Omar Khayam (born

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

, 1983) is a

British Muslim Islam is the second largest religion in the United Kingdom, with results from the 2011 Census giving the total population as 2,786,635, or 4.4% of the total UK population,drug dealer A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalati ...

who achieved a considerable degree of notoriety following a February 2006 protest in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

against the

Muhammad cartoons The ''Jyllands-Posten'' Muhammad cartoons controversy (or Muhammad cartoons crisis, da, Muhammedkrisen) began after the Danish newspaper ''Jyllands-Posten'' published 12 editorial cartoons on 30 September 2005, most of which depicted Muhamma ...

; at the protest, he dressed like a

suicide bomber A suicide attack is any violent attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have occurred throughout histor ...

Early life

Khayam was brought up in the

area of

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...

of Pakistani descent. His parents belongs from

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

, Pakistan. The area has a "growing" drugs and gangs problem and when Khayam was 16 he was charged with throwing 2oz bag of crack cocaine from a car window to try to avoid detection from the pursuing police. He got eight years in 2002 for possession of a

class A drug These drugs are known in the UK as ''controlled drugs'', because this is the term by which the act itself refers to them. In more general terms, however, many of these drugs are also controlled by the Medicines Act 1968, there are many other dru ...

with intent to supply and a fine for having a small amount of heroin, but his sentence was cut to five-and-a-half years on appeal.Mock suicide bomber back in jail for breaching parole
-

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

- February 8, 2006 He was released on

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

in 2005, having served half of his sentence. According to a report in the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print c ...

'', he had been a significant local drug dealer in Bedford, known on the street as ''Skinner''. The report stated that he became increasingly radicalised in prison, mixing with extremist

Islamists Islamism (also often called political Islam or Islamic fundamentalism) is a political ideology which posits that modern states and regions should be reconstituted in constitutional, economic and judicial terms, in accordance with what is c ...

, and promising to sell drugs to aid their cause.

Protest

In 2006 the Danish

were republished in many newspapers across Europe. Of them, Khayam said "I found the pictures deeply offensive as a Muslim and I felt the Danish newspaper had been provocative and controversial, deeply offensive and insensitive."Protester is returned to prison
-

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

. Tuesday, 7 February 2006 In response, at a protest over their publication, Khayam dressed in the style of a suicide bomber. When newspapers traced his whereabouts, he initially refused to apologise, saying his protest was justifiable. However, he later appeared publicly alongside his local Labour MP of the time Patrick Hall to apologise, declaring his actions "wrong, unjustified and insensitive", adding "by me dressing the way I did, I did just that, exactly the same as the Danish newspaper, if not worse. My method of protest has offended many people, especially the families of the victims of the July bombings. This was not my intention." Hall said "He acted on impulse - couple of friends, they got on the train and got to London, and I believe this was an impulsive, foolish reaction to what he saw was the offence of the publication of those cartoons."

Arrest

On 7 February 2006, following heavy publicity, he was arrested by Bedfordshire Police and returned to prison for unspecified parole violations. His arrest for parole violation was at the direct request of the Home Office in the wake of these news reports, although it is not known if it was directly related to his protest activity. Following his release, more controversy followed Omar Khayam after his appointment as a train cleaner for

First Capital Connect First Capital Connect (FCC) was a British train operating company, owned by FirstGroup, that operated the Thameslink and Great Northern sectors from April 2006 to September 2014 which later became the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern (T ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

, UK.''Cambridge News''
Train job for bomb stunt man.
February 17, 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khayam, Omar 1983 births 21st-century criminals British people of Pakistani descent English people convicted of drug offences Crime in Bedfordshire English drug traffickers English Muslims People associated with the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy Living people People from Bedford English people of Pakistani descent English people of Punjabi descent English prisoners and detainees

Early life

Protest

Arrest

See also

References