ISLAM TODAY. The “Tottenham Ayatollah, Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed, said "I would like to see the Islamic flag fly, not only over number 10 Downing Street, but over the whole world."

Bakri is routinely vilified in the U. K. because he praised the September 11 hijackers. You have to wonder about British immigration policy, since this guy was expelled from Saudi Arabia, but allowed to live in London in 1985. He is a Syrian by birth.

Bakri also said he would like Britain to become an Islamic state. He founded the British branch of “Hizb ut-Tahrir”, a political party dedicated to creating an Islamic caliphate centered on the Middle East. He then created “al Muhajiroun”, which is famous for celebrating the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

He fears he will be deported before his dream is realized. Brits probably fear he won’t. He both has Syrian and Lebanese citizenship. I vote for Syria.

Meanwhile, police in London have pictures of the men who tried and failed to set off a second wave of explosions there. They will, hopefully, be caught and punished. Antiterrorist officers shot and killed a man they pursued at a subway station while investigation the attack. That's what I call caught and punished. Police also arrested two men.

In Sudan, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met Thursday with women who are rape victims from Sudan’s campaign of ethnic violence in the Darfur region, when the government used Muslim militias to drive the Christians and Animists from the region. Rice sought to pressure the government to deal with the problem.

In Iraq, a drive by shooting killed a newlywed and injured her husband, an Iraqi Army captain, right after their wedding. The groom’s brother, a police lieutenant, was also wounded. Across the country, eleven other people were killed.

Also in Iraq, two Algerian diplomats were abducted along with their driver, Thursday. The diplomats had refused Iraqi offers of bodyguards, saying they did not need protection because "Algeria's relationship with the Iraqis is good." I guess he will have to rethink his position on that one.

This incident means five diplomats from Islamic countries have been kidnapped. The Mansour district, where the Algerians were kidnapped, has been the site of other kidnappings. Americans Jack Hensley, and Eugene Armstrong were kidnapped there and killed, as was Briton Kenneth Bigley.

Gunmen have also fired on representatives of Pakistan and Bahrain in west Baghdad, probably in failed kidnap attempts.

Two Sunni Muslims who were working to draft the new governmental charter were gunned down Tuesday. Other gunmen in Baghdad fired on a car carrying Czech police officers who provide security for Czech diplomats.

Gunmen also shot and killed three policemen today while they were directing traffic in eastern Baghdad. Three other police officers were killed and three wounded in two other attacks. You have to admire these policemen for continuing to serve and bring order to this country. Although, clearly, not everyone does.