UK: the SUN misunderstands Islam

Bakri, who was booted out of Britain after calling for the West’s downfall, addressed a meeting of young Muslims via a videolink from his Lebanon bolthole.

The revelation comes days after Home Secretary Jacqui Smith named and shamed foreign preachers who were barred from the UK.

But Bakri, who is on the list, sidestepped the law by not appearing at the east London meeting in person.

Instead he was announced as “a special surprise, a special treat”, beamed live on to a telly screen.

He was introduced to the crowd by his UK spokesman Anjem Choudary,  the former head of banned fanatics group al-Muhajiroun.

He said: “It is our religious obligation to prepare ourselves both physically and mentally and rise up against Muslim oppression and take what is rightfully ours.

He said there were only two types of proper Muslims – those in jail and those who would shortly be in jail.

He added: “We need to submit to the will of Allah.”

As the crowd of 250 Muslims chanted pro-Allah phrases, Choudary tried to link up to Bakri, 50, by video link.

The technology failed and only Bakri’s voice could be heard but his message of hate was unaffected.

He raged: “Do not obey British law. We must fight and die for Islam.”

He also praised Osama bin Laden for being a “warrior” and told the crowd to ignore man-made rules.

The police and Home Office said they were unsure if laws had been broken by allowing Bakri to address the four-hour meeting. And they could not confirm if Choudary, 41, who rents the room for £78 an hour for his new group Islam For The UK, was being investigated for his own words.

A Home Office spokesman said: “The UK is determined to stop those who spread extremism through preaching violent messages in our communities. It is for the police and Crown Prosecution Service to investigate any breach of the law.”

Choudary denied his plea to “rise up” was inciting violence. 

He said: “By ‘rise up’ I mean ‘rise up and air your views’.”

Confusing PC language ‘hampering’ anti-terror fight, government watchdog says

By Steve Doughty
Last updated at 2:52 AM on 12th November 2008

Politically correct language is hampering the fight against terrorism, a Whitehall report warned yesterday.

Town halls and other public sector bodies were told by ministers last year to replace the phrase ‘terrorist attacks’ with ‘anti-Islamic activity’.

They were urged not to refer to ‘extremism’ and instead talk about ‘community resilience’.

But far from rallying Muslims against terrorists, the language has spread confusion, says the report from HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and the Audit Commission.

The watchdogs warned ministers the Government should listen to local concerns before handing out instructions.

It quoted one anonymous local government leader: ‘The key thing is about who the words come from.

‘If they come from a respected religious or community member they will have more impact than if they come from a Government minister.’

Rules on terrorism and language were sent to town halls by the Home Office just under a year ago.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith drove home the message in a speech in which she referred to terrorist attacks as ‘anti-Islamic activity’.

She also indicated the phrase ‘war on terror’ would no longer be used by ministers.

The report looked at the impact of the £50million Preventing Violent Extremism programme launched two years ago to recruit public services to try to persuade young Muslims against supporting terror networks.

 

 

It said there were sensitivities over language in some places but in others ‘there was a preference for plain speaking so that issues could be dealt with openly rather than being avoided or disguised as something else’.

It also found the campaign had been marred by a failure of the agencies involved to share information.

The Home Office sent out ‘Counter Terrorism Communications Guidance’ to all councils last December. It said that confrontational language should be dropped in favour of talking about shared values.

tom.savage@dailystar.co.uk