a number of Middle Eastern countries sought refuge in the United Kingdom, particularly London, leading some such as the French intelligence services to ridicule the situation as "Londonistan". Particularly close to Al-Muhajiroun was the Egyptian Abu Hamza al-Masri, who was the imam of Finsbury Park Mosque from 1997 until 2003 (since that time the mosque has been reopened under new authorities who are not affiliated to these tendencies). Abu Hamza had previously been an adviser to the Algerian Armed Islamic Group and had his own group called "Supporters of Shariah" which held joint protests with Al-Muhajiroun. Abu Qatada; who was associated with the Jordanian group Jaysh Mohammad and would later write sympathetically about the activities of Osama bin Laden; spoke at a Al-Muhajiroun meeting in November 1999 to raise funds for mujahideen fighters in Chechnya (as part of the Second Chechen War). Contacts were also maintained between Omar Bakri's group and other London exiles who spoke at Al-Muhajiroun gatherings; Yassir al-Sirri of Vanguards of Conquest and Mohammad al-Massari of Hizb ut-Tahrir. In the first two years of its new existence, the group did not advocate violence against the United Kingdom; Omar Bakri claimed in London-newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, this was because he had a "covenant of peace" with the British government when they granted him asylum (though while still part of Hizb ut-Tahrir, Omar Bakri had earlier made comments in 1991 about a potential assassination of Prime Minister John Major, during the Gulf War). In the early days of New Labour, Home Secretary Jack Straw even appointed Al-Muhajiroun activist Makbool Javaid (brother-in-law of future Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan) to a newly formed Race Relations Forum. This situation changed in September 1998, as seven members of Egyptian Islamic Jihad, including Hani al-Sibai, Sayyed Ajami and Sayyed Ahmed Abdel-Maqssuod, were arrested by the Metropolitan Police's Special Branch as part of Operation Challenge for alleged violations of the Prevention of Terrorism Act 1989. This was in the aftermath of the 1998 United States embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, a joint operation by Egyptian Islamic Jihad and Al-Qaeda (the two would merge in 2001), killing 224 people. The "Londonistan" situation, as it was known, had long being criticised by some of the leading Arab world governments such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Algeria and others, who regarded the groups as a threat to their national security also. After the arrests, Omar Bakri described Britain