notes relating to explosives and plans for picking targets. Other material loosely linked Lewington to "Blood and Honour", a British social scene built around neo-Nazi music. And unusually for a British man, Lewington was also interested in two other groups - the Ku Klux Klan and the Afrikaners who supported apartheid.

So Lewington's personal ideology was broad, encompassing hatred of other ethnicities, a white supremacist anger, but also a fascist yearning for a new world order.

Loner tendencies

Lewington himself bragged to women of being a skinhead who beat up Asian men. But counter-terrorism officers found no evidence the defendant was or is a member of any extreme right-wing political party or group in the UK or elsewhere. Furthermore, they had no evidence that he was associating with any known or suspected right-wing extremist.

These loner tendencies fit in with what we know about the rest of his life. Lewington lived with his parents - but had not spoken to his father for 10 years.

He did nothing to help at home. There was no lock on the bedroom door, but he had covered the keyhole with modelling clay. He had held down jobs in electronics - but not worked for a decade when arrested.

One would-be girlfriend was put off him because he kept making racist threats against black and Asian men. And during a relationship with another woman, he bought a toy chemistry set and told her he could use it to make explosives. He said he had made tennis ball bombs to explode in the woods.

Lewington appears to have had no home computer - although police did find a laptop cable. He had no training in chemicals or explosives. Yet he produced devices which, according to scientists, were more dangerous and professional than many DIY efforts uncovered by police.

So if he wasn't a member of any neo-Nazi group and wasn't spending his nights scouring the internet for bomb-making instructions, how did he learn how to make these devices?

Neighbourly behaviour

Lewington's silence in court means we may never know. But one incident following his arrest was incredibly revealing about his state of mind. Detectives at London's high security Paddington Green police station conducted a "safety interview" with Lewington, asking him for any information they might need to protect the public from uncovered explosives.

The officers were particularly concerned about a mechanism placed against the bedroom wall. Lewington told them it wasn't a bomb. It was the inner workings of an automatic air freshener. He'd adapted the motor and added a cord and metal nut. And during the night, at regular intervals, the motor would spin and flick the nut against the wall.

What was it for, asked the detectives. To annoy his neighbours, he replied.

BBC News

Police probe global right-wing terror ring

Police are investigating a global arms ring supplying White supremacist groups who are becoming a serious terrorist threat to Britain, a senior officer revealed on Thursday.

"There is a growing right-wing threat, not just Al Qaida," Sir Norman Bettison, chief constable of West Yorkshire police, told a security conference in London.

Sir Norman, whose force runs a regional counter-terrorism unit in Leeds, said more than 30 people in the UK had been investigated and pipe bombs, rocket launchers, grenades and firearms seized during the operation so far. There had been arrests in the UK, continental Europe, New Zealand and Australia, he said. Some 300 firearms and 80 homemade bombs had been recovered.

The revelation comes as far-right activity is on the increase. Far-right parties across the European Union, including the British National Party, did well in elections to the European parliament in June.

The BNP, which won two seats for the first time in Yorkshire and the North-West and took 6.2 per cent of the national vote, says it opposes violence. It only allows white Caucasians to join and wants to repatriate non-British people voluntarily.

Romanian families left Northern Ireland last month after being chased from their homes in Belfast by racist abuse and threats.

Gulf News

French to block porn, terror, hate web sites

The French state and Internet service providers have struck a deal to block sites carrying child pornography or content linked to terrorism or racial hatred, Interior Minister Michel Alliot-Marie announced Tuesday.

The plan, part of a larger effort to fight cybercriminality, is to go into effect in September when a "black list" will be built up based on input from Internet users who signal sites dealing with the offensive material, the minister said.

The announcement comes on the heels of a similar deal in the United States, also announced Tuesday. There, three service providers — Verizon, Sprint and TimeWarner Cable_ have agreed with New York state officials to block child pornography sites nationwide.

Alliot-Marie said all service providers in France have agreed to block offending sites but did not name them.

"We can no longer tolerate the sexual exploitation of children in the form of cyber-pedopornography," Alliot-Marie said. "We have come to an agreement: the access to child pornography sites will be blocked in France. Other democracies have done it. France could wait no longer."

Among other countries that have already implemented similar measures include Britain, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Canada and New Zealand.

Under the French plan, Internet users, via a platform, will be able to signal inappropriate sites and the state, receiving the complaints in real time, will then decide whether the sites are to go on a so-called black list to be passed on to Internet service providers to enforce site blocks.

Sites containing what appear to be blatant crimes will be referred to judicial authorities, the minister said.

As for offending sites hosted in other countries, France will pass on the information via Interpol or Europol, the two police agencies, or seize judicial authorities there, Alliot-Marie said. She insisted that the plan would not "create a Big Brother of the Internet" and pledged her support for the "fundamental liberty that is Internet access."

France's upcoming presidency of the European Union will be a chance to coordinate efforts between countries, she said, adding that efforts are often needlessly duplicated and sites shut down in one country often pop up in another.

Associated Press

Scotland’s new counter-terrorism chief: neo-Nazis as much of a threat as al-Qaeda

Scotland's new terror tsar has warned that the threat from right-wing extremism is as damaging to community relations as the menace posed by al-Qaeda.

In an exclusive interview on his first day as the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland's counter terrorism co-ordinator, Allan Burnett said forces should not ignore the latent neo-Nazi presence across the UK. Fife's assistant chief constable said the public is at risk because racism is being used to unite people into violent causes. He said this also undermines police work to reassure the Muslim community following the attack on Glasgow Airport last year.

Burnett said: "We've had a number of right-wing issues recently in the UK that again have raised their head in Scotland. There have been serious cases down south that have been really well dealt with by the police down there, but we shouldn't be complacent about it. There's no point promoting positive race relations if, in claiming to be everyone's co-ordinator of counter terrorism, you take your eye off the right-wing."

Burnett's comments are a reminder of the threats facing communities, following the arrest of an alleged neo-Nazi in Dundee last November. Martyn Gilleard of Goole, Humberside, will soon stand trial at the Old Bailey, charged with making four nail-bombs and possessing bomb making manuals. Prosecutors will allege he had a right wing "terrorist agenda".

Burnett, a former race relations officer and director of intelligence at Strathclyde Police, is responsible for co-ordinating the country's response to the modern threat of global terrorism. He will also work with UK and international counter terrorism officers.

Burnett plans to combat the threat by developing closer links with communities. This follows his well-praised efforts in the Sighthill area of the city after the murder of Turkish asylum seeker Firsat Dag seven years ago. The murder sparked rival demonstrations by asylum seekers claiming they were receiving preferential treatment by the authorities.

Burnett said: "I learned that you don't just focus on the minority ethnic community. The solution to those pressing problems involved all the community."

Burnett, 50, who began his police work in Maryhill in 1979, started fighting terrorism at an early stage of his career. As a young Special Branch officer, he was involved in the 1985 operation to arrest Brighton bomber Patrick Magee and several other IRA suspects involved in the attack on Margaret Thatcher and her Cabinet at the Grand Hotel the previous year. They were found at a flat containing a guns' cache in the southside of Glasgow.

He urged communities to be "self-policing" and said the police need to further develop their "preventative strategy", which includes the idea of parents tipping off the police if they suspect their children or other relatives and friends are being "brainwashed" into terrorism via the internet or other activities.

"It's really about making sure young people are not persuaded by terrorist brainwashing, and end up going down a line they, their families, their victims, and relatives, will regret," he said.

"Very quickly, people label communities and say that everybody was guilty or that everybody must have known what was going on after a terrorist incident. There's an awful lot of cases where people genuinely don't know what's going on. It's like educating parents about drugs and what signs to look for. We don't get it right if parents don't know what their kids are getting up to behind their backs. We must get ourselves into a position where the parents are concerned, even at the lowest levels; that we have something set up where they feel free to come to the authorities. We need surveillance - not on communities, but on individuals who are actively involved or supporting terrorist organisations. We have some excellent relations with the community, but they can always be better and deeper."

The security services recently revealed 2000 people are being monitored in the UK, with an unspecified number of others also under surveillance. Burnett, who took over the post from Strathclyde assistant chief constable John Corrigan, said: "I am going to rely on an awful lot of people, understand the fears of their communities, their concerns and get the right balance between human rights and the laws that enable action against terrorist activity to take place."

Sunday Herald

Usdaw launches new national anti BNP leaflet in Blackpool

Retail union Usdaw who are holding their annual conference in Blackpool have launched a new national anti-BNP leaflet to be distributed in council elections across the UK where the far-right party are standing candidates.

The leaflet highlights the complete failure of BNP councillors to represent local electors after they win seats and that despite the respectable façade the BNP is still a fascist party dedicated to racist ideas.

The leaflet will be offered to Labour candidates who are taking on the bogus idea that the BNP is the party of law and order.

“The BNP like to present themselves as the party of law and order despite the fact that many of their leaders and members have criminal convictions for serious offences including assault, inciting racial hatred and even bomb-making,” says Usdaw General Secretary John Hannett. “Usdaw has been coming to Blackpool since the war and our members from a range of different backgrounds have always been given a warm welcome here as the resort is an open-minded place which is the exact opposite of what fascists like the BNP stand for.

“Our leaflet reminds voters that in the few places where the BNP have been elected, they have been shown to be totally incapable of effectively representing voters. They’re incapable of taking any intelligent part in the democratic process and voters quickly see through their thinly disguised messages of hate, turning back to strong Labour candidates who can effectively represent every voter regardless of their background.

“This new leaflet reminds Labour voters that the BNP are hopelessly out of their depth when they are elected and that the only place to really hurt them is in the ballot box by voting Labour.
“Labour councils are the best way to ensure decent local services but a vote for the BNP isn’t the answer to often legitimate local concerns as time after time they fail to offer to contribute to any coherent ideas once they actually have to make tough decisions.”

Download the USDAW leaflet here.

USDAW