Mohammad Rashid Abdulaziz Saeed Alim, aka Nicky Reilly, has been jailed for life for attempting to set off a nail bomb in a crowded restaurant in Exeter.
Apparently Alim got stuck in the toilet cubicle he’d entered to prime his bomb and part of the detonator system went off prematurely, injuring only Alim himself.
He was described in court, according to the Independent, as “the least cunning terrorist” and apparently has learning difficulties. Some say he has the mental age of a ten year old. If this is true, then I’m not sure that the life sentence is entirely fair. On the other hand, he is clearly capable of great violence and is very suggestible, so I’m not really sure what else can be done with him. What is clear is that he was used and groomed by others to carry out this atrocity.
There are two other talking points that I think this story throws up.
Firstly, and most obviously, the former Nicky Reilly is white. I think this underscores the fact that this is an ideological war against political Islamism and religious fundamentalism, and not – as it is being branded by people with sinister agendas – a ‘war on Muslims’ and a proxy for racism.
Secondly, in his suicide note – which he obviously had help writing – he attacks “drunkenness and sexual immorality” and says this is “unacceptable to Allah and the true religion Islam”.
I find it interesting that while global politics is invariably provided as a rational motivation for suicide attacks – sometimes by the group claiming responsibility, and at other times by commentators who cannot accept another explanation – there often seems time to make a point about slags an’ fags, and how offensive they are, particularly when they hang out in bars.
Perhaps more attention should be paid to the fact that premarital sex, masturbation, homosexuality, cheap lager and brandy pudding are all root causes of Islamist terror.
