The Muslim News - Brief news UK

Issue 213, Friday 26 January 2007 - 6 Muharram 1428

Brief news UK

Alcohol abuse causes brain damage
Alcoholics are risking brain damage, according to a new international study. Scanning software was used to analyse how the form, function and size of brains in 15 patients changed over a period of seven weeks after they gave up alcohol, the size of the brain increased by an average of almost 2%, 38 days after the start of the study. Levels of chemicals that indicate how intact the brain’s nerve cells and sheaths are also rose significantly, by a 10% to 20%. Only one patient appeared to continue to lose brain volume and he was the one how had been drinking the longest, for 25 years.

Animal Liberation Front bomber jailed for 12 years
Animal Liberation Front’s leading bomber was jailed for 12 years and placed on life licence. Donald Currie targeted the home of Paul Blackburn, an executive for GlaxoSmithKline in September last year, placing a device made of matches, cigarettes and a bottle of white spirit on the doorstep. It exploded into large fireball shortly after being discovered at 11pm. The businessman was away but his family was asleep inside at the time. The attack on the family followed years of phone calls and intimidation at their home. On March 26, this year, Currie attempted to bomb the car of Caroline Brooks, the sales and marketing manager of a firm called PDP Couriers, which carries out work on behalf of a subsidiary of HLS.

Boys and girls need separate classes
Boys should be taught separately to stop them falling further behind girls, a Government-backed review said on January 5. Teachers should be encouraged to tailor classes to fit the needs of boys, with more emphasis on “competitive” lessons and the reading of non-fiction books, according to the review, chaired by Christine Gilbert, the head of Ofsted, the schools’ watchdog. The recommendation follows the publication of GCSE results last summer which showed that boys were achieving a level of performance that girls had reached seven years before. The report recommendation is designed to ensure that school leavers in 2020 have all the requisite skills.

Britain finally pays off
World War II loans
The Government payed back the final installments of loans taken out at the end of World War II to finance vital reconstruction. The payments of Ł42.4 million to the US and $22.7 million to Canada on December 28, will close the final chapter of the war and mean that in total the country has paid close to twice what it borrowed in 1945 and 1946.

Christian lawyers to petition Queen to block gay rights bill
Thousands of Christian lawyers are to petition for the Queen’s help to stop the Government from imposing sweeping new gay rights laws on Britain. They will ask the Queen, as defender of the Church of England, to make the case to Tony Blair that the proposed Sexual Orientation Regulations discriminate against Christians.

Diplomat’s testament challenges war justification
Tony Blair’s case for war in Iraq was opposed by the release of previously hidden data that claims he lied over weapons of mass destruction. On December 15, Britain’s UN negotiator, Carne Ross, said Blair must have known Iraq possessed no WMDs. He said that during his posting to the UN, “at no time did the Government assess that Iraq’s WMD posed a threat to the UK or its interests.” Ross revealed it was a held view among British officials dealing with Iraq that any threat by Saddam Hussein had been “effectively contained”. He said British officials warned US diplomats that bringing down Hussein would lead to chaos. “We would frequently argue...Iraq would collapse into chaos.” He claims “inertia” in the Foreign Office and the “inattention of key ministers” stopped the UK addressing sanction-busting by Iraq, an approach which could have provided an alternative to war.

Embassy policeman moved
The Muslim firearms officer who refused to guard the Israeli embassy has been moved from the diplomatic protection squad, Scotland Yard has confirmed on December 6.

Gordon Brown will distance himself from George Bush
Gordon Brown promised to speak his mind to the US administration and always put the British national interest first in his dealings with Washington if he becomes Prime Minister. In his first public comments on January 7, on the relations he expects with the White House, Brown said he was looking forward to working with President Bush if, as expected he becomes premier later this year. Brown said, “I look forward, if I am in a new position, to working with the President of the United States, George Bush. Obviously, people who know me know that I will speak my mind. I will be very frank.”

Hindu school accused of links to ‘child abuse’ cult
Britain’s first state-sponsored Hindu primary school is accused of being linked to a cult with a history of child abuse. The Hindu Human Rights group is opposing the involvement of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, the planned Krishna-Avanti primary in Edgware, London. Campaigners describe the movement, as a new-age sect, which does not represent mainstream Hinduism. The faith has its roots in 1960s counter-culture. HHR spokesman, Arjun Malik, said, “It should be run by a mainstream group, not a sect. It gives the Hindu community a bad name.” A spokesman for the school due to open in 2010 rejects the cult tag, describing Hare Krishna as a “young and exciting” movement, comparable with Christianity’s Alpha Course, whose followers explore the meaning of life. On December 24, it was reported the school will receive Ł10m of taxpayer’s money.

Iraq fuels terror threat,
says Cameron
Britain’s support for the invasion of Iraq has put it at risk of terrorist attacks, Tory Leader, David Cameron, said on December 18. Cameron said the risk was “a statement of fact…Over the last few years decisions that have been taken, the difficulties there have been in Iraq, clearly have had a wider effect…That’s not to say for one second that in any way disagreeing with British foreign policy justifies in any way any sort of terrorism of course it doesn’t.” Blair has refused to acknowledge that the Iraq invasion had increased the threat of terrorism, citing pre 2003 incidents, including the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US as evidence. Shehzad Tanweer, one of four bombers who attacked London’s transport network on July 7, 2005 claimed in a video recorded before his death that the invasion had been a motivating factor.

Jew attacked for denying holocaust
The Jewish Chronicle reported on December 22, that Manchester based Neturei Karta member, Ahron Cohen, who attended the Holocaust talks in Tehran, Iran “has been effectively excommunicated by Anglo-Jewry.” Orthodox Marchzikei Ha’dass authority ordered its community to sanction Cohen and all Neturei Karta members who attended the conference. Demonstrations were held outside his home on December 17, where eggs were thrown and his car tyres slashed. Cohen in turn said the reaction was expected by Zionists.

Met chief warns of Christmas terror threat
Terrorists pose the greatest threat to Britain’s security since WWII, the Met Commissioner warned. With heightened alert for a possible attack over seasonal festivities, Sir Ian Blair echoed said the risk of an atrocity has increased in recent months. He said he had no specific intelligence about a plot to target Britain but added, “The threat of another terrorist attempt is ever present. Christmas is a period when that might happen. We have no specific intelligence to do (with) that.” He added, “There was a terrorist plot in Germany against one of their Christmas markets in 2002, so it’s a possibility.” Sir Ian also said the danger to the public was of an “unparalleled nature and growing.”

Mohammed/Muhammad most popular name
Mohammed remains the most popular Muslim name given to babies in England and Wales with two different spellings for the first time entering the top 50 picked by all parents in 2006. The variant Muhammad was listed as the 44th most common name, up from 69th last year, while Mohammad remained the most popular spelling, moving up one place from 23rd to 22nd, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics.

MPs told ‘no threat’ before bombing
The head of MI5 told MPs a day before the July 7 bombings in London that the country faced no imminent terrorist threat. Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller gave the assurance to a gathering of Labour whips less than 24 hours before the attacks.
The Guardian said “a number” of people who attended the evening meeting at the House of Commons had spoken to it about what she said. Shadow Home Secretary, David Davis, demanded for an independent inquiry into the run-up to the attacks, which killed 52. Dame Elizabeth announced last month that she would step down in April. She insists that her decision to leave the job was taken before the 7/7 attacks. A Home Office spokeswoman simply repeated Home Secretary, John Reid’s, tribute to the spy chief in the wake of her retirement announcement. “Her contribution to the security of our nation has been invaluable and I pay tribute to her unstinting efforts on our behalf,” he said.

Mosque fire-bomber sentenced
The 22 year-old racist fire-bomber Mark Bulman has been jailed for five years after trying to torch the Jamia Mosque at Broad Street, Swindon. During the early hours of August 17, Bulman had thrown a petrol bomb through a window of the mosque and smeared anti-Islamic graffiti and swastikas on the outside walls of the mosque. He had also scrawled racist messages on a wall in Turl Street which belongs to the local council. Besides pleading guilty to the race hate offences, Bulman also admitted arson when he torched a wooden gate on Broad Street in the same night.

British link to alleged
torture flights
A CIA jet flew at least twice to Poland from Kabul in Afghanistan, where the US detained numerous terrorist suspects, new details about aircraft involved in “torture flights” show. The journeys of the aircraft are disclosed in a list of more than 3,000 flight logs obtained by Stephen Grey, an investigative journalist and author of Ghost Plane. The same aircraft flew from Washington via Athens to the British Indian Ocean territory of Diego Garcia, the logs show. It is the first time that the British-owned territory, where the US has a large airbase, has been linked to the controversial CIA flights. Though there have been persistent reports in the US that detainees have been secretly held in Diego Garcia, the British Government has always dismissed the claims.

Retailers to spy on customers
Pharmacies and other high street retailers have been asked to be alert to the possibility that some products they sell could be used by terrorists. They have sent leaflets produced by the National Counter Terrorism Security Office asking staff to be on the lookout of unusual purchases of products that have ingredients that could be used in home-made explosives, such as hydrogen peroxide or acetone.

Schools told to prevent mobile phone exam cheats
Schools should consider using signal blocking devices to prevent pupils using mobile phone text and pagers to cheat in exams, an expert on exam fraud said on December 4. The report by Professor Underwood, Digital Technologies and Dishonesty in Examinations and Tests, lists a range of digital techniques that students routinely use to cheat. Some have been caught getting friends outside the examinations hall to text or page answers cribbed from the internet; others have used hand-held electronic personal organisers to store notes and to exchange answers with other exam takers in the same hall. During coursework, students routinely cut and paste essays bought over the internet and present them as their own work. 1,900 pupils were caught taking a mobile phone into an exam hall, less than 0.1% of the exam population, in 2005.

SNP pledge to fund Muslim schools
Scotland will get its first state-funded Muslim school in the next parliament if the Scottish National Party (SNP) wins power in May. Alex Salmond, the SNP leader, has pledged to extend the right to denominational education, already enjoyed by Catholics and other faiths. Of Scotland’s 2,769 state-funded schools, 401 are Roman Catholic, one is Jewish and four are Episcopalian. “We must listen to representations from within the Muslim community, in particular, and make a full assessment of the demand for Muslim schools,” said Salmond. “We already have the good example of the success of Scotland’s Catholic schools and our successful Jewish school. My experience, strengthened by speaking to people around Scotland, is that our diversity as a nation is also one of our strengths.”

Teachers get guidelines on India
Schools in England are to be sent extra guidelines on how to teach about the legacy of the British Empire in India. The guidelines are being sent out as the 60th anniversary of Indian independence is celebrated next year. The guidance aims to help schools explore the impact of British rule and key features of the cultural and religious history of the subcontinent. It comes from the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority and is for Key Stage 3 pupils (ages 12 to 14).

Whitehall’s fears over secret EU terror targets
EU’s plans to draw up a top-secret list of major terrorist targets are causing concern in Whitehall the Daily Telegraph reported on December 26. British official’s fear Brussels may seek to develop its counter-terror role in the same way Europol has expanded in recent years. Under a European Commission proposal, Britain and other member states are required to compile a list of “critical infrastructure” installations so sensitive that an attack could trigger a European-level crisis.

Worker awarded Ł100,000 for discrimination
An Iraqi-born leisure centre worker was awarded more than Ł100,000 on January 3, after winning his racial discrimination and disability discrimination claims against Clwyd Leisure Ltd. Wafir Jumard lost his job following a disciplinary hearing. Jumard had a clean disciplinary record until Clwyd Leisure took over the centre where he worked in 2001. In May 2002, he was disciplined for not leaving the building within a minute of a fire alarm being sounded; Jumard claimed he had been unable to leave in the requisite time because of the recognised hip condition he suffered from. He was moved from one part of the company to another where he claimed he was made to carry out manual labour despite the fact his disability made this difficult. Jumard lodged several complaints with the company over his treatment and the actions of his superiors. His manager gave two white men a refund after they refused to share a jacuzzi with four Asian men. The tribunal declared that these actions revealed the company’s attitude to such racial issues. The Ł100,000 awarded to Jumard includes Ł53,000 for loss of earnings as well as aggravated damages for racial and disability discrimination, injury to feelings and holiday pay. Clwyd Leisure plans to appeal against the decision

Exiled twins reprieved
A campaign by Jewish communal leaders, Israeli diplomats and Jewish officials has halted home office plans to return 18 year-old twins to Kyrgystan from where they fled to Britain 3 years ago, after their parents were killed. Karina and Kamila Kaya were arrested by immigration officials last month and interned in Bradford’s Yarl’s Wood.

Iraq is ‘rallying cry’ for terrorists to attack Britain
Blair’s decision to back Iraq invasion has given terrorists a ‘claim to legitimacy’. Study says the war in Iraq has become a ‘rallying cry’ for terrorists looking to attack the UK, a secret police report has admitted. Tony Blair’s decision to back the American-led invasion in 2003 has provided homegrown fanatics with a ‘ready claim to legitimacy’, the Scotland Yard study adds. It is the first time that the security services have openly admitted that the Iraq war has had a huge effect on their counter terrorist operations. Despite this, Blair has consistently denied that the war decision has increased the security risk saying that the terrorist threat existed long before the July 7 bombings in 2005. The Government has also refused to acknowledge the links between those bombings and the war - even after two of the bombers mentioned Iraq in their martyrdom videos.