Clear and present danger

The Scotsman reports today:

One of al-Qaeda's top officials has ordered the killing of Muslim leaders if they co-operate with intelligence services and the police to thwart terrorist attacks.

In a message to the followers of Osama bin Laden around the world, Abdul Aziz al-Muqrin, the new leader of the terror network in Saudi Arabia, listed Muslim clerics "who co-operate with the enemy" as one of the top two targets for future attacks.

The warning of attacks on clerics came just three days after the Muslim Council of Britain decided to write to every mosque in the country urging them to help police fight terrorism and to be alert for possible illegal activities, a message welcomed by Tony Blair.

Yesterday, the council, which speaks for the moderate majority of British Muslims, said it would not be intimidated by the threats. Inayat Bunglawala, a spokesman for the Muslim Council, said: "Unfortunately, al-Qaeda knows nothing better than the language of death and destruction and Islam is about mercy."

For more on the appeal by the Muslim Council of Britain see here and here; but see also this (via Andrew Sullivan):

At Regent's Park, al-Muhajiroun's spokesman Abdul Rehman Saleem said: "There is nothing that me and you or the British services or the Government can do about stopping an attack in this country. There is nothing Tony Blair, this liar, can do to stop al Qaeda. There is nothing that MI5 or MI6 can do to stop al Qaeda from bombing London."

The Sunday Times today carries an article on the security effort - Operation Crevice - that led to the recent arrests in the south of England.

Meanwhile, for the latest development in Spain, see this report and picture, which comes on the heels of this:

A plot to blow up a train packed with Easter pilgrims in Spain was foiled by chance on Friday.
.....
[The attempted bombing] casts doubt on a ceasefire against Spain announced after the Madrid attacks by a group claiming to be close to al-Qaeda.

It said there would be no more attacks after the new Spanish Government was elected on a promise to withdraw the country's troops from Iraq, but the authenticity of the statement was never confirmed.