Debbie Schlussel: Killer Escapes UK in Muslim Niqab Disguise; Not the First Time (Hezbos Used Method to Escape U.S.)
Recently, I wrote about courageous Hamtramckstan, Michigan Judge Paul Paruk, who refused to allow Muslim convert Ginnah Muhammad to wear a niqab (the "full ninja" Muslim face veil, leaving only the eyes showing).
The case of British cop killer Mustaf Jama shows why it's necessary for Western societies NOT to tolerate the niqab and to force "women" to remove it. According to The Times UK, he fled Britain, using his sister's passport and wearing the niqab to mask his identity. At the time, the Muslim Somalian was Britain's most wanted man, but escaped scrutiny because he was wearing the full face veil:
The use of the niqab, which leaves only a narrow slit for the eyes, highlights flaws in British airport security. At the time, Jama was Britain's most wanted man, while Heathrow was on a heightened state of alert after the 7/7 terrorist atrocities in London five months previously.
The Times has learnt that British immigration officers rarely carry out a visual check to match a passport photograph with a departing female passenger's veiled face.
It's not the first time this has been done, and it isn't confined to Europe either. In 1998, Fawzi Mustapha Assi--a Lebanese man who was working as an engineer for Ford Motor Company--fled the U.S. to Canada from Detroit by wearing a hijab and niqab, pretending he was a woman. Assi was indicted for obtaining night vision goggles and other military equipment and trying to transport them to Hezbollah in Lebanon for use against Israel.
An incompetent federal magistrate and then a similarly-skilled Federal Judge, Denise Page Hood, allowed Assi to remain free on bond and an electronic tether, against the objections and appeals of federal prosecutors. He escaped by dressing as an Islamic woman and escaping proper law enforcement scrutiny at the border.
(Recently, in an unusual move, Assi surrenedered himself and returned to the United States. But that almost never happens. He remains in jail awaiting trial.)
It's apparently not the first time it's happened in Britain either:
In October The Times revealed that a male suspect in a major anti-terrorist investigation evaded capture in Britain for several days by dressing in a burka. He was eventually arrested and is awaiting trial.The full-face veil has regularly been used as a disguise in Iraq and Afghanistan by Islamist fighters, including several suicide bombers and at least one senior al-Qaeda leader.
Posted by Debbie on December 19, 2006 10:40 PM to Debbie Schlussel