Canon White, who runs Baghdad's only Anglican parish, said that he met the al-Qaeda leader on the fringes of a meeting about religious reconciliation held in Amman, the Jordanian capital.
"He talked to me about how they were going to destroy British and Americans. He told me that the plans were already made and they would soon be destroying the British. He said the people who cure you would kill you."
The man, who was in his forties and had travelled from Syria for the meeting, said that the plans would come to fruition in the next few weeks and target the British first. He said that the British and Americans were being targeted because of their actions in Iraq. He did not learn the man's identity until after the meeting, and will not disclose it now, but said: "I met the Devil that day.
Canon White told The Times that he had passed the general warning, but not the specific words, to a senior official at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in mid-April. A Foreign Office spokesman said last night that it was forwarding the actual words to the Metropolitan Police.
I think that this article is another example of how important it is to pay very close attention to what terrorists are saying. In mid-April he passed along the general warning. With 20/20 hindsight he should have passed along the actual words.
Another idea I get from this article is the reinforcement of the idea that the enemy we have is not an impoverished class of people in the developing countries. We have an enemy that does not separate religion and government. They are one and the same to them, and their mission is to create a 'New World Order' with sharia law in control of the world.
This day when we celebrate our country's Independence is a good day to also remember all of our forefathers who came here to escape religious persecution. We don't want no state religion for our country, and we really don't want a religion controlling the entire planet. We will fight, and we will prevail. God Bless the USA.
