The radical Islamist cleric Omar Bakri said on Monday that with the death of Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, the Arab world had “lost a leader,” adding that he expected “revenge” attacks in Europe.
“The news of the death of Sheikh Osama has saddened and delighted us at the same time. It saddened us because we lost a leader in the Arab region and it is welcomed because he fell a martyr as he wanted,” Bakri told AFP in Lebanon.
“Undoubtedly the martyrdom of Osama bin Laden will infuse new life into the next generation as jihad will not stop. We expect reactions from this generation in Europe… their operations will take revenge for Sheikh Osama.”
Bakri, a Sunni radical, was sentenced to life imprisonment by a military court for inciting murder, but was freed on bail in November pending a new trial. He lives in the northern Lebanese port of Tripoli.
Originally from Syria but holding a Lebanese passport, Bakri denies having any direct link with Al-Qaeda and had called the trained September 11 suicide bombers “magnificent.”
He settled in Britain in 1986 where he became a leading figure among Islamist circles until the authorities tightened the screws after the 2005 bombings in London. Since then he has been banned from Britain.
Bin Laden was killed overnight on Monday in an operation by US special forces in Pakistan.
