Opium Of The Masses

‘CAN you scream yourself into a state of ecstasy?

We only ask because it’s come to our attention that Omar Khayam, the 22—year-old Bedford local who posed and paraded outside the Danish embassy in London dressed as a suicide bomber, is a convicted drugs dealer.

We want to know if extreme Islam gives you a similar high to illegal narcotics. Is the ‘E’ to the rave what militant Islam is to raving madness?

Sure, we’d have to try it to really know. But before the experiment can begin – and before Pete Doherty and others can put on a turban – we read the Mirror’s front-page news that the young man in the suicide bomber chic was jailed for six years in 2002 for possessing crack cocaine with intent to supply.

Inside the paper, we learn that Khayam’s street name is Skinner. And inside, a lag who knows Khayam from his time in Springhill Prison, Bucks, tells the paper that his neighbour was a quiet man who never had bad word to say about anyone.

Or not. Says Khayam’s former jail mate: “It was well known that Omar made a lot of money from drugs. He was part of a large crew in Bedford.”

There’s an even larger crew around Khayam now – this one’s made up of journalists keen to hear his statement to the masses.

“I do not support terrorism or extremism,” says Khayam, “and would like to apologise unreservedly and wholeheartedly to the families of the victims. I understand it was wrong, unjustified and insensitive of me to protest in this way.”

“SORRY?” says the Star’s headline. “YOU BLOODY WELL SHOULD BE.”

Indeed, however contrite he is, sorry might not be enough. In the Sun’s front page “SUN INVESTIGATION” – in which the paper gets the same scoop as every other paper (“MUSLIM BOMB NUT IS CRACK DEALER”) – readers are told that Khayam might now face jail, or worse.

The Sun says that Khayam’s crack-dealing past “makes his claim to be defending Islam a SHAM”. The paper quotes the Koran as saying selling drugs is “the work of Satan”.

That’s bad news for Khayam. And, as the Sun says, selling drugs carries the death penalty in some Muslim countries.

No death penalty here. But the Sun does say that having been released from prison on licence just a few months ago, Khayam could be jailed for breaching this parole.

For now, as the Mail says, it’s unclear whether Bedfordshire Police are going to take any action.

Or if militant Islam is going to be reclassified as a Class A drug…’

Posted: 7th, February 2006 | In: Tabloids Comment | TrackBack | Permalink