Is A Controversial Muslim Cleric in London Keeping Company with Terrorists?

This is a partial transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," July 22, 2005, that has been edited for clarity.

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JOHN GIBSON, GUEST HOST: In the "Personal Story" segment tonight, Sheik Omar Baqir Mohammed (search) is a Muslim cleric who's lived in London for almost 20 years. Now that his city is under attack, so is he, and for good reason.

Sheik Mohammed has referred to the 9/11 hijackers as the "Magnificent 19", and has repeatedly urged his young followers to join a global jihad.

Two days ago, he predicted another attack, a terror attack in London. And the next day, there were four attempted bombings.

Coincidence? Or is Sheik Mohammed keeping company with terrorists? The Sheikh agreed to come on the show tonight, but then he turned out to be a no-show.

But FOX News Military Analyst Colonel Bill Cowan joins us now from Washington. This guy, I'm not surprised he didn't show up, Bill. Because my first question to him was going to be, why aren't you in jail? Why haven't they locked you up?

BILL COWAN, FOX NEWS MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, John, you're absolutely right. No, no, I don't blame him for not showing up. And you know, and because he would have taken heat and well, he should have just as you said. He has been out there, calling for a jihad against the Westerners, against those fighting in Iraq. And he's called for a jihad abroad, of course, which we are, we're abroad from Britain. And this guy's a bad actor and he should be out of Britain and certainly shouldn't be allowed to come here.

GIBSON: He also talked about - he said that - recently that he would probably leave Britain within the next several days on his own, possibly permanently. He would not say where he intended to go, but the quote is "after all, I could worship god here or I could worship god back in Lebanon. I could do evil here, I could do that back in a Muslim country."

So do you think this guy's just hot air or is he dangerous?

COWAN: No, John, I think he's certainly dangerous. He's had thousands of people as he himself said and the media's reported, thousands of young Muslims listening to this guy. He's a very militant. He's certainly talking about hate, discontent, killing. And he has no positive value to anybody.

Not only that, but you mentioned, excuse me, that he's been in England about 20 years. And he's been on the public dole the whole time. He's living out there on the country, on the government. So this guy, there's no socially redeeming values to this guy at all.

GIBSON: He says that he does not recruit or train recruits for jihad or holy war. However, his group's stated aim is an Islamic revolution in Britain and the establishment of a caliphate, a fundamentalist Islamic state, which his group says was destroyed by imperialist Europe.

So if he had stated openly — I want to overthrow this government and this society — how is it Britain allows him to stay there free, free to speak, free to wander around?

COWAN: John, I think we might be able to ask that same question here in the United States, because there's no question but that we have Muslim extremists operating in some mosques around the country, have themselves that are doing this.

GIBSON: But we just sent one to jail for life.

COWAN: .offset recruiting.

GIBSON: We just sent one to jail for life. It was two weeks ago, a guy.

COWAN: Yes.

GIBSON: .one of these imams in Virginia was recruiting jihadis. He was tried, charged as a crime under federal law and is federal prison for life.

COWAN: John, that's great. And listen, if I were running for Congress, I'd be somewhere out there talking about my platform being one where we would change the laws of the United States so that extremists who are standing up there on the podium of a mosque calling for a jihad were wrapped up, sent to jail, or moved out of the country.

GIBSON: Bill, explain something to me. How can the Brits be kind of so loosey goosey about, you know, rights for a guy like this and be so good when it comes to responding to an actual terror attack?

COWAN: Yes, they've waited - John, I think they've waited too long. They've let a lot of Muslims get carried away over there without cracking down on them.

Of course, they have a big Muslim population. And this is all going to change. Just like we've seen Saudi Arabia change dramatically and we saw Pakistan change. And maybe this is the wake-up call for the Brits.

GIBSON: Colonel Bill Cowan joining us tonight to talk about the no- show Sheik Mohammed. Well, you know, he's afraid of us, Bill. He wouldn't show up.

COWAN: All right, John.

GIBSON: Appreciate it.

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