Responsibility claim for London attacks questioned by experts

July 10, 2005

MSNBC translator Jacob Keryakes has stated that the claim of responsibility for the London bombings of July 7, supposedly made by a militant group, contains an error in one of the  verses that it cites, suggesting that the claim may be phony. "This is not something would do," he said.

The claim of responsibility by The Secret Organization of al-Qaida in Europe for the London attacks has also been questioned on the grounds that the rhetoric is not consistent with militant Islamic ideology. The statement asked "the Nation of Islam and the Nation of Arabism to rejoice" about the attacks.

According to the Associated Press, Islamic expert Mishari al-Thaidi wrote in an essay published Saturday in the London-based Arabic Asharq Al Awsat newspaper: "What strikes attention here is addressing the Arab nation. The Jihadists have never recognized Arab nationalism. This is close to pan-Arab or Baathist terminology."