Four arrested at London's Rally for Islam

26/08/2002| IslamWeb

Four people were arrested on Sunday at a London rally in support of the Islamic group al-Muhajiroun. Two supporters of the group, which has expressed its backing for Osama bin Laden and declared Prime Minister Tony Blair a legitimate target for Muslims, were arrested for inciting disorder and using threatening language.

Two members of a far-right counter-demonstration were also arrested for breach of the peace and using threatening words and behaviour.

Police said one of the far-right detainees had been charged with using threatening words and behaviour. The other three were still being held.

Several hundred people attended the Rally for Islam, which London authorities had opposed but failed to ban.

Critics said that holding the rally so close to the first anniversary of last year's September 11 suicide airliner hijackings in the United States suggested al-Muhajiroun was celebrating the attacks.

Washington blames the attacks, which killed 3,000 people, on bin Laden's al Qaeda network.

Abu Hamza al-Masri, a fiery Muslim religious leader who has expressed admiration for the Saudi-born militant, said bin Laden was respected by Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

"Everybody likes him from the Muslim people," Masri told reporters at the rally. "Actually some people who are not
Muslims, when they study about his way of life and his struggle they do like him."

The moderate Muslim Council of Britain last week dismissed al-Muhajiroun as a tiny fringe movement and said the rally would only lead to an atmosphere of hate towards British Muslims.

The Greater London Authority had refused permission to hold the rally in Trafalgar Square, but has no authority to ban it.

PHOTO CAPTION

A police officer tries to hold the line as anti-Muslim demonstrators, left unseen, surge forward, attempting to reach those attending a rally organized by a radical Muslim group in London's Trafalgar Square, Sunday, Aug. 25, 2002. Around 600 people attended the "Rally for Islam," staged by Al-Muhajiroun, police said. The majority were supporters of the militant Muslim group, but more than 100 right wing counter demonstrators also attended and police moved in to separate the two camps as they clashed. (AP Photo/Martin Cleaver)