British Muslim group condemns car bombings
Tue Jul 3, 9:07 AM ET
Britain's main umbrella group of Muslim organisations on Tuesday strongly condemned the three failed car bomb attacks here, calling for cross-community efforts to tackle the extremist threat.
"Those who seek to deliberately kill or maim innocent people are the enemies of us all," said Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary-general of the moderate Muslim Council of Britain.
Speaking at a news conference at the MCB's east London headquarters, Bari said there was "no cause whatsoever" to justify the attempted bomb attacks in central London early Friday and at Glasgow airport on Saturday afternoon.
"Those who engage in such murderous actions and those that provide support for them are the enemies of us all, Muslims and non-Muslims, and they stand against our shared values in the United Kingdom," he added.
Bari's comments come amid continued concern among some sections of Britain's 1.6-million-strong Muslim community about radicalisation as well as government and police efforts to tackle it.
There have been complaints since the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States that the Muslim community has been unfairly targeted after a series of high-profile raids.
Those concerns were exacerbated following the July 7, 2005, attacks on London, in which four British Islamist extremists blew themselves up on the capital's public transport network, killing 52 others and injuring over 700.
But like many commentators, Bari praised new Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Home Secretary Jacqui Smith for their "calm and reassuring" response and also singled out Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond for his calls for calm.
"It cannot be stressed enough that terrorists actively seek to divide us and to undermine our collective strength," he went on.
"To be successful in our collective effort to deal with the threats of terror it is imperative that we all work together.
"We need to have confidence and mutual trust in each other. The challenges facing us as a nation require us to work together for the joint benefit of all."
Bari and his deputy Daud Abdullah expressed their shock that up to six of the eight people in custody were medical doctors.
"As we have stated in the past, terrorism is not a regional nor a national matter. Neither does it have a profession or class," Abdullah told AFP as the MCB called on all Britons to help the police and the security services.
