Militant Islam Monitor > Articles > UK Peer Nazir Ahmed signs letter with prominent UK radicals - Center for Social Cohesion press release
UK Peer Nazir Ahmed signs letter with prominent UK radicals - Center for Social Cohesion press release
February 11, 2009
UK Peer signs letter with prominent UK radicals
Centre for Social Cohesion Press Release - 09 February 2009
Lord Nazir Ahmed of Rotherham has joined forces with leading UK-based Islamists , including Mohammed Ali Harrath, convicted in absentia by a Tunisian court of terrorism-related offences, and Mohammed Sawalha, described in a US court as a former "Hamas leader in the West Bank", says the Centre for Social Cohesion.
The UK peer recently led a delegation to the Turkish embassy in London to pay tribute to Prime Minister Erdogan for walking out on a debate with Israeli leader Shimon Peres at the recent Davos conference. The delegation presented an open letter to the embassy outlining their support.
Mohammed Ali Harrath was convicted in Tunisia in 1992, and is said to have sought assistance from Osama Bin Laden. Harrath is subject to the highest level of alert by Interpol, the world's largest international police organisation, for "counterfeiting/forgery, crimes involving the use of weapons/explosives and terrorism". He has in the past said that "There is nothing wrong or criminal in trying to establish an Islamic state."
Mohammed Sawalha was accused by the BBC of having "master minded much of Hamas' political and military strategy" in the West Bank. He also served as president of the Muslim Association of Britain, described in Parliament as the British wing of the Muslim Brotherhood. In a Brotherhood document submitted as evidence in a US federal court, the movement's goal is "a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and 'sabotaging' its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God's religion is made victorious over all other religions."
Lord Ahmed has previously used his influence to introduce the UK Lord High Chancellor to Suhaib Hasan, in order to discuss the introduction of Islamic divorce laws into the UK. In a 2008 documentary, Hasan said:
"Even though cutting off the hands and feet, or flogging the drunkard and fornicator, seem to be very abhorrent, once they are implemented, they become a deterrent for the whole society. This is why in Saudi Arabia, for example, where these measures are implemented, the crime rate is very, very, low."
According to the Spectator, Lord Ahmed recently threatened to mobilise 10,000 Muslims to prevent the House of Lords from screening Fitna, a film by Dutch politician Geert Wilders, and threatening to take the peer organising the event to court. He called the decision not to screen the film as "a victory for the Muslim community."
In 2005, Ahmed hosted a book launch in the House of Lords for Israel Shamir, who has claimed that "Jews indeed own, control and edit a big share of mass media" and that "All the [political] parties are Zionist-infiltrated." Following the recent Israeli military response to Hamas rocket attacks, he told Iranian Press TV that British Jews fighting for the Israeli Defence Force should be arrested, and if necessary, charged with war crimes.
Robin Simcox, a Researcher at the Centre for Social Cohesion, said "By being part of this delegation, Lord Ahmed is allying himself with some of the most radical Islamists in the UK."
The Centre for Social Cohesion is an independent think tank
*The Centre for Social Cohesion * Clutha House * 10 Storey's Gate * London * SW1P 3AY*
*0207 222 8909 * [email protected] *
[Note to editors]
Full list of delegates to the Turkish embassy:
1. Lord Nazir Ahmed of Rotherham
2. Dr Daud Abdullah, Muslim Council of Britain & Chair of the Coalition.
3. Mohammad Sawalha, British Muslim Initiative
4. Dr Arafat Madi, Palestinian Return Centre
5. Dilwar Hussain Khan, Secretary-General, Islamic Forum of Europe
6. Mohamed Ali, Islam Channel
7. Faisal Hanjera, Federation of Student Islamic Societies
8. Mawlana Mowdud Hasan, Da'watul Islam
9. Dr Hafiz al-Karmi, Palestinian Forum in Britain
10. Sayed Ferjani, Muslim Association of Britain
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