European Foundation for Democracy

Press Statement - “We will not leave”: Muslim reformers to extremists

- On 7 December 2011, twenty radical Muslims hijacked an event featuring Muslim reformists, Irshad Manji and Tofik Dibi, in Amsterdam.

Last September, Jihadists who call themselves “Cyber Hezbollah” organised their second conference in Teheran. Islamist hackers and cyber-jihadists gathered there and decided to fight the U.S. and Europe. Hassan Abbasi, political strategist and adviser of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, was present, and delivered an ardent and virulent speech.

It is not the first time that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has expressed doubts about the Islamist terrorist attacks that took place on 11th September. Claiming that the attack's true perpetrators were centres of power within US government structures and the "Zionists" is part of Iran's anti-Semitic and anti-Western state policy.

EFD Fellow Bakary Sambe appeared alongside EFD Visiting Fellow Walid Phares for an interview with Voice of America presenter Lamia Gritli discussing the recent death of Bin Laden. Speaking on a range of issues, Bakary Sambe noted that whilst the head of Al Qaeda has now gone, the ideology he spread will continue to pose threats, stressing the decentralised structure of the global network of radical groups.

Now is the right time for the West to engage with opposition groups - including Coptic groups and secular forces - in Egypt, according to EFD Visiting Fellow Dr. Walid Phares, speaking at a European Parliament breakfast meeting to discuss integration, inclusion and Jihadism in the EU on 9th February 2010.

EFD Visiting Fellow Professor Walid Phares speaking on Russia Today TV: "Al Qaeda has already attacked the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. The UN must unleash an international campaign against the Jihadist Terror forces."