Lady Neville-Jones said that while minor disputes could be settled by "customary mediation" - including through sharia and the Jewish Beth Din system - there could be no formal legal recognition.
"We are not going to have any legal recognition of sharia judgments that would withstand appeal to a secular court," she said before the Tory conference in Birmingham, .
Speaking the day after Dominic Grieve, the shadow home secretary, said Britain had "done something terrible to ourselves" by encouraging multiculturalism, Lady Neville-Jones said that the Conservatives would make the case for more "integration" among all British people, whatever their backgrounds.
She said: "We want unity and opportunity, despite difference, through integration."
She accused the Government of leading the country down the "blind alley of multiculturalism, which has deliberately gone down the road of separation for its own sake."
Lady Neville-Jones said there was also a clear divide between the Tories and Labour on the question of how to deal with the spread of extremism among some young Muslims.
"We will be tough. We will be really tough on the men of violence and those who lead them to violence," she told the Sunday Express. "That's the real gap between us and the Government at the moment."
She explained that a Conservative Government would move to extend the list of banned extremist groups - potentially including Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is regularly accused of anti-Semitism, and Tablighi Jamaat, which is behind plans to build a "mega mosque" near the site of the London Olympics complex in East London.
She also said the Tories would seek to reform the European Convention on Human Rights in order to allow the deportation of preachers who incite violence against Britain.
Speaking in response to Lady Neville-Jones's comments, Inayat Bunglawala, of the Muslim Council of Britain, said: "Sharia courts operate with the blessing of UK law."
He added: "As for banning organisations, we believe in a democracy it is far better to allow all organisations to operate freely, and if individuals happen to break the law then they ought to be prosecuted."
That still leaves open the question of whether participation in sharia "mediation" is truly voluntary. And the comparison with Beth Din courts does not really hold, as sharia is a system with much broader aspirations for control over the lives of believers and unbelievers, and as such, its proponents will always be seeking more power for it.
British bishop: questions remain on Sharia
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
British Kids as Young as Nine Married Against Will...
British children as young as nine are being forced to marry against their will by their families, campaigners have warned.
Charities supporting victims of forced marriages report growing numbers of young teenagers and children seeking help.
They are urging schools to take tougher action where they suspect pupils are at risk, and to monitor their rolls carefully and raise the alarm when children disappear.
Thousands of Britons - mainly young women from the Asian communities - are thought to be victims of forced marriage each year, but concerns are increasingly focused on the plight of underage girls who are being offered for marriage to foreign men when they have barely left primary school.
Charities supporting victims of forced marriages report growing numbers of young teenagers and children seeking help.
They are urging schools to take tougher action where they suspect pupils are at risk, and to monitor their rolls carefully and raise the alarm when children disappear.
Thousands of Britons - mainly young women from the Asian communities - are thought to be victims of forced marriage each year, but concerns are increasingly focused on the plight of underage girls who are being offered for marriage to foreign men when they have barely left primary school.
'Tip of the iceberg': British children as young as nine are being forced to marry against their will by their families
No accurate figures exist for the scale of the problem, although the Government's Forced Marriage Unit has helped rescue around 60 children aged 15 or under in the past four years - including 11 so far in 2008 - and experts fear that may represent only the tip of the iceberg.
Typically victims are taken overseas by their families on a false pretext and forced to marry. Extreme cases where women rebel against their family's plans and try to run away have led to so-called 'honour killings' or suicides.
Ministers angered campaigners two years ago by dropping plans to make it a criminal offence to force someone to marry, after Muslim groups objected strongly to the plans.
A charity operating a national helpline on forced marriage, Karma Nirvana, yesterday highlighted one incident where a nine-year-old girl from a Pakistani family in the east Midlands was taken into care after her parents told her she was to be married.
Director Jasvinder Sanghera said that on average one child a week aged under 16 had sought assistance since the helpline launched in April.
'The youngest child we have dealt with was nine years old,' she said. 'The girl told her teacher she was going to be forced to marry someone and initially she was not believed.
'Ultimately, with the help of the Forced Marriage Unit, she was dealt with through child protection procedures. She was assessed and, thankfully, taken into foster care.'
Awaiting their fate: Young brides in Bangladesh, following fears that children are being taken out of schools and forced into marriages abroad
The Forced Marriage Unit, jointly funded by the Home Office and Foreign Office, deals with around 5,000 calls and 300 known cases a year, while a third of all inquiries come from under-18s. Some 15 per cent of cases involve boys being forced to marry.
The youngest victim rescued and repatriated to Britain by the unit was an 11-year-old girl who was flown back from Bangladesh last year after her parents tried to make her marry a local man.
Ms Sanghera, who herself fled home after being threatened with forced marriage at the age of 15, said: 'I currently have cases involving four children aged 11 to 14 who were forced to marry or were at risk, and have now been made wards of court.
'You don't just get forced into a marriage at 16 or 17. This is happening to very young children. We certainly have had cases of minors being sexually abused.
'But we have no idea how many children under 16 are at risk, and this is compounded by a reluctance of schools to engage with the issue. Many schools shy away due to supposed cultural sensitivities.'
She added: 'These marriages can be prevented by identifying the signs in school or teachers believing pupils when they raise it.'
More...
More than 3,000 Asian children vanishing from school and 'forced into arranged marriages'
The problem is believed to be particularly prevalent in Pakistani communities, she said, where many parents arrange to marry their children to first cousins.
The charity is calling for a formal system of headcounts before and after summer holidays, so that schools can identify children who disappear without explanation.
A report by Parliament's Home Affairs Select Committee earlier this year said more than 2,000 pupils were unaccounted for in just 14 local council areas across England and Wales.
Plans to make forced marriage a specific crime were dropped by ministers in 2006 following a Muslim community backlash, although new laws passed last year gave courts new powers to issue injunctions preventing a young person from marrying or being taken abroad - any breach of which by parents would constitute a crime.
Muslims oppose Tesco booze bid
More than 150 people have signed petitions imploring Luton Borough Council to deny the new Tesco Express in Bury Park an alcohol licence.
The bid from the supermarket giant has upset Muslims living in the area, some of whom say they find the idea of alcohol being sold offensive. Next Tuesday councillors will make a decision on the application, which, if successful, would see the store permitted to sell alcohol from 6am until 11pm every day.
Tesco says its stores sell alcohol as part of a broad range of goods, and that staff receive formal training which is regularly reviewed, including the 'Think 21' scheme, where anyone who looks under 21 is asked for proof of identity when buying alcohol. But its policies have done little to assuage the concerns of some local residents, who say they are worried the sale of alcohol at the shop could lead to more crime and jeopardise children's safety.
One petition, signed by 120 people, says: "The almost 'slum' conditions of the area overwhelmingly demonstrate the lack of attention that this area is paid. "And now, rather than support us in realising our wishes, we are subject to a greater and worse step: the sale of alcohol on our doorsteps." The decision on the application will be made by the council's licensing panel at its meeting on Tuesday, September 30.
The meeting takes place at 10am in committee room 3 at Luton Town Hall.
this is what follows inevitably from the "reasonable accommodations" that Muslims are demanding, and being granted, in the U.S. as well as in Britain. Sharia law applies to non-Muslims as well as to Muslims. Once the precedent has been set that Sharia provisions must be accommodated (to a chorus of "What's the big deal?" from the learned analysts), then Muslims begin to assert it over non-Muslims.
The bid from the supermarket giant has upset Muslims living in the area, some of whom say they find the idea of alcohol being sold offensive. Next Tuesday councillors will make a decision on the application, which, if successful, would see the store permitted to sell alcohol from 6am until 11pm every day.
Tesco says its stores sell alcohol as part of a broad range of goods, and that staff receive formal training which is regularly reviewed, including the 'Think 21' scheme, where anyone who looks under 21 is asked for proof of identity when buying alcohol. But its policies have done little to assuage the concerns of some local residents, who say they are worried the sale of alcohol at the shop could lead to more crime and jeopardise children's safety.
One petition, signed by 120 people, says: "The almost 'slum' conditions of the area overwhelmingly demonstrate the lack of attention that this area is paid. "And now, rather than support us in realising our wishes, we are subject to a greater and worse step: the sale of alcohol on our doorsteps." The decision on the application will be made by the council's licensing panel at its meeting on Tuesday, September 30.
The meeting takes place at 10am in committee room 3 at Luton Town Hall.
this is what follows inevitably from the "reasonable accommodations" that Muslims are demanding, and being granted, in the U.S. as well as in Britain. Sharia law applies to non-Muslims as well as to Muslims. Once the precedent has been set that Sharia provisions must be accommodated (to a chorus of "What's the big deal?" from the learned analysts), then Muslims begin to assert it over non-Muslims.
Devout Muslim sues Tesco for making him carry alcohol
A Muslim who claims he did not know Tesco sold alcohol is suing the store for religious discrimination after having to carry crates of drink as part of his job.Forklift truck driver Mohammed Ahmed, 32, worked in a distribution depot for eight months before quitting 'in protest', an employment tribunal heard.
He claims he was forced to leave because handling beer, spirits and wine is against his strict Islamic beliefs and that he was victimised when he asked the company to give him another role.
Mr Ahmed, who was raised in Saudi Arabia, told the tribunal he had no idea his job entailed handling alcohol when he started work last September at the depot in Lichfield, Staffordshire.
When he realised it did, he asked to be found different work but alleges that one of his supervisors told him: 'You do the job or go home.'
Mr Ahmed also claimed his line manager was 'aggressive' towards him and another supervisor angrily told him: 'Do not take the p***.'
The problem allegedly worsened in November and December when extra alcohol arrived at the warehouse in readiness for Christmas, the tribunal in Birmingham heard.
Mr Ahmed claimed he eventually lodged an official grievance with the company in February and was 'victimised and harassed' as a result.
The tribunal heard that Tesco has now ensured its induction process makes clear that handling alcohol is part of the job.
But Laura Canham, the company's solicitor, said it was still unrealistic for Mr Ahmed to say he had no idea what his duties would be.
Mr Ahmed claimed he had never visited a Tesco store and was not aware the company sold alcohol. He admitted, however, having shopped in Sainsbury's, Lidl and Asda, and noticing alcohol was on sale there.
The problem allegedly worsened in November and December when extra alcohol arrived at the warehouse in readiness for Christmas, the tribunal in Birmingham heard.
Mr Ahmed claimed he eventually lodged an official grievance with the company in February and was 'victimised and harassed' as a result.
The tribunal heard that Tesco has now ensured its induction process makes clear that handling alcohol is part of the job.
But Laura Canham, the company's solicitor, said it was still unrealistic for Mr Ahmed to say he had no idea what his duties would be.
Mr Ahmed claimed he had never visited a Tesco store and was not aware the company sold alcohol. He admitted, however, having shopped in Sainsbury's, Lidl and Asda, and noticing alcohol was on sale there.
Miss Canham said: 'He was advised at the outset what the job would entail. At no stage did he raise the fact he could not handle alcohol.'
The tribunal was told Mr Ahmed also gave out 'mixed messages', at one stage suggesting he was allowed to handle Budweiser beer.
Miss Canham denied the company discriminated against him and said: 'It would be reasonable to expect him to be aware of what Tesco did.'
Mr Ahmed, of Derby, who is suing the firm for racial discrimination, victimisation and harassment, should learn the outcome of the case later this week.
Saudi Arabia's enforcement of strict Sharia law regarding alcohol is among the harshest in the world. Sentences include several months' imprisonment for simply drinking beer, and it is not unknown for offenders to be given lashes as well.
A spokesman for Tesco, whose £63million Lichfield depot has around 1,000 workers, said: ' Managers are trained to be culturally sensitive and have an open-door policy to staff for issues like this, as everyone is welcome to work at Tesco.'
Al-Qaeda bid to recruit inmates
AL-QAEDA terrorists have targeted 800 Muslim criminals they want to recruit for their “holy war” against Britain, say prison probation officers.
The officers believe that attempts have been made to convert one in 10 of the estimated 8,000 Muslims in the eight high-security prisons in England and Wales to the Al-Qaeda cause in the past two years.
The Ministry of Justice has begun a programme to persuade convicted terrorists to give up their cause. It is also trying to protect vulnerable Muslim inmates from violent extremists.
The ministry said this weekend that it had established a unit to tackle “the risks of extremism and radicalism in prison”.
The radicalisation is being led by some of the estimated 150 terrorist prisoners in England and Wales. The number of Muslim inmates has grown over the past decade to more than 10% of the jail population.
Most are young men, typically petty criminals serving two or three-year sentences for crimes such as burglary, theft, drug dealing or fraud.
Many are impressionable and feel aggrieved by what they see as mistreatment by the authorities. They are considered to be ripe for recruitment by Al-Qaeda.
One of the most notorious Al-Qaeda terrorists, Richard Reid, the “shoe bomber” who was convicted of trying to blow up a transatlantic jet in 2001 with explosives in his trainers, had served time as a petty crook before being radicalised.
The size of the problem emerged in evidence given to a review of radicalisation in jails by Nick Herbert, the shadow justice secretary.
Harry Fletcher, assistant general secretary of the probation officers’ union, NAPO, said that proposals to house all terrorist prisoners in one “super-max” prison to keep them away from vulnerable inmates were misplaced.
“That would be very unwise. There is a general view that if the prisoners are concentrated they get more organised. If something went wrong, it could go disastrously wrong, like a mass break-out,” he said.
The Prison Officers Association has called for extremist prisoners to be kept away from inmates who could be vulnerable to radicalisation. It points to an intelligence report claiming that there were specific threats to kidnap and behead an officer at Frankland prison in Co Durham.
An internal review of Whitemoor prison in Cambridgeshire, where almost a third of the 500 inmates are Muslim, warned that staff were struggling to deal with Muslim gangs. It said the staff feared that a serious incident was imminent.
In a report last April Anne Owers, the chief inspector of prisons, warned that prison officers at high security jails felt that they were “insufficiently trained and supported”.
The prison service has attempted to curb the growth of radical Islam by restricting communal prayers and the reading of the Koran during work breaks.
The officers believe that attempts have been made to convert one in 10 of the estimated 8,000 Muslims in the eight high-security prisons in England and Wales to the Al-Qaeda cause in the past two years.
The Ministry of Justice has begun a programme to persuade convicted terrorists to give up their cause. It is also trying to protect vulnerable Muslim inmates from violent extremists.
The ministry said this weekend that it had established a unit to tackle “the risks of extremism and radicalism in prison”.
The radicalisation is being led by some of the estimated 150 terrorist prisoners in England and Wales. The number of Muslim inmates has grown over the past decade to more than 10% of the jail population.
Most are young men, typically petty criminals serving two or three-year sentences for crimes such as burglary, theft, drug dealing or fraud.
Many are impressionable and feel aggrieved by what they see as mistreatment by the authorities. They are considered to be ripe for recruitment by Al-Qaeda.
One of the most notorious Al-Qaeda terrorists, Richard Reid, the “shoe bomber” who was convicted of trying to blow up a transatlantic jet in 2001 with explosives in his trainers, had served time as a petty crook before being radicalised.
The size of the problem emerged in evidence given to a review of radicalisation in jails by Nick Herbert, the shadow justice secretary.
Harry Fletcher, assistant general secretary of the probation officers’ union, NAPO, said that proposals to house all terrorist prisoners in one “super-max” prison to keep them away from vulnerable inmates were misplaced.
“That would be very unwise. There is a general view that if the prisoners are concentrated they get more organised. If something went wrong, it could go disastrously wrong, like a mass break-out,” he said.
The Prison Officers Association has called for extremist prisoners to be kept away from inmates who could be vulnerable to radicalisation. It points to an intelligence report claiming that there were specific threats to kidnap and behead an officer at Frankland prison in Co Durham.
An internal review of Whitemoor prison in Cambridgeshire, where almost a third of the 500 inmates are Muslim, warned that staff were struggling to deal with Muslim gangs. It said the staff feared that a serious incident was imminent.
In a report last April Anne Owers, the chief inspector of prisons, warned that prison officers at high security jails felt that they were “insufficiently trained and supported”.
The prison service has attempted to curb the growth of radical Islam by restricting communal prayers and the reading of the Koran during work breaks.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Elderly and Disabled Targeted by Muslim Gangs...
Gangs of Asian youths are tormenting elderly and disabled people in Staincliffe, Yorkshire, with foul-mouthed racist abuse, according to local newspaper The Press.
Residents living in a cul-de-sac on the edge of Staincliffe Estate say they are at the end of their tether after months of abuse.
The youths, aged from about 15 upwards, start congregating in Manor Way, close to Manorfields Infants School, from 4.10pm and hang around for hours on end, often up to midnight.
The yobs hurl abuse at passers-by, spitting racist comments at the elderly residents — all of whom are in their 70s and 80s.
The gang also makes lewd suggestions to girls and young women and on Saturday mocked a disabled man and threatened to tip him out of his wheelchair. In the past, street signs have been pulled down and bins overturned. Cars have also been vandalised.
Police have been repeatedly called out but residents say nothing gets done. Now the residents, most of whom are too afraid to speak out publicly, are fighting back.
Residents’ spokesman Tony Gott, 71, said old people shouldn’t have to put up with the abuse.
“It has gone too far,” he said. “People are at the end of their tether and don’t know where to turn.”
“No one should have to live their lives in fear like this and when we go out to ask these youths to move on all we get is abuse.”
“They called me a ‘fat, white bastard’ and the other day I was showered with a pile of bricks.”
“We had the police up here the other day and they spoke to this gang but they denied everything and the police said there was nothing they could do.”
“The police say ‘we’ve taken their names’ but all that is a slap on the wrist. It doesn’t stop them.”
Retired builder Mr Gott, who has four sons, 11 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, has lived in the street for almost 15 years.
On Saturday during teatime Mr Gott heard the youths hurling abuse at a disabled man in a wheelchair who lives further down the estate.
“They were wanting to have a fight with him so I went out and told them to stop picking on people in wheelchairs.”
“All I got was abuse and that it was nothing to do with me. They threatened to turn the wheelchair over.”
“The police think we are exaggerating but we are not. We are all poorly people up here and two of the residents have cancer. We just can’t go to bed and have a good night’s sleep anymore.”
The cul-de-sac is also a magnet for drug dealers and users who lurk in dark corners behind Manorfields school but it is the gangs that make residents most afraid.
“I think there should be a curfew to get them off the streets,” said Mr Gott. “Something has to be done.”
Insp Neil Money, of the Batley Neighbourhood Policing Team, said “We are working very closely with local schools, mosques, shopkeepers and our partner agencies in order to ensure that the quality of life for residents is improved.”
For a far more extensive representation of muslim violence worldwide go to the Religion of Peace website
Residents living in a cul-de-sac on the edge of Staincliffe Estate say they are at the end of their tether after months of abuse.
The youths, aged from about 15 upwards, start congregating in Manor Way, close to Manorfields Infants School, from 4.10pm and hang around for hours on end, often up to midnight.
The yobs hurl abuse at passers-by, spitting racist comments at the elderly residents — all of whom are in their 70s and 80s.
The gang also makes lewd suggestions to girls and young women and on Saturday mocked a disabled man and threatened to tip him out of his wheelchair. In the past, street signs have been pulled down and bins overturned. Cars have also been vandalised.
Police have been repeatedly called out but residents say nothing gets done. Now the residents, most of whom are too afraid to speak out publicly, are fighting back.
Residents’ spokesman Tony Gott, 71, said old people shouldn’t have to put up with the abuse.
“It has gone too far,” he said. “People are at the end of their tether and don’t know where to turn.”
“No one should have to live their lives in fear like this and when we go out to ask these youths to move on all we get is abuse.”
“They called me a ‘fat, white bastard’ and the other day I was showered with a pile of bricks.”
“We had the police up here the other day and they spoke to this gang but they denied everything and the police said there was nothing they could do.”
“The police say ‘we’ve taken their names’ but all that is a slap on the wrist. It doesn’t stop them.”
Retired builder Mr Gott, who has four sons, 11 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, has lived in the street for almost 15 years.
On Saturday during teatime Mr Gott heard the youths hurling abuse at a disabled man in a wheelchair who lives further down the estate.
“They were wanting to have a fight with him so I went out and told them to stop picking on people in wheelchairs.”
“All I got was abuse and that it was nothing to do with me. They threatened to turn the wheelchair over.”
“The police think we are exaggerating but we are not. We are all poorly people up here and two of the residents have cancer. We just can’t go to bed and have a good night’s sleep anymore.”
The cul-de-sac is also a magnet for drug dealers and users who lurk in dark corners behind Manorfields school but it is the gangs that make residents most afraid.
“I think there should be a curfew to get them off the streets,” said Mr Gott. “Something has to be done.”
Insp Neil Money, of the Batley Neighbourhood Policing Team, said “We are working very closely with local schools, mosques, shopkeepers and our partner agencies in order to ensure that the quality of life for residents is improved.”
For a far more extensive representation of muslim violence worldwide go to the Religion of Peace website
London Property Firebombed over Muhammad Novel...
The arrests are thought to be linked to a fire at a property in Islington, north London, which is used as the home and office of publisher Martin Rynja.His company, Gibson Square, recently agreed to publish a controversial novel about Muhammad and his child bride, entitled The Jewel of the Medina. The blaze, which led to people being evacuated from the house, may have been started by a petrol bomb pushed through the letter box.
Initially, three men, aged 22, 30 and 40, were detained at around 2.25 am this morning in the Islington area of north London after a fire at a property in Lonsdale Square.
Two were stopped by armed officers in Lonsdale Square, and the third was seized following an armed vehicle stop near Angel underground station.
Police are searching four addresses around north-east London - two in Walthamstow, one in Ilford and one in Forest Gate.
The men, who were arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism, are being questioned at a central London police station.
Later a fourth person, a woman, was arrested at a property in Ilford for allegedly obstructing the police, a spokesman for Scotland Yard said.
The police confirmed that there has been small fire inside the property in Lonsdale Square, which had to be put out. "At this early stage it is being linked with the arrests," the spokesman added.
Yard officials have refused to identify those arrested or give any information on the nature of the terrorist plot they are alleged to have been planning.
Residents in Lonsdale Square said armed police, assisted by fire-fighters, broke down the door of number 47 at around 2.30 this morning.
Francesca Liebowitz, 16, who lives five doors away with her parents, said: "The police couldn't get the door open so the fire brigade battered it down.
"There was smoke coming from around the door, but I don't know whether that was because of the door being broken down. They evacuated people from the house. It's a bit scary to have this happen on your doorstep, nothing like this has ever happened round here before."
A neighbour and friend of Mr Rynja said the company normally published books on current affairs, and said the publisher had never expressed concerns that his work might endanger his safety. A green hoarding covered the doorway to the four-storey town house this afternoon.
He added: "If a novel of quality and skill that casts light on a beautiful subject we know too little of in the West, but have a genuine interest in, cannot be published here, it would truly mean that the clock has been turned back to the dark ages."
Its publication in the US was cancelled in August by publisher Random House, fearing it could offend Muslims.
An academic who said a controversial novel about the Prophet Mohammed amounted to "softcore pornography" is facing calls to apologise after the home of the book's publisher was firebombed.
Purge on Muslim clerics who turn a blind eye to the abuse of women
Muslim spiritual leaders could be denounced publicly by their own community as part of a campaign to expose imams whose silence on domestic abuse is leading to women being burnt, lashed and raped in the name of Islam.Muslim scholars are to present the Government with the names of imams who are alleged by members of their own communities to have refused to help abused women. Imams are also accused of refusing to speak out against domestic abuse in their sermons because they fear losing their clerical salaries and being sacked for broaching a “taboo” subject.
Some of Britain's most prominent moderate imams and female Muslim leaders have backed the campaign, urging the Home Office to vet more carefully Islamic spiritual leaders coming to Britain to weed out hardliners. A four-month inquiry by the Centre for Islamic Pluralism into domestic abuse has uncovered harrowing tales of women being raped, burnt by cigarettes and lashed with belts by their husbands, who believe it is their religious right to mistreat them.
At least 40 female Muslim victims and many social workers from northern England - including Bradford, Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham - were interviewed as part of the inquiry, which is expected to be published next month.
During its investigation the organisation - the British arm of a longestablished US think-tank - received a number of complaints about imams who had turned a blind eye to cases of domestic violence, many of whom are followers of Wahabbism, a puritanical interpretation of the Koran espoused by Osama bin Laden.
There have also been similar complaints about clerics from the Tablighi Jamaat movement, which is accused of radicalising young British Muslims with its orthodox teachings.
The organisation's international director, the Muslim scholar Irfan al-Alawi, told The Times that he would be forwarding the names of the imams to the Home Office, which has promised to investigate the allegations. He called for them to be stripped of any government grants that they may be receiving. He is also seeking legal advice about exposing the imams at public lectures and forums throughout the country.
“I have to make sure that I don't end up with a lawsuit on my hands but at the same time expose what is going on in the community,” he said.
Yousif al-Khoei, spokesman for the Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board (Minab) - a government approved body set up to improve the standards among British imams - admitted that some clerics condoned domestic violence although he said it was a “minority practice”.
He insisted the problem was to do with specific cultural beliefs rather than religious ideology, but said that the board was determined to tackle the problem by promoting “proper Islamic guidelines in the public arena”.
However, he gave warning against the idea of publicly identifying imams, saying that would risk turning them into “martyrs” within their own community.
“Instead, we should encourage women to seek advice from proper imams,” he said.
While the number of domestic violence cases has almost doubled in the last three years, according to the Crown Prosecution Service, the figures fail to reflect the physical abuse cases within the Muslim community.
Such cases, on which there is no data because they are largely unreported, are driven by cultural and religious beliefs instead of alcohol and drug abuse, said Shahien Taj, director of the Henna Foundation, which deals with honour crimes and domestic abuse victims.
Ms Taj, who is a member of the Government's Muslim Women's Advisory Group, said women were reluctant to come forward about the abuse they experienced because they were “groomed and brainwashed” into becoming interdependent on their direct families and not encouraged to take their complaints to the outside world.
Dr al-Alawi said there were cultural and religious reasons why some imams would not want to raise the issue of domestic violence in the mosque. “A lot of women who are brought from foreign countries to join their spouse here, firstly they cannot speak English and the imam is very reluctant to have a conversation with a woman because they feel there is a barrier and the woman should not be approachable to the man.
“There's a lot of sexual abuse as well, which is apparently considered taboo for Muslims to talk about, whereby husbands are forcing themselves on women after they had been out with other women - rape case,” he said.
Sheikh Irfan Chishti, director of the Light of Islam Academy and a former member of Tony Blair's Preventing Extremism Together taskforce, said there was “religious justification” among some imams for the abuse and subjugation of women.
He said female victims were in many cases afraid of seeking help because they feared retribution and being accused of tarnishing or disobeying Islam.
“Women don't speak up and if they do speak up they can get battered,” Sheikh Chishti said.
“Some men are brought up to believe that because they are superior therefore inadvertently or by default women are inferior and therefore submissive.”
He said that female Muslims needed to be empowered by moderate community leaders and the younger generation should be encouraged to condemn and report domestic violence.
Sheik Chishti also said young and British-raised community members should be encouraged to take over mosque committees. “You will not have change in the mosque until you change the culture of the leadership.”
Ruling allows guide dog in mosque
An 18-year-old blind Muslim student in Leicester is the first to be allowed to take his guide dog into a UK mosque.
In Islam dogs are regarded as unclean and are not allowed in mosques.
However, the Muslim Law (Shari'ah) Council UK has now issued a fatwa which allows guide dogs inside mosques but not into prayer rooms.
The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association and the Muslim Council of Britain worked together to support Mohammed Abraar Khatri's request.
Guide Dogs for the Blind said it was "a massive step forward for other blind and partially-sighted Muslims".
An association spokesman said: "It is also hoped that mosque leaders both in the UK and internationally will now make similar adjustments to enable Muslim guide dog owners to enter their mosque."
Mr Khatri, who owns a guide dog called Vargo, said the religious authorities felt they had a duty to help him.
"They were actually very good and they were the ones who were willing to help because they said it is their duty to accommodate.
"He does just lie down and relax there and sit here. Being a guide dog, their whole manner is to be calm and relaxed and just out of the way."
A special rest area has been set up in the entrance of the Bilal Jamia Mosque for Vargo to stay in while his owner is praying.
The decision was made after lengthy discussions with Muslim leaders "Mohammad Shahid Raza, director of the Imams and Mosques Council UK, said: "I believe that in all new mosques such facilities for disabled people will be an essential part of their design.
The Bilal Mosque is going to provide special provision for such guide dogs to be kept safely and securely within the mosque complex during such visits.
"Such a facility will highlight the Islamic attitude of helping disabled people and enhance the services we provide to the Muslim community."
Mohammed's father Gafar Khatri said: "Now instead of being dependent on other people to take him places he can now go where ever he wants when he wants.
"Obviously it is early days but his confidence is growing daily."
In Islam dogs are regarded as unclean and are not allowed in mosques.
However, the Muslim Law (Shari'ah) Council UK has now issued a fatwa which allows guide dogs inside mosques but not into prayer rooms.
The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association and the Muslim Council of Britain worked together to support Mohammed Abraar Khatri's request.
Guide Dogs for the Blind said it was "a massive step forward for other blind and partially-sighted Muslims".
An association spokesman said: "It is also hoped that mosque leaders both in the UK and internationally will now make similar adjustments to enable Muslim guide dog owners to enter their mosque."
Mr Khatri, who owns a guide dog called Vargo, said the religious authorities felt they had a duty to help him.
"They were actually very good and they were the ones who were willing to help because they said it is their duty to accommodate.
"He does just lie down and relax there and sit here. Being a guide dog, their whole manner is to be calm and relaxed and just out of the way."
A special rest area has been set up in the entrance of the Bilal Jamia Mosque for Vargo to stay in while his owner is praying.
The decision was made after lengthy discussions with Muslim leaders "Mohammad Shahid Raza, director of the Imams and Mosques Council UK, said: "I believe that in all new mosques such facilities for disabled people will be an essential part of their design.
The Bilal Mosque is going to provide special provision for such guide dogs to be kept safely and securely within the mosque complex during such visits.
"Such a facility will highlight the Islamic attitude of helping disabled people and enhance the services we provide to the Muslim community."
Mohammed's father Gafar Khatri said: "Now instead of being dependent on other people to take him places he can now go where ever he wants when he wants.
"Obviously it is early days but his confidence is growing daily."
Friday, September 26, 2008
Year long battle for Dudley Mosque waiting planning permission
The ongoing dispute between Dudley Council and the Dudley Muslim Association concerning the development of an £18 million Mosque and community Centre came to a head last month in a final public inquiry.The inquiry came after the Dudley Muslim Association appealed against the Council’s decision to reject plans to build a mosque on a key site in Dudley which is also close to the town centre. When the plan was rejected by the council, Khurshid Ahmed, chairman of the DMA, told the BBC, “We have it in writing from the council at that time that only a mosque and a community centre will be built as a condition of that particular land exchange.
The only condition was that it would be a super-quality building because it was near the town centre.” It is believed that the refusal of the council to allow the Mosque and community centre to be built was largely influenced by public petitions against it. The council was given 70 petitions with over 22,000 signatures objecting to the development plans. Opponents of the plan have argued that there was just over 11 hectares of available land for industry left in Dudley and therefore the site planned for the construction of the mosque and community centre would be better placed for industrial development. Dudley Council’s Barrister, Anthony Crean, described the land as “an ideal employment site.”
The council have further argued that the proposals put forward by Dudley Muslim Association would not generate nearly enough jobs for the community. Dudley Muslim Association said the new developments would provide 112 jobs open to the whole of the community but during the inquest, Crean argued that there was “insufficient evidence” to prove that the DMA could generate the money to fund the employment. The cost was estimated at around £2 million every year. However, Muslim Association spokesman, Peter Goatley, told Philip Asquith, the government inspector that there was enough land for industrial development elsewhere in Dudley.
He further stated that the mosque and community centre development would create more jobs and would also provide opportunities for training for all sections of the community. The first day of the public inquiry saw clashes in the public gallery resulting in the intervention of security forces and policemen. A spokesman for Dudley Council would not comment on the current status of the dispute but told The Muslim News: “The public inquiry held by the government planning inspector has now concluded. The planning inspector will announce his decision at a later date.”
Daughter of Hate Cleric is a Stripper (Bakri Blames West)...
As the daughter of firebrand cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed, Yasmin Fostok might be expected to share his fanatical beliefs.
She told The Sun: 'I've done pole dancing, but I like to keep it quiet.
'I don't normally do topless work, but I'm willing to go topless if the venue is right.'
She said she did not get on with her father. 'His views are nothing to do with me,' she added. 'I am an adult, my own person. I do my business and he does his.'
One friend told the newspaper: 'Bakri would have a heart attack if he saw his daughter on stage.
'She was brought up a strict Muslim and had all of his extreme teachings about morality drummed into her head.
Syrian-born Bakri, whose leave to remain in Britain was revoked after the 7/7 London attacks, changed his tune and claimed: 'I have no daughter doing anything like this - all my children are practising Muslims.
'I spoke to my daughter. She told me it was all lies.' The 'Tottenham Ayatollah' then claimed the story was part of a plot to get back at him after police were forced by a judge to hand back £14,000 in cash they confiscated from his son Abdul.
'They are using members of my family to get back at me, because I have won. They are jealous because my son Abdul has got back the money that the police stole from him.
'Islam has prevailed and you are defeated. The lowest people on earth are non-Muslims and that is why we have to put up with these fabrications and lies.'
Miss Fostok was keeping a low profile yesterday at her dingy flat on the busy South Circular Road.
Police spent half an hour there and later said they were advising her on security.
They would not comment on whether she had received threats from religious fundamentalists.
One neighbour said: 'She's a very quiet girl, a good girl. I see her most days with her little boy and she seems like a very good mum.
'She doesn't smoke or drink so I'm surprised to learn that she has been pole dancing in clubs.'
Yasmin told The Sun: 'I've done pole dancing, but I like to keep it quiet.
'I don't normally do topless work, but I'm willing to go topless if the venue is right.'
One friend told the newspaper: 'Bakri would have a heart attack if he saw his daughter on stage. She was brought up a strict Muslim and had all of his extreme teachings about morality drummed into her head.
'But she has been leading a wild double life thrashing about on stage in pole dancing clubs and drinking and partying like there's no tomorrow.
'Yasmin has no time for Bakri's evil views.'
One of a string of boyfriends Yasmin has apparently been with since her marriage break up told the paper: 'She's a million miles away from the daughter her daddy would have wanted and is very adventurous in bed.
'She likes to dress up in kinky gear and has worn a police uniform, a French maid's outfit and various office clothes.'
Bakri initially reacted with horror when confronted with Yasmin's lifestyle.
'If this is true I am deeply shocked. She was brought up properly in the Muslim faith, but she is free to make her own choices in life,' he said.
'She should not seek forgiveness from me, she should seek forgiveness from God.
'It is his forgiveness which is important. If she has done these things she will be judged on Judgment Day.
The 'Tottenham Ayatollah' then claimed the story was part of a plot to get back at him after police were forced to hand back £14,000 in cash they confiscated from Bakri's son Abdul after a judge ruled the cash was not intended for 'terrorist purposes'.
'They are using members of my family to get back at me, because I have won. They are jealous because my son Abdul has got back the money that the police stole from him.
'Islam has prevailed and you are defeated. The lowest people on earth are non-Muslims and that is why we have to put up with these fabrications and lies.'
Yasmin was keeping a low profile yesterday at her dingy flat on the busy South Circular Road in London.
The flat is in a row of Victorian terraces currently covered with scaffolding. Satellite dishes adorn the walls, the paint is peeling and the windows are dirty.
One neighbour, who did not wish to be named, said: 'She's a very quiet girl, a good girl. I was very surprised to learn of what she's been up to. I see her most days with her little boy and she seems like a very good mum.
'I had no idea that she was Omar Bakri's daughter - all I knew was that she had returned to the UK from living in Turkey. She doesn't smoke or drink so I'm even more surprised to learn that she has been pole dancing in those clubs.'
But the radical Muslim's daughter has ditched his extreme interpretation of Islam - as well as most of her clothing.
The busty blonde has been revealed as a topless, tattooed pole dancer.
The 26-year-old single mother has been displaying her charms in London clubs and touring as a 'podium' dancer with a troupe called Ibiza Untouched.
Hundreds of youngsters go wild over the daughter of the preacher of hate who rants against Western 'depravity'.
Hundreds of youngsters go wild over the daughter of the preacher of hate who rants against Western 'depravity'.
Yasmin shrugged off the secret life that her father would abhor. 'I don't agree with his views - I just get on with my life and that's it,' she said.
Perhaps predictably Bakri, now exiled to Lebanon, dismissed the news as a ' fabrication' and described it as an attack on him and Islam.
'The more you put pressure on me, the stronger I become. Islam will conquer Britain,' he said.
'I have not seen my daughter for nine years, but because she is a member of my family people want to make things up about her.
'You are going to pay a heavy price. You can read it any way you like. The time is now.'
Bakri, who said the British people brought the 7/7 outrages on themselves and praised the ' magnificent' September 11 hijackers, raised his six children on benefits totalling £300,000, and his daughter is following suit.
'The more you put pressure on me, the stronger I become. Islam will conquer Britain,' he said.
'I have not seen my daughter for nine years, but because she is a member of my family people want to make things up about her.
'You are going to pay a heavy price. You can read it any way you like. The time is now.'
Bakri, who said the British people brought the 7/7 outrages on themselves and praised the ' magnificent' September 11 hijackers, raised his six children on benefits totalling £300,000, and his daughter is following suit.
She lives with her three-year-old son in a ground-floor flat in Catford, South East London. Her rent and council tax are paid by the state and she receives child benefit and income support.
She grew up a devout Muslim and in her teens wore a veil. She left school in Enfield at 16 after her parents arranged a marriage to a Turk but the couple separated.
She grew up a devout Muslim and in her teens wore a veil. She left school in Enfield at 16 after her parents arranged a marriage to a Turk but the couple separated.
She told The Sun: 'I've done pole dancing, but I like to keep it quiet.
'I don't normally do topless work, but I'm willing to go topless if the venue is right.'
She said she did not get on with her father. 'His views are nothing to do with me,' she added. 'I am an adult, my own person. I do my business and he does his.'
One friend told the newspaper: 'Bakri would have a heart attack if he saw his daughter on stage.
'She was brought up a strict Muslim and had all of his extreme teachings about morality drummed into her head.
'But she has been leading a wild double life thrashing about on stage in pole dancing clubs and drinking and partying like there's no tomorrow.'
Bakri initially reacted with horror when confronted with Yasmin's lifestyle. 'If this is true I am deeply shocked,' he said. 'She was brought up properly in the Muslim faith, but she is free to make her own choices in life.
'I have no control over her because as far as I know she is still married. Her behaviour should be the responsibility of her husband.'
Bakri initially reacted with horror when confronted with Yasmin's lifestyle. 'If this is true I am deeply shocked,' he said. 'She was brought up properly in the Muslim faith, but she is free to make her own choices in life.
'I have no control over her because as far as I know she is still married. Her behaviour should be the responsibility of her husband.'
Syrian-born Bakri, whose leave to remain in Britain was revoked after the 7/7 London attacks, changed his tune and claimed: 'I have no daughter doing anything like this - all my children are practising Muslims.
'I spoke to my daughter. She told me it was all lies.' The 'Tottenham Ayatollah' then claimed the story was part of a plot to get back at him after police were forced by a judge to hand back £14,000 in cash they confiscated from his son Abdul.
'They are using members of my family to get back at me, because I have won. They are jealous because my son Abdul has got back the money that the police stole from him.
'Islam has prevailed and you are defeated. The lowest people on earth are non-Muslims and that is why we have to put up with these fabrications and lies.'
Miss Fostok was keeping a low profile yesterday at her dingy flat on the busy South Circular Road.
Police spent half an hour there and later said they were advising her on security.
They would not comment on whether she had received threats from religious fundamentalists.
One neighbour said: 'She's a very quiet girl, a good girl. I see her most days with her little boy and she seems like a very good mum.
'She doesn't smoke or drink so I'm surprised to learn that she has been pole dancing in clubs.'
Yasmin told The Sun: 'I've done pole dancing, but I like to keep it quiet.
'I don't normally do topless work, but I'm willing to go topless if the venue is right.'
One friend told the newspaper: 'Bakri would have a heart attack if he saw his daughter on stage. She was brought up a strict Muslim and had all of his extreme teachings about morality drummed into her head.
'But she has been leading a wild double life thrashing about on stage in pole dancing clubs and drinking and partying like there's no tomorrow.
'Yasmin has no time for Bakri's evil views.'
One of a string of boyfriends Yasmin has apparently been with since her marriage break up told the paper: 'She's a million miles away from the daughter her daddy would have wanted and is very adventurous in bed.
'She likes to dress up in kinky gear and has worn a police uniform, a French maid's outfit and various office clothes.'
Bakri initially reacted with horror when confronted with Yasmin's lifestyle.
'If this is true I am deeply shocked. She was brought up properly in the Muslim faith, but she is free to make her own choices in life,' he said.
'She should not seek forgiveness from me, she should seek forgiveness from God.
'It is his forgiveness which is important. If she has done these things she will be judged on Judgment Day.
'But God will forgive her anything except becoming a non-Muslim. I have no control over her because as far as I know she is still married. Her behaviour should be the responsibility of her husband.'
Yesterday Syrian-born Bakri, whose leave to remain in Britain was revoked after the 7/7 London attacks, changed his tune and claimed: 'I have no daughter doing anything like this - all my children are practicising Muslims.
'I spoke to my daughter. At first I told her I was shocked at the stuff I was hearing. But then she told me it was all lies.'
Yesterday Syrian-born Bakri, whose leave to remain in Britain was revoked after the 7/7 London attacks, changed his tune and claimed: 'I have no daughter doing anything like this - all my children are practicising Muslims.
'I spoke to my daughter. At first I told her I was shocked at the stuff I was hearing. But then she told me it was all lies.'
The 'Tottenham Ayatollah' then claimed the story was part of a plot to get back at him after police were forced to hand back £14,000 in cash they confiscated from Bakri's son Abdul after a judge ruled the cash was not intended for 'terrorist purposes'.
'They are using members of my family to get back at me, because I have won. They are jealous because my son Abdul has got back the money that the police stole from him.
'Islam has prevailed and you are defeated. The lowest people on earth are non-Muslims and that is why we have to put up with these fabrications and lies.'
Yasmin was keeping a low profile yesterday at her dingy flat on the busy South Circular Road in London.
The flat is in a row of Victorian terraces currently covered with scaffolding. Satellite dishes adorn the walls, the paint is peeling and the windows are dirty.
One neighbour, who did not wish to be named, said: 'She's a very quiet girl, a good girl. I was very surprised to learn of what she's been up to. I see her most days with her little boy and she seems like a very good mum.
'I had no idea that she was Omar Bakri's daughter - all I knew was that she had returned to the UK from living in Turkey. She doesn't smoke or drink so I'm even more surprised to learn that she has been pole dancing in those clubs.'
When first confronted by The Sun, Yasmin said she didn't get on with her father.
'He is not around here at the moment, is he?' she asked. 'His views are nothing to do with me. I am an adult, my own person. I am an individual. I do my business and he does his.'
'He is not around here at the moment, is he?' she asked. 'His views are nothing to do with me. I am an adult, my own person. I am an individual. I do my business and he does his.'
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Family barred from holding burial on Saturday because they aren't Muslim
Harold 'Charlie' Lemaire died last week aged 75 from pneumonia. His stepdaughter, Jean Maltby, wanted the funeral to be held this Saturday so family who live outside the city could attend.The retired steel worker's stepson Stephen lives in Dorset while other members of his family live as far away as the Isle of Man.
But when her funeral director called Sheffield's City Road Cemetery to arrange a memorial service followed by burial, he was told the funeral would not be allowed on a Saturday because the family was not Muslim.
The city's council confirmed it does not offer funerals at the weekend except to Muslims, in line with the rules of the Islamic faith that the dead must be buried as soon as possible.
Ms Maltby said today she felt it was unfair to offer weekend funerals to one religion and not to others.
'It should be one rule for everyone - and I don't think the people of Sheffield realise the council has made this decision,' she said.
'It goes against the council's policy of equal rights. They are making a service available to one sector of the community and not another.'..
'It goes against the council's policy of equal rights. They are making a service available to one sector of the community and not another.'..
Yep. And you're going to be seeing a great deal more of that, too.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Man sentenced over Shia flogging
A devout Shia Muslim has been given a suspended prison sentence for forcing two boys to beat themselves during a religious ceremony. A jury at Manchester Crown Court found Syed Mustafa Zaidi, 44, guilty of two counts of child cruelty last month.
The boys, aged 13 and 15, were forced to beat themselves with a zanjeer whip, with five curved blades.
Zaidi, of Station Road, Eccles, was given a 26-week sentence, suspended for 12 months.
He was also prohibited from allowing or encouraging anyone under the age of 16 to beat themselves during the next 12 months.
Judge Robert Atherton, at Manchester Crown Court, said: "I reject the suggestion that they were forced to participate, although I consider it likely that the fervour of events is also likely to have affected their wish to participate."
The boys both received multiple lacerations to their backs, mainly superficial, with several deeper cuts caused by the bladed whip.
Zaidi also flogged himself during the Ashura ceremony, which commemorates the death of Husayn - a central figure in the Shia faith - in January this year.
He admitted he allowed the boys to use the bladed whip, but denied his actions were wrong, saying: "This is a part of our religion."
Judge Atherton said that the jury's verdict was "not a comment" on the Ashura ceremony.
"No-one should misinterpret it as being such," he said.
"You must realise that the law recognises that children and young persons may wish to take part in some activities which it considers they should not.
"It is sometimes expressed as protecting themselves from themselves.
"Your wrongful act was providing the means by which they were able to participate."
He said Zaidi ignored a decision by mosque elders that under-16s could not participate in the ceremony.
"Your wrongful act was providing the means by which they were able to participate."
He said Zaidi ignored a decision by mosque elders that under-16s could not participate in the ceremony.
Some countries have banned self-flagellation with the zanjeer zani. It has been substituted by men beating their bare chests. In Indonesia and some other countries, young children are formally encouraged to use a smaller version of the implement.
Zaidi denied his actions were wrong, telling the court: "This is a part of our religion."
The case was unprecedented - the first of its kind to be prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service in England and Wales.
Computer terror teenager jailed
The youngest person in Britain arrested and convicted under the Terrorism Act has been sentenced to two years in a young offenders' institution.Hammaad Munshi, from Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, 18, was 16 when he was arrested in 2006. Police found a guide to making napalm on his computer.
The Old Bailey judge said he had been influenced by "fanatical extremists".
His family backed the sentence, but said the case showed how easily a teenager could be groomed.
Munshi was convicted last month of making a record of information likely to be used for terrorist purposes, but cleared of possessing terrorist material.
During his trial at Blackfriars Crown Court, the jury heard that he had spent many hours viewing jihadist websites and had downloaded guides to making napalm, detonators and explosives.
Munshi was convicted alongside two other men, Aabid Khan and Sultan Muhammad.
Khan, 23, from Bradford, West Yorkshire, was said to be a "key player" in radicalisation via the internet.
You have brought very great shame upon yourself, your family and your religion Judge Timothy Pontius
He was accused by prosecutors of "inciting others to take part in [jihad] and arranging for himself and others to attend military training in Pakistan in preparation for going to fight and, inevitably, to kill".
Munshi was said to have been recruited by Khan when he was just 15.
His barrister had told the court he had shown "curiosity" rather than any kind of malicious intent.
However, on Friday Detective Chief Superintendent John Parkinson from the West Yorkshire counter-terrorism unit said all three were dangerous individuals who were not just curious about extremist material.
"They'd gone out of their way to possess information about how to construct explosive devices, information about how to carry out acts of terrorism," he told the BBC's Asian Network.
"They were pieces of information that had to be specifically sought out, and has therefore definitely stepped over that criminal threshold."
The trial heard that Munshi was desperate to go and fight and went by the online name of "fidadee", meaning a "person ready to sacrifice himself".
He also had a discussion with Khan, via an internet messaging service, about how someone might smuggle a sword through airport security.
Police said they found al-Qaeda propaganda on his computer and notes on martyrdom hidden under his bed.
Judge Timothy Pontius said: "There is no doubt that you knew what you were doing."
He said the nature of what was downloaded made it a "particularly serious offence".
"You have brought very great shame upon yourself, your family and your religion," he told Munshi.
in the light of the evidence, I have no doubt at all that you, amongst others of similar immaturity and vulnerability, fell under the spell of fanatical extremists, and your co-defendant Aabid Khan in particular.
"They took advantage of your youthful naivety in order to indoctrinate you with pernicious and warped ideas masquerading as altruistic religious zeal.
"Were it not for Aabid Khan's malign influence, I doubt this offence would ever have been committed."
Khan was sentenced in August to 12 years for possessing or making documents promoting terrorism. His cousin Muhammad, 23, also from Bradford, was sentenced to 10 years for similar offences under the Terrorism Act.
In a statement, Munshi's grandfather Sheikh Yakub Munshi, who is a well-known Islamic scholar, said the family respected the court's judgment.
"But like any other family in this country, we are deeply upset by the situation in which Hammaad finds himself," he said.
Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.
Labour MP Shahid Malik says it's a wake-up call for many Muslim parents
"All of us feel there are lessons to be learnt, not only for us but also for the whole Muslim community in this country.
"This case demonstrates how a young, impressionable teenager can be groomed so easily through the internet to associate with those whose views run contrary to true Muslim beliefs and values.
Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.
Labour MP Shahid Malik says it's a wake-up call for many Muslim parents
"All of us feel there are lessons to be learnt, not only for us but also for the whole Muslim community in this country.
"This case demonstrates how a young, impressionable teenager can be groomed so easily through the internet to associate with those whose views run contrary to true Muslim beliefs and values.
Shahid Malik, Munshi's local MP, said the teenager's family had been left "shocked and bewildered" by what had happened.
"It is a real wake-up call for parents because there is a real need to be vigilant, especially when their kids are on the internet," he said.
"It is a real wake-up call to how older jihadists can prey on vulnerable young people.
"Mosques have done a lot but they need to do more in terms of telling young people what is acceptable and what is not in Islam."
Caged Hamza's new 'death' rant on net
A POEM recited by jailed hate preacher Abu Hamza, in which he glorifies martyrdom, has suddenly appeared on YouTube.Hamza, serving seven years in London’s top-security Belmarsh Prison, delivers nine verses in Arabic under the title: “Death, eagerly for the sake of Allah.”
He praises the “spirit of the martyr” and asks for jihad fighters to be given God’s mercy.
Last night a senior MP demanded to know HOW the poem came to be on YouTube — a favourite of millions of web fans.
The verses, used as the soundtrack to an al-Qaeda style video lasting 3½minutes, has also been posted on a site run by a London-based Egyptian exile listed in the US as a “global terrorist”.
A photo of the hook-handed cleric was displayed with an announcement that the recording is by “Sheik Abu Hamza Al Masri from Belmarsh Prison in Britain”.
The website also features images of Osama Bin Laden and the late leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who murdered British hostage Ken Bigley.
The tape is the first time a new recording of Hamza has been issued since he was held four years ago for soliciting murder. But a written interview with him appeared on the web three months ago.
Last night Tory MP Patrick Mercer demanded a probe into the poem by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith.
He said: “How is it this poisonous man seems able to communicate at will with the outside world from within Britain’s most secure prison?”
The tape is the first time a new recording of Hamza has been issued since he was held four years ago for soliciting murder. But a written interview with him appeared on the web three months ago.
Last night Tory MP Patrick Mercer demanded a probe into the poem by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith.
He said: “How is it this poisonous man seems able to communicate at will with the outside world from within Britain’s most secure prison?”
The Prison Service insisted: “There is no proof this recording was made by Hamza and no evidence it was made in prison.”
But internet terror expert Neil Doyle said: “I have spent hours listening to Hamza recordings. I am 1,000 per cent sure it is him.”
UK suspect 'key al-Qaeda member'
A British Muslim man was an important member of al-Qaeda with a terrorist contacts book that had sections written in invisible ink, a court has heard.Raingzieb Ahmed, 33, of Manchester, denies directing terrorism and being a member of al-Qaeda.
The prosecution at Manchester Crown Court alleged he was assisted by Habid Ahmed, 28, a city taxi driver.
It is alleged Habib Ahmed, who denies all charges, travelled to Pakistan to receive terrorist training.
The trip is also said to have included explosives training.
And the prosecution claim that Habib Ahmed's wife, Mehreen Haji, 27, sent £4,000 to fund his training.
She is accused of two counts of arranging funding for the purposes of terrorism.
All three deny the charges against them. The trial is expected to last for three months.
Earlier the court heard how Mr Ahmed and Ms Haji were married by the radical cleric Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed, whose organisation al-Muhajiroun was "designed to propagate radical views of Islam in this country".
The court heard how a document was found at the couple's home that justified suicide bombings.
The trial continues.
Did these muslims attend a mosque? Were their activities known to other Muslims in the UK? Does anyone know? Does anyone care? Has anyone considered the implications of the fact that no Muslim group turned them in?
Terror mission 'aborted' by death
A British Muslim directing a foreign terror mission aborted his plans when his boss, the suspected number three of al-Qaeda, was killed, a court heard.
The prosecution at Manchester Crown Court said Rangzieb Ahmed, 33, was part of a three-man active service cell planning a "major activity".
Mr Ahmed, of Fallowfield, Manchester, denies directing terrorism and being a member of al-Qaeda.
He is the first person to be brought to trial in the UK for such an offence.
Prosecuting counsel Andrew Edis QC said the phone number of Hamza Rabia, a leading al-Qaeda member was later found on a note written in invisible ink at the home of Rangzieb Ahmed's associate, Habib Ahmed, in Manchester.
The organisation is not going to trust a minion with this exercise. They are going to be trusted, trained members of an organisation who have been given a degree of responsibility Andrew Edis QC
Rangzieb Ahmed, who is not related to Habib Ahmed, was said to be involved in the mission in 2005 and 2006 with a man named as Mohammed Zillur Rahman and another man called Imran.
Mr Edis said Rangzieb Ahmed was in Dubai when his superior died on 1 December 2005.
Mr Ahmed and his two associates were due to fly on to South Africa as part of a "major activity", after having flown from Pakistan to Dubai via China, the court heard.
He said: "It was clear that he was on a foreign mission and a foreign mission for a terror organisation of this kind is a major activity.
"The organisation is not going to trust a minion with this exercise. They are going to be trusted, trained members of an organisation who have been given a degree of responsibility.
"Things went wrong in South Africa. Rangzieb Ahmed changed his plan and never went to South Africa.
"In order to change his plan he needed help and the person who helped him was Habib Ahmed."
Ministers address
Habib Ahmed, who denies all charges against him, is accused of travelling to Pakistan to receive terrorist training.
This trip is also said to have included explosives training.
The jury of seven women and five men also heard that a computer recovered from Habib Ahmed's property in the Cheetham Hill area showed evidence of a Google search for "where Geoff Hoon lives".
Mr Edis said there may have been several reasons why the 28-year-old would want to contact the then secretary of state for defence.
It would be quite spectacular to do something at his home," he said.
Website searches for the details and addresses of British Army bases and training offices, US military bases in the UK and the chain of command for the Metropolitan Police's counter-terror unit were also discovered on his computer.
When Rangzieb Ahmed returned to the UK at the end of 2005, he had a rucksack which is alleged to have contained traces of explosives.
The court heard it was recovered from a rubbish bin near his brother-in-law's house where he had disposed of it, along with items associated to him.
Rangzieb Ahmed has admitted membership of a proscribed terror organisation called Harakat-ul-Mujahideen, but denies possession of a rucksack which had traces of explosives.
The prosecution also claims Habib Ahmed's wife, Mehreen Haji, 27, sent £4,000 to fund his training.
She is accused of two counts of arranging funding for the purposes of terrorism.
The trial continues.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
BA halts flights after hotel bomb
British Airways has suspended "indefinitely" flights to and from Pakistan in the wake of a bomb attack on a hotel in the capital, Islamabad. The airline said it had suspended its six weekly Heathrow services "in light of the current security situation".
Six UK nationals, including one child, were hurt in Saturday's suicide bombing at the Marriott Hotel which killed 53 people and left 266 with injuries.
A lorry laden with 600kg of explosives rammed the hotel's security gate.
BA said in a statement that it was in discussion with numerous operators about possible provision of other travel options to and from Islamabad.
The capital is the only destination in Pakistan served by BA.
Passengers are told to contact their local British Airways office for further advice.
"We will not compromise on the safety of our customers, staff or planes," a BA spokesman said.
Pakistan International Airlines continues to operate direct flights between the UK and Pakistan, while indirect flights are possible with other carriers.
Meanwhile, the British High Commission in Pakistan said the company that runs four visa application centres had closed the sites for a security review.
A little-known Pakistani militant group, Fidayeen-e-Islam, has said it carried out the attack.
The group - based in Pakistan's tribal areas and connected to leading militant Baitullah Mehsud - told the BBC that the aim of the attack was to stop US interference in Pakistan.
The government pledged to take targeted action against militants, suggesting raids would be carried out in "hotspots" near the border with Afghanistan.
The heavily-guarded hotel was attacked at about 2000 (1500 GMT) on Saturday, the blast making a crater about 8m (27ft) deep and triggering a fire that engulfed the 290-room, five-storey building for hours.
Witnesses described a scene in which blood-covered victims were pulled from the wreckage and guests and staff ran for cover from shattered glass and flames.
The massive explosion is said to have been heard 15km (9 miles) away.
Monday, September 15, 2008
College bans 'Christmas' and 'Easter' from calendar for fear of offending ethnic students
A college has renamed the traditional Christmas and Easter breaks in a bid to avoid offending students from other religions.
The college's new calendar shows that both of the traditional holiday periods have now been re-branded as 'end of term breaks'.
Critics have complained that the decision by Yorkshire Coast College is nothing more than 'political correctness'.
Tory MP Robert Goodwill said: 'I have heard that some people refer to the Christmas period as the Winterval, which is worse. This is absolutely barmy.
'We are a Christian country and, to be honest, religious tolerance in this country is about respecting other people's religious beliefs.'
'We live in a country where there is a mutual respect for religious beliefs.
'School terms are traditionally separated by Christmas and Easter and they should be referred to as such.
'They are petrified that they offend the minority but what they are doing is offending the majority.
'It's political correctness gone mad and I am disappointed that it's from an edict from Ofsted.'
The college, based in Scarborough, North Yorkshire offers a range of courses concentrating on training for 'life skills' such as Engineering, Motor Vehicle Training and IT.
The college insists that the decision is in line with Ofsted guidelines and has been made to 'increase inclusion and diversity'.
It circulates the internal year planner annually to 150 teaching staff and up to 50 other workers to inform them of important dates such as term times and training days.
A spokeswoman for the college said: 'Every school and college, wherever located, is responsible for educating its learners who will live and work in a country which is diverse in terms of cultures, religions or beliefs, ethnicities and social backgrounds.
'All employees at Yorkshire Coast College are encouraged to closely follow guidelines set out by Ofsted for the promotion of equality and diversity.
'We constantly review the ways in which we communicate, to ensure that we do not discriminate, and part of those reviews means that we have stopped referring to the Christmas Break and Easter Break and we now have End of Term Break.'
The college's new calendar shows that both of the traditional holiday periods have now been re-branded as 'end of term breaks'.
Critics have complained that the decision by Yorkshire Coast College is nothing more than 'political correctness'.
Tory MP Robert Goodwill said: 'I have heard that some people refer to the Christmas period as the Winterval, which is worse. This is absolutely barmy.
'We are a Christian country and, to be honest, religious tolerance in this country is about respecting other people's religious beliefs.'
'We live in a country where there is a mutual respect for religious beliefs.
'School terms are traditionally separated by Christmas and Easter and they should be referred to as such.
'They are petrified that they offend the minority but what they are doing is offending the majority.
'It's political correctness gone mad and I am disappointed that it's from an edict from Ofsted.'
The college, based in Scarborough, North Yorkshire offers a range of courses concentrating on training for 'life skills' such as Engineering, Motor Vehicle Training and IT.
The college insists that the decision is in line with Ofsted guidelines and has been made to 'increase inclusion and diversity'.
It circulates the internal year planner annually to 150 teaching staff and up to 50 other workers to inform them of important dates such as term times and training days.
A spokeswoman for the college said: 'Every school and college, wherever located, is responsible for educating its learners who will live and work in a country which is diverse in terms of cultures, religions or beliefs, ethnicities and social backgrounds.
'All employees at Yorkshire Coast College are encouraged to closely follow guidelines set out by Ofsted for the promotion of equality and diversity.
'We constantly review the ways in which we communicate, to ensure that we do not discriminate, and part of those reviews means that we have stopped referring to the Christmas Break and Easter Break and we now have End of Term Break.'
ISLAMIC law has been ushered into Britain by the back door.
These range from divorce and financial disputes to domestic violence.
In a mainstream court all siblings would have been treated equally.
Douglas Murray, the director of the Centre for Social Cohesion, condemned the latest development as 'appalling.'
'I don’t think arbitration that is done by sharia should ever be endorsed or enforced by the British state.'
Shadow home secretary Dominic Grieve said: 'These tribunals have no place in passing binding decisions in divorce or criminal justice hearings.
'Far from handling more criminal cases. They should be handling none at all.
'British law is absolute and must remain so.'
But furious Tories said the step “pandered to Islamic extremists”. MP Philip Davies said: “There can be only one legal system — British law. This will lead to a segregated society.”
Powers of Sharia judges have been sanctioned at five courts in London, Birmingham, Bradford, Manchester and Nuneaton, Warwicks.
Powers of Sharia judges have been sanctioned at five courts in London, Birmingham, Bradford, Manchester and Nuneaton, Warwicks.
Two more are planned for Glasgow and Edinburgh. If both parties in a dispute agree to abide by their rulings, they are enforceable with the full power of the judicial system.
Sheikh Faiz-ul-Aqtab Siddiqi, whose Muslim Arbitration Tribunal runs the courts, used a clause in the Arbitration Act 1996. It allows Sharia hearings to be classed as ‘arbitration tribunals’.
But Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve said: “If these tribunals are passing binding decisions I would consider such action unlawful.”
Earlier this year, Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams suggested that the use of Sharia in Britain “seems unavoidable”.
Sheikh Faiz-ul-Aqtab Siddiqi, whose Muslim Arbitration Tribunal runs the courts, used a clause in the Arbitration Act 1996. It allows Sharia hearings to be classed as ‘arbitration tribunals’.
But Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve said: “If these tribunals are passing binding decisions I would consider such action unlawful.”Earlier this year, Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams suggested that the use of Sharia in Britain “seems unavoidable”.
But as well as civil disputes they have also handled six cases of domestic violence.
The Justice Ministry confirmed arbitration decisions were enforceable, but denied Sharia law was part of the law of England and Wales.
The Justice Ministry confirmed arbitration decisions were enforceable, but denied Sharia law was part of the law of England and Wales.
But critics fear Muslim women victims will be pressured into accepting a sharia court settlement, and husbands will escape with lighter punishments than in a mainstream criminal court.
In one recent inheritance dispute in Nuneaton, a Muslim man's estate was spit was between three daughters and two sons with each son receiving twice as much as each daughter - in keeping with sharia law.
In one recent inheritance dispute in Nuneaton, a Muslim man's estate was spit was between three daughters and two sons with each son receiving twice as much as each daughter - in keeping with sharia law.
In a mainstream court all siblings would have been treated equally.
Douglas Murray, the director of the Centre for Social Cohesion, condemned the latest development as 'appalling.'
'I don’t think arbitration that is done by sharia should ever be endorsed or enforced by the British state.'
Shadow home secretary Dominic Grieve said: 'These tribunals have no place in passing binding decisions in divorce or criminal justice hearings.
'Far from handling more criminal cases. They should be handling none at all.
'British law is absolute and must remain so.'
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Scotland continues funding Muslim Brotherhood
Not only is this Scotsman not jumping on the dhimmi-bandwagon of lavishly praising Muslims for Ramadan, his atheistic argument is a good reminder: if person X does not believe in religion Y, there is no logic in him kowtowing to it -- irrespective of who gets offended. Most importantly, however, he reveals that the money/jizya Scotland has been giving to the Scottish-Islamic Foundation has, since the revelation that the latter is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, doubled.
"Islam akin to other faiths," from The Scotsman,
Humza Yousaf of the Scottish-Islamic Foundation (Letters, 4 September) does not believe in freedom of expression as he wishes to exempt Islam from critical analysis by claiming that to do so may cause offence to sacred beliefs.
Millions of atheists, agnostics, sceptics, non-believers and followers of other gods simply do not accept the Islamic creation myths and, by implication, they cause offence to Muslims such as Mr Yousaf.
We are firmly of the view that Islam, like every other religion which has existed throughout human history, is not divine or sacred in origin, but is instead a man-made ideology.
We support the ideals of the 18th-century Scottish Enlightenment and the views of people such as David Hume and Adam Ferguson, who subjected religion to intense and critical scrutiny. If the Scottish-Islamic Foundation finds such scrutiny offensive to its sacred beliefs, we make no apology for this.
For the record, we have received not a single penny of taxpayers' money, unlike the Scottish-Islamic Foundation, which has received £400,000 from the SNP government. This is money which could have been used to help pay the fuel bills of poor Scots of all religions and none.
"Islam akin to other faiths," from The Scotsman,
Humza Yousaf of the Scottish-Islamic Foundation (Letters, 4 September) does not believe in freedom of expression as he wishes to exempt Islam from critical analysis by claiming that to do so may cause offence to sacred beliefs.
Millions of atheists, agnostics, sceptics, non-believers and followers of other gods simply do not accept the Islamic creation myths and, by implication, they cause offence to Muslims such as Mr Yousaf.
We are firmly of the view that Islam, like every other religion which has existed throughout human history, is not divine or sacred in origin, but is instead a man-made ideology.
We support the ideals of the 18th-century Scottish Enlightenment and the views of people such as David Hume and Adam Ferguson, who subjected religion to intense and critical scrutiny. If the Scottish-Islamic Foundation finds such scrutiny offensive to its sacred beliefs, we make no apology for this.
For the record, we have received not a single penny of taxpayers' money, unlike the Scottish-Islamic Foundation, which has received £400,000 from the SNP government. This is money which could have been used to help pay the fuel bills of poor Scots of all religions and none.
Senior Met officer investigated
One of the country's most senior police officers is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) over alleged misconduct.Metropolitan Police Commander Ali Dizaei is being investigated after he allegedly advised a defence team in a Met prosecution, the BBC understands.
It is alleged Mr Dizaei helped the team defending a woman accused of leaving the scene of a fatal hit-and-run.
Mr Dizaei has denied any wrongdoing. The MPA confirmed it was investigating.
"Commander Dizaei is currently being investigated by the MPA for a matter of alleged misconduct," an MPA spokesman said.
"The MPA has a statutory duty to investigate all allegations of misconduct and takes this responsibility very seriously."
West Midlands Deputy Chief Constable Phil Gormley has been appointed as investigating officer, the BBC understands.
Mr Dizaei told BBC correspondent Danny Shaw that he had not given the defendant any advice directly or indirectly, and could not recall having met her.
The Metropolitan Police did not comment.
Mr Dizaei is the president of the National Black Police Association (NBPA), which has accused the Met of "attacking black officers" after Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur was temporarily relieved of his duties.
The Metropolitan Police did not comment.
Mr Dizaei is the president of the National Black Police Association (NBPA), which has accused the Met of "attacking black officers" after Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur was temporarily relieved of his duties.
He was at the centre of a four-year £4m investigation over allegations of perverting the course of justice and misconduct in public office.
He was cleared of all charges by the Old Bailey in 2003.
'Have more babies and Muslims can take over the UK' hate fanatic says, as warning comes that 'next 9/11 will be in UK'
Muslim hate fanatics plan to take over Britain by having more babies and forcing a population explosion, it has been revealed.The swollen Muslim population would be enough to conquer Britain from inside, they claim.
Fanatics told a meeting of young Muslims on the anniversary of the 9/11 atrocity, that it would then be easy to impose Sharia law on the population,
Speaking at a meeting in London, Anjem Choudary, right-hand man of exiled preacher Omar Bakri Mohammed, said: "It may be by pure conversion that Britain will become an Islamic state. We may never need to conquer it from the outside."
He added: "We do not integrate into Christianity. We will ensure that one day you will integrate into the Sharia Islamic law."
His comments were made as voice of hate Bakri warned that the next 9/11 would take place in the UK.
Speaking via video link the exiled cleric said Osama bin Laden had taught the Americans a ‘lesson’ seven years ago, but the ‘crusaders’ had not learned.
Bakri told a 100-strong audience of supporters in Walthamstow, east London this week that he believed the British government was trying to assassinate him and claimed to have foiled a bomb plot.
Technical difficulties meant much of his speech was inaudible, but his appearance was greeted by cheers of ‘faith’ and ‘god is great’ at the community centre.
Bakri’s right-hand man, Anjem Choudary, led the proceedings in person, under the auspices of a group called Association for Islamic Research.
The most incendiary speech was delivered by Saiful Islam, who lauded Bin Laden and al Qaeda for their ‘courage’ in retaliating against the ‘dictatorship and oppression’ of the West.
Al Muhajiroun warned the UK would be next for a 9/11-magnitude attack
He said: ‘The blame of 9/11 belongs to no one but the American government. They are the terrorists.
'Sheikh Osama warned America numerous times, it was because of their own arrogance, because they thought they are a superpower and nobody could match them, that Sheikh Osama taught them a lesson - a lesson they still haven’t learned.’
More...
Merchants of Hatred: On the anniversary of 9/11 this terrifying investigation reveals the hatred of Britain's enemies within
Mr Islam, who is linked to an organisation called Salafi Youth for Islamic Propagation, warned that unless British and American troops were withdrawn from ‘Muslim lands’ they would be to blame for the consequences, saying the West would ‘never achieve security until our own [Muslim] lands achieve security’.
‘Wake up. Withdraw. Listen to the warnings. Muslims will stand side to side, not just al Qaeda. The actions of the British and Americans have given prominence to al Qaeda.
'All of us have a part to play in stopping the violence or the next 9/11 will take place in Britain, the next 7/7 could take place locally,’ he added.
Mr Choudary was the last speaker and was more guarded in his address to the young Muslim men that made up most of the audience.
But he criticised the Government for persecuting ‘innocent Muslims’, naming Bakri, Abu Hamza, Abu Qatada and Omar Brooks along with the defendants in the airliner bomb plot trial.
He said: ‘They [the Government] say they are civilised. But they don’t act very civilised. They jailed Sheikh Abu Qatada in Belmarsh prison. Is that the way you treat your guests?’
Mr Choudary then referred to Bakri’s notorious aim of flying the ‘flag of Sharia’ over Downing Street, claiming that this would happen by 2020 as 500 people a day were converting to Islam and laughing that Muslim families in places like Whitechapel and Bethnal Green in east London were having ‘10 or 12 children each’.
He ranted against mainstream bodies like the Muslim Council of Britain, who condemned 9/11 and 7/7, accusing them of ‘selling their souls to the devil’.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Seven men face bomb plot retrial
Prosecutors are to seek a retrial of seven British men who were accused of a plot to blow up planes flying from the UK to North America with liquid bombs.Three men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder but the jury was unable to decide whether they and four other men had planned to target planes.
The men had denied plotting to bring down planes from Heathrow with home-made bombs disguised as soft drinks.
The Crown Prosecution Service will put a retrial application before a court.
The CPS said the seven men should face a retrial on every count the jury, which was discharged on Monday, had failed to agree on.
Director of public prosecutions Sir Ken Macdonald QC said: "This will include a count that each defendant conspired to detonate improvised explosive devices on transatlantic passenger aircraft.
The CPS said the seven men should face a retrial on every count the jury, which was discharged on Monday, had failed to agree on.
Director of public prosecutions Sir Ken Macdonald QC said: "This will include a count that each defendant conspired to detonate improvised explosive devices on transatlantic passenger aircraft.
"We shall be returning to court to make this application in due course."
He added he had reached the decision after "careful consideration" with the head of his counter-terrorism division and counsel.
He added he had reached the decision after "careful consideration" with the head of his counter-terrorism division and counsel.
The seven men are Abdulla Ahmed Ali, 27, Assad Sarwar, 28, Tanvir Hussain, 27, Ibrahim Savant, 27, Arafat Waheed Khan, 27, Waheed Zaman, 24, and Umar Islam, 30.
after a five-month trial at London's Woolwich Crown Court, Ali, of Walthamstow, east London, Sarwar, of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, and Hussain, of Leyton, east London, were found guilty of conspiracy to murder. They have yet to be sentenced.
The jury was unable to reach a verdict on whether they and London residents Mr Savant, of Stoke Newington, Mr Islam, of Plaistow, and Mr Zaman and Mr Khan, both of Walthamstow, had conspired to detonate explosives on aircraft.
The jury was unable to reach a verdict on whether they and London residents Mr Savant, of Stoke Newington, Mr Islam, of Plaistow, and Mr Zaman and Mr Khan, both of Walthamstow, had conspired to detonate explosives on aircraft.
The jurors also failed to decide whether or not Mr Savant, Mr Islam, Mr Zaman and Mr Khan were guilty of conspiracy to murder, and those four men also face a possible retrial on that count.
All seven had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit public nuisance by making videos threatening bombings, but none of the men has yet been sentenced for that offence.
Ali, Sarwar and Hussain told the jury they had wanted to create a political spectacle in protest at British foreign policy.
It would have included fake suicide videos and devices that would frighten, rather than kill, the public.
All seven had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit public nuisance by making videos threatening bombings, but none of the men has yet been sentenced for that offence.
Ali, Sarwar and Hussain told the jury they had wanted to create a political spectacle in protest at British foreign policy.
It would have included fake suicide videos and devices that would frighten, rather than kill, the public.
Prosecutors alleged the men had been planning to carry liquid explosives on to planes at Heathrow, knowing the devices would evade airport security checks.
However the court heard the explosives had never been fully constructed and tickets had neither been bought nor plans to travel made.
Sweeping airport restrictions on liquids in hand luggage were brought in following the men's arrests in August 2006.
However the court heard the explosives had never been fully constructed and tickets had neither been bought nor plans to travel made.
Sweeping airport restrictions on liquids in hand luggage were brought in following the men's arrests in August 2006.
An eighth defendant in the Woolwich Crown Court trial - Mohammad Gulzar, 27, of Barking, east London - was cleared of all charges.
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Sikhs and Hindus accuse BBC of pro-Muslim bias
Hindu and Sikh leaders have accused the BBC of pandering to Britain's Muslim community by making a disproportionate number of programmes on Islam at the expense of covering other Asian religions.
A breakdown of programming from the BBC's Religion and Ethics department, seen by The Independent, reveals that since 2001, the BBC made 41 faith programmes on Islam, compared with just five on Hinduism and one on Sikhism.
Critics say the disproportionate amount of programming is part of an apparent bias within the BBC towards Islam since the attacks of 11 September 2001, which has placed an often uncomfortable media spotlight on Britain's Muslims.
Ashish Joshi, the chairman of the Network of Sikh Organisation's (NSO) media monitoring group, which obtained the numbers, said many Hindu and Sikh licence-fee payers felt cheated. "People in our communities are shocked," he said. "We are licence-fee payers and we want to know why this has happened. The bias towards Islam at the expense of Hindus and particularly Sikhs is overwhelming and appears to be a part of BBC policy."
Indarjit Singh, the editor of the Sikh Messenger and a regular contributor to BBC Radio4's Thought for the Day, said that the public broadcaster was focusing too much attention on Islam at the expense of other religious communities.
"I think it's probably unthinking, or inadvertent, but the bias is there," he said. "I do know that within the Sikh community especially there is a feeling of concern over the lack of portrayal of their religion on television. There is a feeling of being brushed aside."
He added: "The wider community is missing out on what the different religions have to offer society. Of course it is important to educate non-Muslims about Islam but it is also important to provide informative, open and respectful programming on all religions."
In a letter sent in July to the NSO, the head of the BBC's Religion and Ethics, Michael Wakelin, denied that there was any bias. He said the demographic makeup of Britain meant that Britain's 1.6 million Muslims outnumber Hindus and Sikhs by two to one. "Therefore," he wrote, "if Muslims get 60 minutes a year, the Sikhs and Hindus should share 30 minutes each." Further content on Islam, he added, was "no doubt sparked by the interest in the faith following 9/11".
The latest row over the BBC's cultural output follows a dispute raging at the BBC's Asian Network radio service, where more than 20 former and current employees have written a letter of complaint alleging that the station ignores Muslim listeners and plays less Pakistani and Bangladeshi music than it should.
A spokesman for the BBC said the broadcaster was committed to representing all of Britain's faiths and communities. "We reject any claims of bias," he said. "In our religion and ethics content alone, we have covered Hindu and Sikh issues this year on The Big Questions, Sunday Life and Extreme Pilgrim. In the autumn we will be covering Diwali from a Sikh perspective and we have a major new series for BBC Two in early 2009, including features on Hinduism and Sikhism."
But a number of MPs, including Rob Marris and Keith Vaz, called on the BBC to do more to represent Britain's minority faiths. "I am disappointed," said Mr Vaz. "It is only right that as licence fee payers all faiths are represented in a way that mirrors their make-up in society. I hope that the BBC ... addresses the problem in its next year of programming."
Biased BBC
A breakdown of programming from the BBC's Religion and Ethics department, seen by The Independent, reveals that since 2001, the BBC made 41 faith programmes on Islam, compared with just five on Hinduism and one on Sikhism.Critics say the disproportionate amount of programming is part of an apparent bias within the BBC towards Islam since the attacks of 11 September 2001, which has placed an often uncomfortable media spotlight on Britain's Muslims.
Ashish Joshi, the chairman of the Network of Sikh Organisation's (NSO) media monitoring group, which obtained the numbers, said many Hindu and Sikh licence-fee payers felt cheated. "People in our communities are shocked," he said. "We are licence-fee payers and we want to know why this has happened. The bias towards Islam at the expense of Hindus and particularly Sikhs is overwhelming and appears to be a part of BBC policy."
Indarjit Singh, the editor of the Sikh Messenger and a regular contributor to BBC Radio4's Thought for the Day, said that the public broadcaster was focusing too much attention on Islam at the expense of other religious communities.
"I think it's probably unthinking, or inadvertent, but the bias is there," he said. "I do know that within the Sikh community especially there is a feeling of concern over the lack of portrayal of their religion on television. There is a feeling of being brushed aside."
He added: "The wider community is missing out on what the different religions have to offer society. Of course it is important to educate non-Muslims about Islam but it is also important to provide informative, open and respectful programming on all religions."
In a letter sent in July to the NSO, the head of the BBC's Religion and Ethics, Michael Wakelin, denied that there was any bias. He said the demographic makeup of Britain meant that Britain's 1.6 million Muslims outnumber Hindus and Sikhs by two to one. "Therefore," he wrote, "if Muslims get 60 minutes a year, the Sikhs and Hindus should share 30 minutes each." Further content on Islam, he added, was "no doubt sparked by the interest in the faith following 9/11".
The latest row over the BBC's cultural output follows a dispute raging at the BBC's Asian Network radio service, where more than 20 former and current employees have written a letter of complaint alleging that the station ignores Muslim listeners and plays less Pakistani and Bangladeshi music than it should.
A spokesman for the BBC said the broadcaster was committed to representing all of Britain's faiths and communities. "We reject any claims of bias," he said. "In our religion and ethics content alone, we have covered Hindu and Sikh issues this year on The Big Questions, Sunday Life and Extreme Pilgrim. In the autumn we will be covering Diwali from a Sikh perspective and we have a major new series for BBC Two in early 2009, including features on Hinduism and Sikhism."
But a number of MPs, including Rob Marris and Keith Vaz, called on the BBC to do more to represent Britain's minority faiths. "I am disappointed," said Mr Vaz. "It is only right that as licence fee payers all faiths are represented in a way that mirrors their make-up in society. I hope that the BBC ... addresses the problem in its next year of programming."
Biased BBC
first "official" sharia court finally open for business
The head of a Muslim college in Warwickshire which houses the UK's first official sharia law court has spoke of the advantages of using the ancient system.
Faisal Aqtab Siddiqi said despite misconceptions, the system would work with British law to solve disputes and could "enrich" the current legal system. Mr Siddiqi is head of the Hijaz College Islamic University in Nuneaton - home of the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal (MAT).
The tribunal, formed last year, offers ways for the Muslim community to resolve disputes in accordance with the sacred laws.
Mr Siddiqi is head of the Hijaz College Islamic University in Nuneaton- home of the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal (MAT).
The tribunal, formed last year, offers ways for the Muslim community to resolve disputes in accordance with the sacred laws.
Mr Siddiqi said it was not the same as unofficial sharia courts reported to be operation across the country.
He said the system, part of the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) introduced in reforms of the civil justice system, dealt with commercial, civil, and matrimonial matters and some instances of domestic violence and neighbourly disputes.
He said common misconceptions of brutal punishments were not used and they also helped victims of forced marriages.
He said: "It's exactly this kind of input from sharia law that we can expect to enrich our society through the Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanism.
"We are trying to supplement English law by helping the British citizen not to be forced into or coerced into marriage."
Mr Siddiqi, himself a commercial law barrister, said the tribunal is the only ADR in existence at the moment, but others could easily form to resolve disputes in certain areas of the community.
He said: "Even the Hell's Angels could set up an ADR forum in which two can submit to the tribunal for resolution to their dispute based on the Yamaha manual
Faisal Aqtab Siddiqi said despite misconceptions, the system would work with British law to solve disputes and could "enrich" the current legal system. Mr Siddiqi is head of the Hijaz College Islamic University in Nuneaton - home of the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal (MAT).
The tribunal, formed last year, offers ways for the Muslim community to resolve disputes in accordance with the sacred laws.
Mr Siddiqi is head of the Hijaz College Islamic University in Nuneaton- home of the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal (MAT).
The tribunal, formed last year, offers ways for the Muslim community to resolve disputes in accordance with the sacred laws.
Mr Siddiqi said it was not the same as unofficial sharia courts reported to be operation across the country.
He said the system, part of the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) introduced in reforms of the civil justice system, dealt with commercial, civil, and matrimonial matters and some instances of domestic violence and neighbourly disputes.
He said common misconceptions of brutal punishments were not used and they also helped victims of forced marriages.
He said: "It's exactly this kind of input from sharia law that we can expect to enrich our society through the Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanism.
"We are trying to supplement English law by helping the British citizen not to be forced into or coerced into marriage."
Mr Siddiqi, himself a commercial law barrister, said the tribunal is the only ADR in existence at the moment, but others could easily form to resolve disputes in certain areas of the community.
He said: "Even the Hell's Angels could set up an ADR forum in which two can submit to the tribunal for resolution to their dispute based on the Yamaha manual
Jihadists warn Brits, "you have nothing to expect than floods of martyr operations, volcanoes of anger and revenge erupting among your capital"
Along with the threats and bloody imagery, the jihadists continuously boasted about the "honor" of Islam and the "heroism" of martyrdom, continuously asserting that they are not brain-washed youth. After being brought to court, however, their bravado quickly dissipated into a plead of "guilty to causing a public nuisance, claiming the videos were simply part of a propaganda stunt." Another "I was only kidding" moment brought to you by the jihadists. More on this story.
Monday, September 08, 2008
Three guilty of bomb conspiracy
Three men have been found guilty of a massive terrorist conspiracy to murder involving home-made bombs.Abdulla Ahmed Ali, Assad Sarwar and Tanvir Hussain's convictions follow a huge terrorism inquiry, which led to sweeping airport restrictions.
The three, and a further five men, were not convicted on charges of plotting to bomb transatlantic airliners.
Seven men admitted plotting to cause a public nuisance. An eighth man was cleared at Woolwich Crown Court.
The three, and a further five men, were not convicted on charges of plotting to bomb transatlantic airliners.
Seven men admitted plotting to cause a public nuisance. An eighth man was cleared at Woolwich Crown Court.
The group had been accused of plotting to bring down transatlantic airliners with home-made liquid explosives disguised as soft drinks.
But after more than 50 hours of deliberations, the jury did not find any of the defendants guilty of conspiring to target aircraft.
The jury was unable to reach verdicts on charges relating to the alleged plot to blow up aircraft in respect of Ali, Sarwar and Hussein.
And jurors were unable to reach verdicts on those charges or conspiracy to murder charges against Ibrahim Savant, 27, of Stoke Newington, Umar Islam, 30, of Plaistow, and Waheed Zaman, 24, and Arafat Waheed Khan, 27, both of Walthamstow, all London.
Mohammad Gulzar, 27, of Barking, east London, was found not guilty on both counts.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said the police and security services had saved "countless" lives by disrupting the group.
Mohammad Gulzar, 27, of Barking, east London, was found not guilty on both counts.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said the police and security services had saved "countless" lives by disrupting the group.
The court heard prosecutors allege that the eight men were planning to carry liquid explosives on to planes at Heathrow, knowing the devices would evade airport security checks.
Police said the plot had been inspired by al-Qaeda in Pakistan - and the August 2006 arrests caused chaos at airports throughout the country.
The court heard that the alleged plot could have caused unprecedented casualties, with a global political impact similar to the 9/11 attacks on the United States.
Jacqui Smith welcomes the verdict But in their defence, the seven men who had recorded videos denouncing Western foreign policy said they had only planned to cause a political spectacle and not to kill anyone at all.
The ringleader, Abdulla Ahmed Ali, 27, of Walthamstow, east London, created home-made liquid explosives in a flat which prosecutors said were designed to evade airport security.
He and five of the others - Savant, Islam, Zaman, Hussain and Khan - had recorded what the prosecution alleged were "martyrdom videos" denouncing the West and urging Muslims to fight.
Prosecutors said the bombers would then have completed and detonated the devices during their flights once all the targeted planes had taken off.
Sarwar, 28, of High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, was said in court to be the quartermaster of the plot, buying supplies needed to make the bombs.
Prosecutors said that Mr Gulzar had flown into the country to oversee the plot's final stages - something he vehemently denied during the trial.
The plot came to light after the largest ever surveillance operation involving officers from both MI5, the Metropolitan Police and other forces around the country.
Ali, Sarwar and Hussain told the jury they had wanted to create a political spectacle in protest over foreign policy. It would have included fake suicide videos and devices that would frighten rather than kill the public.
Prosecutors said that Mr Gulzar had flown into the country to oversee the plot's final stages - something he vehemently denied during the trial.
The plot came to light after the largest ever surveillance operation involving officers from both MI5, the Metropolitan Police and other forces around the country.
Ali, Sarwar and Hussain told the jury they had wanted to create a political spectacle in protest over foreign policy. It would have included fake suicide videos and devices that would frighten rather than kill the public.
Ali, Sarwar and Hussain, along with Savant, Islam, Khan, and Zaman, also admitted conspiring to cause a public nuisance by making videos threatening bombings.
'Considering retrial'
The home secretary said: "I am indebted to the police and security services who, by successfully disrupting this group, have saved countless lives.
"I would also thank the Crown Prosecution Service which has worked tirelessly to ensure that these individuals have been brought to justice.
"I am sure they will now consider what to do where no verdict was reached."
The Crown Prosecution Service said the case "is still the subject of ongoing proceedings, and the prosecution is considering a request for a retrial in respect of the plot to blow up airliners against all seven men upon which the jury could not agree."
The Crown Prosecution Service said the case "is still the subject of ongoing proceedings, and the prosecution is considering a request for a retrial in respect of the plot to blow up airliners against all seven men upon which the jury could not agree."
.................................
For a far more extensive representation of muslim violence worldwide go to the Religion of Peace website
Muslim man accused of justifying death of Americans and idolizing Hitler exonerated
And paid 14,000 for any trauma he may have experienced. "Islamophobia" was apparently the culprit -- even though the report itself concludes that "he was not entirely free from blame." "Muslim wrongly accused of being a terrorist wins £14,000 compensation," by Richard Edwards for the Telegraph,
Mohammed Hussain, 30, was investigated by the Met's specialist counter-terrorism command after false accusations from co-workers that he was an Islamic extremist.
He told an employment tribunal that he was made to feel "isolated and lonely" when colleagues "conspired" against him, especially after the July 7 attacks on London.
Mr Hussain, a researcher in the Metropolitan Police's forensic analysis unit, said he was made to feel like "a pariah".
One colleague, intelligence worker Robert Matthews, claimed that Mr Hussain had said it was "okay to kill American soldiers" shortly after the London terrorist attack which killed 52 innocent people.
Another worker, Dassash Alem, alleged that Mr Hussain had boasted he was a fan of Adolf Hitler who had told colleagues "Hitler was brilliant. He should have finished off the Jews".
They both pursuaded their boss to report Mr Hussain to anti-terror police, who cleared him of any suspicions on two occasions.
The tribunal in Watford ruled that Mr Hussain was discriminated against based on his religion as a Muslim over some of the complaints against him and the decision to investigate and suspend him.
It said that the Met's conduct had been "oppressive and high-handed" and awarded Mr Hussain £13,758.55 for injuries to feelings and aggravated damages. The payout is more than that awarded to John and June Taylor, whose daughter Carrie, 24, died in the July 7 blasts. They received £11,000.
A number of other claims were rejected and the tribunal's report said there had been "genuine concerns about the claimant's behaviour and performance" and "he was not entirely free from blame".
It also found he had sworn at his managers and made "an inappropriate reference to the killing of American soldiers"
Why then does this report say that his co-worker Robert Matthews "claimed" that Hussain made these anti-American references?
After the award Mr Hussain, from Aylesbury, said: "I'm very happy to have won my case. It was disgusting, the way I was treated by the Met, not just by my colleagues but also by the managers because they knew what was happening but didn't stop it. I was accused of being a terrorist and I was made to feel like and outsider."
Of course, doctrines based on your own religion may have also contributed to your feeling like an outsider -- such as al-Wala' we al-Bara, which centers around Koranic verses such as, "O you who believe! do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends" (5:51).
Mohammed Hussain, 30, was investigated by the Met's specialist counter-terrorism command after false accusations from co-workers that he was an Islamic extremist.
He told an employment tribunal that he was made to feel "isolated and lonely" when colleagues "conspired" against him, especially after the July 7 attacks on London.
Mr Hussain, a researcher in the Metropolitan Police's forensic analysis unit, said he was made to feel like "a pariah".
One colleague, intelligence worker Robert Matthews, claimed that Mr Hussain had said it was "okay to kill American soldiers" shortly after the London terrorist attack which killed 52 innocent people.
Another worker, Dassash Alem, alleged that Mr Hussain had boasted he was a fan of Adolf Hitler who had told colleagues "Hitler was brilliant. He should have finished off the Jews".
They both pursuaded their boss to report Mr Hussain to anti-terror police, who cleared him of any suspicions on two occasions.
The tribunal in Watford ruled that Mr Hussain was discriminated against based on his religion as a Muslim over some of the complaints against him and the decision to investigate and suspend him.
It said that the Met's conduct had been "oppressive and high-handed" and awarded Mr Hussain £13,758.55 for injuries to feelings and aggravated damages. The payout is more than that awarded to John and June Taylor, whose daughter Carrie, 24, died in the July 7 blasts. They received £11,000.
A number of other claims were rejected and the tribunal's report said there had been "genuine concerns about the claimant's behaviour and performance" and "he was not entirely free from blame".
It also found he had sworn at his managers and made "an inappropriate reference to the killing of American soldiers"
Why then does this report say that his co-worker Robert Matthews "claimed" that Hussain made these anti-American references?
After the award Mr Hussain, from Aylesbury, said: "I'm very happy to have won my case. It was disgusting, the way I was treated by the Met, not just by my colleagues but also by the managers because they knew what was happening but didn't stop it. I was accused of being a terrorist and I was made to feel like and outsider."
Of course, doctrines based on your own religion may have also contributed to your feeling like an outsider -- such as al-Wala' we al-Bara, which centers around Koranic verses such as, "O you who believe! do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends" (5:51).
Saturday, September 06, 2008
Asian lawyer who said she was 'Bin Laden's friend' awarded £600,000 race discrimination pay out
An Asian lawyer who was suspended after telling a court security guard she was a 'friend of Bin Laden's' has won a £600,000 record pay out for race discrimination.Halima Aziz, 47, made the remark as she arrived at Bradford magistrates' court only a fortnight after the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington.
The Crown Prosecution Service lawyer was immediately suspended after being wrongly accused of inciting a riot between white and Asian youths at the court.
She was cleared of the allegations in 2002, but never received an apology from her employers for her suspension.
Now an employment tribunal has awarded her £600,000 compensation after concluding there was no evidence to support her treatment by the CPS.
In comparison, the average payout to victims of the 7/7 London attacks is around £7,500, with bereaved relatives receiving £5,500.
In addition to the compensation award, the case has cost the CPS £500,000 in legal fees, landing the taxpayers with a bill of more than a million pounds.
Speaking to Channel 4 News last night, Miss Aziz said the CPS 'still haven't given me an apology for what they have done. If they had apologised to me right at the beginning words would have been enough'.
She added: 'I am 100% certain this would not have happened unless I had been a Muslim and Asian'.
The tribunal found that senior CPS officials were guilty of racial discrimination for the way they handled her case and had lied at her tribunal.
The Chief Executive of the CPS, Peter Lewis, who led an inquiry into the case, also came in for harsh criticism, after the tribunal concluded that his investigations had been 'deeply flawed' and a 'whitewash'.
It added he 'structured his report to exonerate the discriminators then seems to close the book.'
The judgement said the CPS was 'in a state of denial' that the discrimination ever took place.
They have now been ordered to issue a full and unequivocal apology and to reinstate Ms Aziz following her seven year legal battle.
Branding the body's reaction to Miss Aziz's comments 'astonishing' the judgement states: 'This would be completely unacceptable response on the part of any employer but for a public body like the Crown Prosecution Service it can only be regarded as astonishing.'
Her lawyer Mr Mark Emery of Bindmans solicitors last night called for an independent inquiry, saying the CPS's ability to prosecute race cases is now under doubt.
He said: 'According to this judgment serious questions have got to be asked at Chief Executive level and it is possible that questions have got to be asked higher up the chain - DPP level (Director of Public Prosecutions)? We don’t know. We need to find out.
'It does ask questions about public confidence in the CPS’s ability to handle very sensitive race related prosecutions if at the heart of the CPS, at the senior echelons of the CPS, there is such willful failure to comply with race relations legislation.'
In response to the findings, the CPS said its chief executive denied any allegations that his reports was sham and would not be stepping down from his post.
A spokesman said: 'The CPS accepts the recommendations, and will be implementing them as a matter of priority. We offer a full apology to Halima Aziz.
The Judgement relates solely to the very particular circumstances of this one case. It does not question the overall approach and policies the CPS has pursued.'
Miss Aziz, of Pakistani origin, said the action was never about the money but 'about getting my job back and saying what (they did) was wrong'.
She now plans to use her compensation to build an orphanage in Pakistan.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)