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16pc of UK Muslims back 7/7 cause
One in six British Muslims believes the London Tube and bus bombers were motivated by a just cause, according to an opinion poll.Sixteen percent of respondents to the poll conducted for The Times newspaper and ITV News felt the July 7 bombers' cause -- although not their actions -- was just. Thirteen percent said the bombers should be regarded as martyrs, and 7 percent felt suicide attacks on British civilians were justified in some circumstances. ITV said the poll showed that "a vast majority" of British Muslims did not sympathize with the bombings of last July 7, which killed 52 commuters and the four bombers. More than three-quarters of respondents -- 78 percent-- said they would be unhappy if a member of their family joined al-Qaida. Thirty-five percent said they would be proud if a family member joined the police. More than half of those polled -- 56 percent -- thought the government should do more to combat extremism within the Muslim community, although they were divided on how that should be done. Forty-eight percent felt the intelligence services had the right to infiltrate Muslim organizations to gather information, while 47 percent disagreed. Seventy-nine percent of respondents said their community had experienced hostility since the attacks. However, almost two-thirds -- 65 percent -- of respondents said the Muslim community needed to do more to integrate with the rest of society. There was concern about discrimination, with just 34 percent saying anti-terrorism laws were applied fairly to their community. Populus surveyed 1,131 Muslim adults between June 1 and June 16. The margin of error is plus or minus three percentage points. Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-07-04 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=158177 |