British media is reporting that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the attempted plane bomber, had attended a London mosque run by the Saudi Muslim World League. According to a report in the Guardian newspaper:
Abdulmutallab, who was president of the UCL’s Islamic Society in 2007, is said to have written several e-mails talking about jihad, or holy war. He also attended the Goodge Street Mosque in central London run by Muslim World League, a Saudi-based organisation. Ahmad Makhdoom, the new regional director at the Goodge Street mosque, did not know the Nigerian, but said he attended prayers there between 2005 and 2008. “He was very quiet and very nice, people who knew him say. He would come, pray and go,” Makhdoom told the AP at the mosque, a five-floor building wedged between restaurants and stores in central London. “His mind became twisted, brainwashed – but that didn’t happen while he was in the UK,” Makhdoom said. “He was a student at UCL – we have a lot of students. This was one bad act. It is not fair to tie it to a place of worship.” “Islam says you can’t harm women and children … we pray for peace, but these people think different,” he added.
The Muslim World League was established in 1962 as a means for the propagation of Saudi “Wahabbi” Islam. Muslim Brothers played an important role in its founding and, to date, the League has been strongly with the Brotherhood. The MWL, together with the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY), are Saudi organizations believed by U.S. government officials to have helped to spread Islamic extremism around the world as well as sponsoring terrorism in places such as Bosnia, Israel, and India.
A previous post detailed the ties between the UCL Islamic Society and the global Muslim Brotherhood.