The Muslim News

LONDON (Reuters) - Muslim inmates including terror suspects at a British jail are refusing to eat meat after receiving a menu with pork, their lawyer says.

The prison service acknowledged there had been a "mistake" in the labelling of food as Halal, or suitable for Muslims, at London's Belmarsh high security prison last month.

It said the problem had been fixed and the prison governor had apologised to the Muslim prisoners.

"One menu contained pork chops," lawyer Muddassar Arani told reporters on Friday.

"It stipulated spicy pork chops as being Halal food for the prisoners. Anybody who knows even the slightest small thing about Islam knows that Muslims are not permitted to eat pork."

She said the inmates had lost faith in meals prepared for them at the jail and wanted their meat brought to them pre-packaged from outside.

Arani's firm represents six of eight terrorism suspects charged last week with conspiracy to commit murder in a plot linked to alerts at U.S. targets, as well as cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri who is fighting extradition to the United States.

She attended a brief hearing on Friday at which Abu Hamza appeared by video link from Belmarsh. He was ordered to be held until his extradition case comes up on September 17.

Arani said she had not asked for bail for Abu Hamza but was considering it. She said doctors had been sent to check on the health of the cleric, who lost both hands and an eye fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan.

"His health has deteriorated since he has been in custody," she said. "Obviously the prison is not adapted to disabled people."

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6029930

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