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| Britain |
| Qaradawi denounces Muslim extremism |
| 2004-07-18 |
| Outspoken Muslim cleric Yussef al-Qaradawi, whose visit to Britain has provoked protests, denounced Muslim religious extremism in an interview Tuesday. "There are among Muslims some fringe groups who represent the strength of violence and extremism, such as Abu Hamza and Abu Qatada, but these have no scholarly, practical or community weight," the Egyptian-born, Qatari-based preacher told Channel Four television. Abu Hamza al-Masri, the former radical imam of north London's Finsbury Park mosque, was arrested in May on an extradition request from the United States on terrorism-related charges. Qatada, a suspected leading member of Al-Qaeda, has been held in London's high-security Belmarsh prison since October 2002 under Britain's anti-terror legislation. "Had it not been for the media, which projected these, nobody would have heard of them," Qaradawi said. "The great majority of Muslims in Britain are co-operative and constructive. We call for love not hate, for tolerance not fanaticism, for peace not war," he added. When pressed on suicide attacks in Israel, the cleric said that such operations were permissible. "They are necessary because, simply, the Palestinians do not have any other means of confronting their enemies. When you see the Palestinians being killed every day, their houses blown up, their trees pulled down, their land taken away, what can they do? Give them Apaches (helicopters) and tanks and not one of them would explode himself in a martyrdom operation," he said. Qaradawi's arrival in the British capital on July 5 for several conferences on Islam sparked an official complaint by the Board of Deputies of British Jews, which has called for a ban on him. Despite the protests, the Labour Party's Mayor of London Ken Livingstone has invited the cleric back to Britain for further conferences. |
| Posted by: |
| #2 The great majority of Muslims in Britain are co-operative and constructive. Except for those refusing to assimilate, and those who aren't voting because it's not Islamic . . . Give them Apaches (helicopters) and tanks and not one of them would explode himself in a martyrdom operation No, but the casualty rates would remain the same. |
| Posted by: The Doctor 2004-07-18 9:54:25 PM |
| #1 ...Give them Apaches (helicopters) and tanks and not one of them would explode himself in a martyrdom operation... I highly doubt that choice of the targets would change. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2004-07-18 9:44:57 PM |