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State school pupils are set to be taught Islamic traditions and values in compulsory citizenship lessons. The move - part of a package of initiatives announced by Communities Secretary Hazel Blears yesterday - is designed to curb extremism. Education campaigners warned however against giving Islam a privileged position over other faiths. Other plans announced by Miss Blears also drew criticism - including a state-funded panel of Islamic scholars and theologians to provide community leadership. Prominent Muslims said this scheme was naive because Government endorsement would erode the credibility of those taking part, especially among the young and disaffected. Another measure...

Fears Government plans could let EXTREMISTS seize control of local police authorities By Matthew Hickley Last updated at 12:17 AM on 18th July 2008 Control of police authorities - the local bodies which oversee each force - is to be handed to directly-elected members. They will be able to hire and fire chief constables, dictate priorities and control parts of their funding. Most Government targets will be dropped completely under reforms unveiled by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith. Islamic militants who back Sharia law could take over local police authoritiesDanger: Senior police figures warned yesterday there was a 'very real danger'...

Police sniffer dogs will have to wear bootees when searching the homes of Muslims so as not to cause offence. Guidelines being drawn up by the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) urge awareness of religious sensitivities when using dogs to search for drugs and explosives. The guidelines, to be published this year, were designed to cover mosques but have been extended to include other buildings. Where Muslims object, officers will be obliged to use sniffer dogs only in exceptional cases. Where dogs are used, they will have to wear bootees with rubber soles. “We are trying to ensure that...

Turning their Backs on Jihad By Britta Sandberg More and more prominent terrorists are defecting from the cause. The Egyptian theologian Dr. Fadl is the best known, but many others are likewise reconsidering. Experts see it as a delayed reaction to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Noman Benotman walks into a restaurant on Park Lane, the exclusive, minimalist sort of place that is currently all the rage in London. People in business suits converse in hushed tones at nearby tables. Benotman, wearing an orange polo shirt and a gray checked blazer, fits in perfectly. Benotman, a 41-year-old man from...

Three British Muslims yesterday admitted plotting to explode a homemade bomb at the Houses of Parliament in protest at the UK's role in Iraq and Afghanistan. The men and two others also admitted conspiring to cause public nuisance by distributing Al Qaeda- style videos threatening suicide bomb attacks in Britain. But prosecutors claimed they made 'inherently improbable' and 'bogus' confessions to these charges to distract attention from the main allegations - a plot to blow up airliners flying from Heathrow to major U.S. cities. They accused the men of being in a gang wanting to kill thousands of passengers by...

Three men accused of plotting to blow up transatlantic planes have admitted to conspiring to cause explosions. Abdulla Ahmed Ali, Assad Sarwar and Tanvir Hussain also admitted conspiring to cause a public nuisance by making videos threatening bombings. Two other defendants, Ibrahim Savant and Umar Islam, also pleaded guilty to the public nuisance charges. The Woolwich Crown Court jury has yet to rule on conspiracy to murder charges which the five and three others deny. The men deny two charges, which have been amended, of conspiracy to murder between 1 January and 11 August 2006. One specifies the attacks would...

A BBC drama has triggered a barrage of complaints after it showed gruesome images of a Muslim being beheaded. Bonekickers, about a group of archeological sleuths, depicted an extremist Christian decapitating a man with a sword. The bloody scene has prompted 100 complaints since it was broadcast on BBC1 on Tuesday evening.

IS RADICAL ISLAM connected to terrorism? Notable British voices spoke out on that subject after Britain's recent terrorist near-misses -- the two unexploded car bombs in London's West End and the fiery SUV rammed into the main terminal at Glasgow's international airport. Consider what four of those voices had to say: One declared that the word "Muslim" must not be used in connection with terrorism, and insisted that even the phrase "war on terror" should be scrapped. The second likewise cautioned against pointing a finger at Islam, contending that in London, "Muslims are . . . less likely to support...

A growing number of Christians in Britain from a Muslim background are facing harassment and persecution, warns Release International. They include ‘Yasmin’, whose ex-husband planned to kill her. She’s been attacked in the street, driven from her home and was taken under police protection. Yasmin became a Christian after receiving a vision of Jesus during the difficult birth of her son. She tried to keep her faith a secret from her family, but eventually told her mother. “When my mother found out I had become a Christian she went to the local mosque and told them that I had gone...

The picture is an affront to all victims of terrorism and their families. Abu Qatada, Al Qaeda's ambassador in Europe, strolls along a busy London street fondling his prayer beads. This is the first photograph of the greying 47-year-old - said to be one of the world's most dangerous terrorist suspects - since he was released on bail from a high-security prison after the courts ordered that he could not be sent home to Jordan because his human rights would have been breached. Scroll down for more ABU QATADA Out on bail: Prayer beads in hand, Al Qaeda's ambassador in...

The picture is an affront to all victims of terrorism and their families. Abu Qatada, Al Qaeda's ambassador in Europe, strolls along a busy London street fondling his prayer beads. This is the first photograph of the greying 47-year-old - said to be one of the world's most dangerous terrorist suspects - since he was released on bail from a high-security prison after the courts ordered that he could not be sent home to Jordan because his human rights would have been breached. Out on bail: Prayer beads in hand, Al Qaeda's ambassador in Europe takes a stroll to the...

CAIRO: On July 7, 2005, four British Muslims blew themselves up on the London public transport system. Fifty-two commuters, Muslims included, were tragically killed. Two years later, and the fundamental question of why it was that four, seemingly middle class, educated young men took their own lives and others’, remains largely unanswered. For Muslims on the other side of the globe, it would confirm perceptions that their Western brethren were subject to victimization and scapegoat-ism: so marginalized from their “host” society they were prepared to murder fellow citizens. But for the reality for the majority of UK’s Muslims, this couldn’t...

So this is how it ends: not with a bang, but a whimper. The most senior judge in England has declared that Islamic legal principles in Sharia law may be used within Muslim communities in Britain to settle marital arguments and regulate finance. Lord Chief Justice Lord Phillips said, "Those entering into a contractual agreement can agree that the agreement shall be governed by a law other than English law." In his speech at an East London mosque, Lord Phillips said Muslims in Britain could use Islamic legal principles as long as punishments - and divorce rulings - comply with...

Muslims in Britain should be able to live according to Sharia law, the country's most senior judge has said. The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Phillips Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, the Lord Chief Justice, strongly backed Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, over his suggestion earlier this year that aspects of Sharia law should be adopted in Britain. The archbishop's remarks sparked a national debate and led to calls for his resignation. Risking inflaming that controversy again, Lord Phillips has said that Muslims in Britain should be able to use Sharia to decide financial and marital disputes. The judge did...

Muslims outraged at police advert featuring cute puppy sitting in policeman's hat By Daily Mail Reporter Last updated at 12:15 PM on 01st July 2008A postcard featuring a cute puppy sitting in a policeman's hat advertising a Scottish police force's new telephone number has sparked outrage from Muslims. Tayside Police's new non-emergency phone number has prompted complaints from members of the Islamic community. The choice of image on the Tayside Police cards - a black dog sitting in a police officer's hat - has now been raised with Chief Constable John Vine. Tayside Police caused uproar in the Muslim community...

LONDON (Reuters) - Muslims in Britain feel like aliens in their own society and say they are targeted like "the Jews of Europe", the country's first Muslim government minister said. International Development Minister Shahid Malik painted a bleak picture of the integration of 1.8 million Muslims, three years after Islamist suicide bombers killed 52 people on London's transport system. The suicide attacks triggered a debate on whether the policy of avoiding imposing a single British identity, and instead promoting a multicultural society, had led to segregation of ethnic minorities. Malik, who has been the target of race attacks including a...

LONDON: Muslim passengers may not be touched by sniffer dogs of the British Transport Police after complaints that the practice is against Islam. According to the religion, dogs are deemed to be spiritually “unclean”. A Transport Department report has raised the prospect that animals should only touch passengers’ luggage because it is considered “more acceptable”, the Daily Express reported. The ban may restrict the efficiency of sniffer dog squads which have been trained to spot terrorists at railway stations. On Thursday night, British Transport Police insisted that it would still use sniffer dogs with any passengers regardless of faith, but...

Muslim train passengers' aversions to sniffer dogs and body scanners would not prevent them being subject to random security searches, British Transport Police (BTP) have indicated. Some Muslims objected to the use of explosive-detecting dogs in a rail security trial at Brighton station, the Government revealed.

Nazi sympathiser Martyn Gilleard kept nail bombs under young son's bed By Paul Stokes Last Updated: 6:35PM BST 24/06/2008 A neo-Nazi planning attacks on Muslims, who hid home-made nail bombs under his five year old son's bed, faces life in jail after being found guilty of terrorism offences. Martyn Gilleard's activities were uncovered after police conducted a search for child pornography at his flatMartyn Gilleard said he was a British nationalist Four nail bombs capable of causing an explosion similar to that of a hand grenade were discovered in the home of fork-lift truck driver Martyn Gilleard. Police also discovered...

"As soon as a writer expresses an opinion against Islamism, immediately someone on the left leaps to his feet and claims that because the majority of Muslims are dark-skinned, he who criticises it is racist," he said in an interview in Corriere della Sera. "This is logically absurd and morally unacceptable. Martin is not a racist. And I myself despise Islamism, because it wants to create a society that I detest, based on religious belief, on a text, on lack of freedom for women, intolerance towards homosexuality and so on - we know it well."

Extremists are winning the battle for the hearts and minds of Britain's young Muslims, a disturbing police report warns. Increasing numbers have become so alienated from mainstream society that they could even lend their support to jihadi terrorism, the study claims. While most reject violence, many distrust police and are reluctant to inform on extremists. The report was commissioned by the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) after last year's failed bomb attacks in London's West End and at Glasgow Airport. It is to be discussed at Acpo's annual conference this week. In the most comprehensive research of its kind...

LONDON (AFP) - A British employment tribunal on Monday awarded a Muslim woman 4,000 pounds (8,900 dollars, 5,100 euros) after a hair salon owner refused to employ her because she wears a headscarf. The tribunal dismissed a claim of direct discrimination, but found that woman, Bushra Noah, had suffered indirect discrimination and awarded her the settlement for "injury to feelings". The tribunal owner said she needed stylists to reflect the "funky, urban" image of her central London salon, and that new hires who have conventional hairstyles are requested to re-style it in a more "alternative" way. In its judgement the...

Ian Huntley, the killer of schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, is considering converting to Islam, it has been claimed. Huntley, 34, serving life at the maximum security Frankland Prison in County Durham, has started reading the Koran on a daily basis after befriending two Muslim inmates, according to The People. The Soham killer is thought to have turned to the small group of Muslim inmates in Frankland after being threatened by other prisoners. He has even asked them to take him to a prayer meeting after finding the passages of the Islamic holy book the Koran are helping his...

CHRISTIANS from all over the country were gathering in Birmingham today following claims that two ministers were ejected by police for preaching the word of Jesus. Followers from Christian Voice have accused West Midlands Police for turning the predominately Muslim area of Alum Rock into a no-go zone for non-Muslims. The Carmarthen-based group was heading into Alum Rock today to distribute Christian leaflets and share the Gospel with passers-by. Stephen Green, national director of Christian Voice, said: “We are coming to preach the Gospel and to show West Midlands Police that they cannot create a Muslim ghetto for the Gospel....

LONDON (AFP) - A 19-year-old man was arrested under British anti-terror laws on Monday in connection with an investigation into a suspect already charged with terror offences, police said. Police detained the man in Bristol and searched his home. His arrest was linked to the probe into 19-year-old Andrew Ibrahim, who was detained in Bristol in April. Following Ibrahim's arrest, police carried out a series of controlled explosions after searching his suburban home. Ibrahim has since appeared in court accused of plotting to commit acts of terror. Details of his alleged offences cannot be reported until a trial takes place....

In February this year, Christian evangelists Arthur Cunningham and Joseph Abraham were doing what Christian evangelists do: handing out Bible extracts. They were stopped by a representative of the law, threatened with arrest if they carried on preaching in “a Muslim area,” and warned that they might get beaten up if they came back. Where did this incident take place? Saudi Arabia, Iran, or Pakistan, where Christian preaching is forbidden and apostates persecuted? No, this “Muslim area” was in Alum Rock, Birmingham, England. That’s right — England, cradle of free speech; England, a country with an established, if enfeebled, Church,...

LONDON (AFP) - The wife of one of the failed 2005 London suicide bombers was jailed for 15 years Thursday, after being found guilty of failing to tell the police about the terrorist plot. Yeshi Girma, 32, knew her husband Hussain Osman was planning to unleash carnage in the failed July 21, 2005 attacks and could have stopped the attempted bombings, England's Old Bailey central criminal court heard. Judge Paul Worsley told her the highly controversial police shooting the following day of innocent Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes -- mistaken for a suicide bomber -- could have been avoided had...

Radical British Muslims have formed chatrooms to discuss adopting orphans and bringing up children to be Islamic fighters, a study has found. Discussions on a number of radical websites have asked how children should be brought up to be "mujahideen" and whether they should be pulled out of mainstream schools. Other participants boast of how their children threaten to kill "kuffar" [non-believers] and complain that the Shakespeare being taught in schools is "full of homosexuality, fornication and adultery." The Centre for Social Cohesion says radical Muslims are using the internet to create a "virtual Islamic caliphate" and calls on the...

The policies of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown have helped to generate a spiritual, civic and economic crisis in Britain, according to an important Church of England report. Labour is failing society and lacks the vision to restore a sense of British identity, the report says in the Church’s strongest attack on the Government for decades. It accuses the Government of “deep religious illiteracy” and of having “no convincing moral direction”. The report, commissioned for the Church of England and to be published on Monday, accuses the Government of discriminating against the Christian Churches in favour of other faiths, including...

Christian preachers face arrest in Birmingham By David Harrison A police community support officer ordered two Christian preachers to stop handing out gospel leaflets in a predominantly Muslim area of Birmingham. Warned: Arthur Cunningham [left] and Joseph Abraham The evangelists say they were threatened with arrest for committing a "hate crime" and were told they risked being beaten up if they returned. The incident will fuel fears that "no-go areas" for Christians are emerging in British towns and cities, as the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, claimed in The Sunday Telegraph this year. Arthur Cunningham, 48, and...

The recent visit by Britain's Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip to Turkey was hailed as a great success. The 82-year-old British monarch won favor with the local people by describing Turkey as a "confident and dynamic democracy" and praising close ties between Ankara and London. She underlined British support for Turkey's bid to join the European Union, showed respect for the past by visiting the tomb of modern Turkey's secularist founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, in Ankara and for the present government by covering her hair when she visited an ancient mosque in Bursa and listened to a reading from the...

I have been told that Muslims were coming into the West for the freedoms here. If this were true then why are they slowly turning the West into the Middle East part 2 as they form their own communities in non Islamic countries and start enforcing their own rules? The answer is simple, they do not respect non-Muslims and have no intentions of assimilating. You can't preach the Bible here, this is a Muslim area. (What a community policeman told two Christians) For the rest.... http://islaminaction08.blogspot.com/2008/06/no-bible-zone-uk.html

You can't preach the Bible here, this is a Muslim area(What a community policeman told two Christians)  By Steve Doughty and Andy Dolan Last updated at 1:19 AM on 02nd June 2008  Readings from the Koran: Naeem Naguthney Two Christian preachers were stopped from handing out Bible extracts by police because they were in a Muslim area, it was claimed yesterday. They say they were told by a Muslim police community support officer that they could not preach there and that attempting to convert Muslims to Christianity was a hate crime. The community officer is also said to have...

Two American-born pastors handing out gospel leaflets in a predominantly Muslim area of Birmingham, England, were threatened with arrest and warned of being beaten for committing what an officer called a "hate crime." Arthur Cunningham, 48, and Joseph Abraham, 65, were handing out the leaflets and talking with local youths when they were approached and questioned by a police community support officer, or PCSO. When the officer discovered the two Birmingham pastors were born in the U.S., he began a heated criticism of President Bush and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Cunningham explained that the gospel message was not...

Two American-born pastors handing out gospel leaflets in a predominantly Muslim area of Birmingham, England, were threatened with arrest and warned of being beaten for committing what an officer called a "hate crime." Arthur Cunningham, 48, and Joseph Abraham, 65, were handing out the leaflets and talking with local youths when they were approached and questioned by a police community support officer, or PCSO. When the officer discovered the two Birmingham pastors were born in the U.S., he began a heated criticism of President Bush and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Cunningham explained that the gospel message was not...

Two Christians claim a police community support officer told them to stop leafleting in an area of east Birmingham where many Muslims live. The Christian Institute has complained to West Midlands Police the men were told to leave Alum Rock Road. The US Christians said they were advised they were committing a hate crime by trying to convert Muslims. West Midlands Police has investigated the complaint and said the officer intervened to defuse a row. Arthur Cunningham and Joseph Abraham, a pastor at Grace Bible Fellowship Church, in Saltley, Birmingham, had been distributing leaflets in nearby Alum Rock on 19...

A police community support officer ordered two Christian preachers to stop handing out gospel leaflets in a predominantly Muslim area of Birmingham. The evangelists say they were threatened with arrest for committing a "hate crime" and were told they risked being beaten up if they returned. The incident will fuel fears that "no-go areas" for Christians are emerging in British towns and cities, as the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, claimed in The Sunday Telegraph this year. Arthur Cunningham, 48, and Joseph Abraham, 65, both full-time evangelical ministers, have launched legal action against West Midlands Police, claiming...

A Prison Service report has expressed concern about problems with the high number of Muslim inmates at one of Britain's high-security jails. A review of Whitemoor Prison in Cambridgeshire found staff were fearful of doing the wrong thing, "shifting the power dynamic towards prisoners". The Howard League for Penal Reform said the report was "extremely disturbing". The Prison Service says it will examine how to manage gangs and terrorist prisoners at the jail. The report, written by the Prison Service's Directorate of High Security, was obtained by the Howard League under the Freedom of Information Act. It found staff at...

The collapse of Christianity has wrecked British society, a leading Church of England bishop declared yesterday. It has destroyed family life and left the country defenceless against the rise of radical Islam in a moral and spiritual vacuum. In a lacerating attack on liberal values, the Right Reverend Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, said the country was mired in a doctrine of 'endless self-indulgence' that had brought an explosion in public violence and binge-drinking. In a blow to Gordon Brown, he mocked the 'scramblings and scratchings' of politicians who try to cast new British values such as respect and...

Senior Bishop Warns - Radical Islam is filling a ‘moral vacuum’ in Britain, a senior Church of England bishop has warned. The Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, has said that the decline of Christian values has meant that Britain is now gripped by the doctrine of ‘endless self-indulgence’ which had led to the destruction of family life. He warned that the ‘newfangled and insecurely founded doctrine of multiculturalism' has led to immigrants creating ‘segregated communities and parallel lives’. In an article published in the new political magazine Standpoint, Nazir-Ali claimed that the Church lost its influence over...

Muslim gangs are threatening to take control of one of Britain's top security prisons where inmates include al-Qa'eda terrorists, a report reveals. Staff at Whitemoor jail, Cambs, believe a "serious incident is imminent" as several wings become dominated by Muslim prisoners. There is an on-going theme of fear and instability among employees, says the Prison Service's Directorate of High Security report. "There is much talk around the establishment about 'the Muslims'," it says.

The Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, accused the Church of failing in its duty to "welcome people of other faiths" ahead of a motion at July's General Synod in York urging a strategy for evangelising Muslims. However, his comments were condemned by senior figures within the Church. The Rt Rev Stephen Lowe, the former Bishop of Hulme and the newly appointed Bishop of Urban Life and Faith, said: "Both the Bishop of Rochester's reported comments and the synod private members' motion show no sensitivity to the need for good inter-faith relations. Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs...

The man arrested on suspicion of bombing a restaurant in Exeter is a “vulnerable Islamic convert with a mental illness”, local police has said. Devon and Cornwall Police evacuated large parts of Exeter city centre yesterday afternoon, after an explosion at the Giraffe restaurant in the Princesshay shopping mall. Police has now identified the suspect as 22-year-old Nicky Reilly, who suffered serious facial injuries in the blast and was receiving treatment in a hospital under police guard. The bomb was a mix of chemicals and nails. Detectives said he suffered serious, but not life-threatening, injuries, and was unlikely to be...

EXETER, England -- An Islamic convert with a history of mental illness was slightly injured yesterday by his own bomb in a lunchtime explosion in a busy restaurant in this southwestern English city. Nicky Reilly, 22, was the only person hurt and little damage was reported from the blast in the restaurant's toilets. Police later discovered and disarmed another device left nearby. "Our investigations so far indicate Reilly, who has a history of mental illness, had adopted the Islamic faith," said Tony Melville, deputy chief constable of Devon and Cornwall. "We believe, despite his weak and vulnerable state, he was...

The man detained over a suspected suicide bomb attack in Exeter was an autistic 22-year-old allegedly radicalised by a gang of suspected Muslim radicals who were being monitored by police and MI5, The Daily Telegraph can disclose. Investigating officers said that Nicky Reilly received a text message of "encouragement" hours before the nailbomb attack in a family restaurant. Police have made the first arrests as the net closed in on the suspected radicals alleged to have groomed the bomber. Sources close to the investigation said that the alleged corruption of a vulnerable young man - who suffered from Asperger's Syndrome,...

British Muslims perform their traditional prayers By 2035, there will be about 1.96 million active Muslims in Britain, compared with 1.63 million church-going Christians, according to calculations by Christian Research, a think- tank. The figures are published in the latest in a series of reports entitled Religious Trends. The think-tank has warned that 4,000 churches could close by 2020 if congregations continue to shrink at current rates. According to the most recent figures from the Church of England, regular Sunday, weekly and monthly attendance each fell by one per cent in 2006. Fewer than a million people attend church...

An extremist Muslim cleric regarded as "Osama bin Laden's spiritual ambassador in Europe" must be released on bail, a judge ruled today. Abu Qatada, 48, who won his legal fight against deportation to Jordan last month, will be freed from prison under strict bail conditions amounting to 22-hour house arrest despite the fact that he is still deemed to be a threat to national security. The cleric applied to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) for bail on the grounds that it was inhumane to detain him indefinitely if there was no prospect of his being deported. The order to...

Practising Muslims 'will outnumber Christians by 2035' Last Updated: 2:41AM BST 08/05/2008 Practising Muslims will outnumber worshipping Christians in Britain within 30 years, according to research published today. By 2035, there will be about 1.96 million active Muslims in Britain, compared with 1.63 million church-going Christians, according to calculations by Christian Research, a think- tank. The figures are published in the latest in a series of reports entitled Religious Trends. The think-tank has warned that 4,000 churches could close by 2020 if congregations continue to shrink at current rates. According to the most recent figures from the Church of England,...

120 soldiers of the Royal Malay Regiment have become the first all-Islamic Company to provide a British monarch's ceremonial guard. Report by Shell Daruwala. RMR soldiers during Changing of the Guards The Royal Malay Regiment soldiers with Members of the Welsh Guards during the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace on Friday 2 May 2008 [Picture: Sergeant Mick Howard RLC] At Buckingham Palace today, Friday 2 May 2008, red jackets and black bearskins were replaced by pristine white tunics, brocade 'sampins' and gold-banded 'songkoks', when the Malay Regiment changed guards with 1st Battalion Welsh Guards.

The practice of political correctness may soon be tallying another casualty: the pig. Increasingly, as America and the rest of the Western world continue accommodating Muslim religious demands, pork food products are being singled out for removal from dining tables and pig-related trinkets banished from the desks of office workers. If this continues, good ol’ American food, such as barbeque replete with hot dogs and ribs and the typical American breakfast of eggs, bacon and sausage, might be seen as the equivalent of political poison. Could outright censorship of pig depictions in drawings, pig references in literary works and pig...