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Adebololajo Tells Judge Allah Ordered Him To Kill Soldier by raytony: 5:05pm On Dec 09, 2013 |
Michael Adebolajo tells court he killed Lee Rigby in 'military attack' One of the men accused of murdering Lee Rigby has said in court for the first time that he killed the fusilier, telling the jury that he was "obeying the command of Allah". Michael Adebolajo described himself as a "soldier of Allah" and said he killed Rigby on 22 May outside Woolwich military barracks in south London. Asked by prosecutor Richard Whittam QC whether he planned to kill Rigby on that date, Adebolajo answered: "Yes." Giving evidence from the witness box of the Old Bailey, Adebolajo said: "I am a soldier of Allah and as I've explained part of fighting jihad sometimes it tells killing the enemy soldier." He added: "As I said we planned a military attack which obviously involved – sadly, it's not something enjoyable – the death of a soldier." When asked whether the killing was political, he told the jury: "Jihad by its very nature is political." Giving evidence from a witness box in front of the soldier's family, Adebolajo told the jury he was "a soldier of Allah" and that he had had "no choice" in attacking Rigby outside Woolwich barracks in May this year. "Allah commands that I fight those militaries that attack the Muslims," he said. "I don't feel that I have any choice. I obey Allah and I commit my affairs into his hands. This is all I can do." Amid strict security, Adebolajo, wearing a black zipped top, was handcuffed when being taken to the witness box, and surrounded by five security guards while giving evidence, while plainclothes police officers wearing wires sat elsewhere in the court. His co-accused, Michael Adebowale, watched from the dock, also surrounded by prison guards. Both men deny murder, though Adebolajo, who addressed passersby filming him with camera phones immediately after the killing, openly admitted attacking Rigby in his evidence. Asked by his barrister, David Gottlieb: "What is your defence to the charge of murder?", he said: "I am a soldier. I am a soldier. I am a soldier of Allah. I understand that some people might not recognise this because we do not wear fatigues and we do not go to the Brecon Beacons to train. "But we are still soldiers in the sight of Allah and to me this is all that matters. If Allah considers me a soldier then I am a soldier." Asked about his feelings towards Rigby's family, the 28-year-old, who referred to himself in the witness box as Mujaahid Abu Hamza, said he had "no animosity or bad feeling towards them, because every soldier has family, and his family love him just like me. My family did not stop loving me the moment I became a soldier so I don't blame them. "I killed somebody who they love and who is dear to them. At the same time, people who I love who are dear to me are killed as well. We are not the only ones who feel pain in this country. Muslims feel pain too. We love people too." Asked about earlier comments that his actions had been part of an "ongoing war", Adebolajo said: "Basically it's a war between Islam and those militaries that invade Muslim lands. One of them just happens to be British military and therefore the war continues even to this day." The 28-year-old mumbled frequently during his evidence and had to be told to speak directly into his microphone, but nodded when Gottlieb led him through the procedures of the court. Told not to speak when Mr Justice Sweeney, referred to as "his lordship", was speaking, he said: "I agree. I don't believe he is a lord, but I agree." The barrister, who had warned him he would be stopped if he tried to embark on "political speeches", interrupted his answers a number of times. "I'm going off a bit, forgive me," Adebolajo said at one point. Asked by his barrister to outline his views on British foreign policy since 1997, the accused said: "I am wholeheartedly against it … When I speak to the average non-Muslim, even they don't agree with foreign policy and their government since 1997, so I don't believe I am the only one." Describing himself as a "mujahid" or jihadist fighter, Adebolajo said he was "wholeheartedly against" British foreign policy since 1997, adding that he blamed Tony Blair for the death of a schoolfriend who had been killed in the Iraq war. Adebolajo told jurors that he was "wholeheartedly against" British foreign policy and that he was "disgusted" by television coverage of the US-led shock and awe operation in Iraq in 2003. "The Iraq war probably grated on me the most when I was in college. I remember watching the news, watching Trevor McDonald, I remember I saw Operation Shock and Awe unfold on the news. I was disgusted. "They were reporting it as if it was something praiseworthy … the might of the west. It disgusted me. I wasn't Muslim at the time but it disgusted me." Gottlieb asked what he believed should happen to him after the trial, whether he is found guilty or innocent of the charge, he said: "As an enemy soldier I believe either I should be ransomed to my Mujihadeen brothers … either ransomed back to the Mujihadeen or I should be set free or I should be killed." Killed by whom, asked Gottlieb. "I don't know how it typically works, but from what I have read from previous wars, maybe the military, maybe a court." He was asked why, in the moments after the killing, he had assured horrified pedestrians who had witnessed the attack that they were not in danger. "Because at the best of times people can be afraid of black men," he said. In addition to these "unfortunate stereotypes", he acknowledged, there was "the fact that I had blood on my hands and face, that I had bloodied weapons". He paid tribute, however, to the firearms officers who gave him and Adebowale first aid after disarming them, saying: "With regards to the firearms officers, you can have nothing but admiration for somebody who has the kindness to attempt to preserve the lives of two men who on the surface he must have thought I was going to kill them. So for him to perform first aid, I respect that." As for the medical team that had treated his injuries, he said: "I believe that this country perhaps going by what I experienced at King's College hospital, perhaps we have the best nurses on the planet. They were so kind … I told my family that anyone who heard of these people … should bring them chocolates and flowers. I respect them very much indeed." Adebolajo also said that he considered al-Qaida his "brothers in Islam" and that he was radicalised in part by television coverage of the Iraq invasion. Asked by his Gottlieb how he could be certain that Rigby was a soldier before the attack, Adebolajo told the court: "Well, I don't believe there is a way to know 100% he was a soldier. However, there was some steps we took before we set out on the day. "I stayed up worshipping Allah, begging him that he make the mission a success, that we strike a soldier and a soldier only. "As well as that, while we were waiting we continued to beg Allah to ensure that we did not target anyone outside the permissibility of Islam. I saw the soldier, he was carrying this type of bag they all carry in Woolwich. "Then we waited to ensure he was going towards the entrance of the barracks. These things combined made me certain that he was a soldier." Asked the same question by Whittam, Adebolajo said: "The truth is we targeted a soldier and we killed a soldier. He was not a medic, he was a professional soldier." Adebolajo, who appeared to have some of his front teeth missing, described how he was raised by Christian parents and would attend church every Sunday. He said he converted to Islam in his first year at the University of Greenwich and that it was his "everything". "My religion is everything," he said. "When I came to Islam I realised that … real success is not just what you can acquire, but really is if you make it to paradise, because then you can relax." Asked for his opinion on al-Qaida, Adebolajo said: "al-Qaida I consider them a mujahid group. I love them. They are my brothers. I never met them but I love them. I consider them my brothers in Islam." He later told jurors that he realised he might end up killing a soldier when he converted to Islam. "I never, obviously growing up I never thought about killing a man. It's not the type of thing the young child thinks about," he said. "But when the soldier joins the army he knows he will likely kill a man in his tour of duty … When I became a Muslim I realised I might end up killing a soldier." Adebolajo said it was "childish" to ask how he believes his own views compare with those of the average British Muslim. "I love every Muslim," he said. "Allah said it's my duty to protect them even if they hate my guts right now because of my actions. That's not my concern. My concern is does Allah love me." He said he believed that the British people have become "so arrogant" that they believed that "only our lives are valuable". "The love for my mother is not greater than an Afghanistan man for his mother," he said. "Why is that greater than an Afghanistan man for his mother? I don't believe this." Adebolajo told the court that he tried to go to Somalia in 2010 because he wanted to live in accordance with sharia law, but was detained by Kenyan police. The 28-year-old, who grew up in Romford in London, said he was arrested unjustly on two counts of assault against police officers after attending a demonstration. It was while being held in the police cells after his arrest, he said, that he began to see political protest as "impotent rage". "It allows you to let off steam. The reality is no demonstration will make a difference. Even the 1 million people [who] marched against the Iraq war it did not change a single thing." http:///C6CDXQAGAh |
Re: Adebololajo Tells Judge Allah Ordered Him To Kill Soldier by ilibrarian(m): 5:06pm On Dec 09, 2013 |
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