He also accused the Government of ostracising and excluding the Muslim community at the same time as lecturing them about integration. Mr Sacranie, who was launching a book on the aftermath of 11 September called The Quest for Sanity, said the year after the attacks had seen irrational hatred and fear of Muslims, fuelled partly by Islamic extremists who were given prominence in the media.Mr Sacranie said it was difficult to see how an attack on Iraq for failing to meet United Nations resolutions could be justified when UN resolutions had been ignored in Israel and Kashmir for 50 years.

The stated reasons for an attack were not convincing and there was a growing view that control of oil fields was an important factor. If this is the reason then there can be no justification on moral grounds, he said. There is immense hatred against America in the Muslim world, but it is not directed against Britain. We do not want that to filter through to our country.The Liberal Democrats intensified the pressure on Tony Blair over next week's Commons vote on Iraq yesterday as they announced they would abstain in the emergency debate. Their move follows a similar announcement by the Conservatives and leaves the Government relying on loyal backbenchers to see off a left-wing rebellion. Anti-war MPs are vowing to force a vote, on a technical motion to adjourn the House, during Tuesday's recall of Parliament Moderate Muslims fear that war would isolate them further. By Vikram Dodd. 20 September 2002 The Guardian English Leaders of a moderate Muslim group feted by the government yesterday warned that a war against Iraq would be unjust and leave British Muslims even further isolated from the rest of society.

The Muslim Council of Great Britain warned that indiscriminate aggression by the US and Britain would only help terrorists. The stark warning came as the Islamic umbrella group published a collection of essays on the effects of the September 11 attacks on Muslims across the globe.The council's secretary general, Iqbal Sacranie, said Islam had been the focus of irrational anger and hate. In Britain nearly two million Muslims had also suffered, he said: Tony Blair's New Labour promise of inclusion drew the attention of British [minority] communities, but it seems that the terror of September 11 not only brought down the world's two largest buildings, it also hit our own high towers of equal rights and inclusion, especially with respect to the British Muslim community.

The backlash had seen verbal and physical attacks on British Muslims and Mr Sacranie said war with Iraq, which almost all Muslims oppose, risked further tearing the nation's social fabric. Mr Sacranie also criticised statements by the home secretary, David Blunkett, including his suggestion that English should be spoken in Asian homes. [The Muslim community] has been ostracised and excluded and, at the same time, lectured about integration, as if the community was refusing to integrate, Mr Sacranie said. We have seen some statements that have come out, which I'm sure are meant not to contribute to Islamophobia, but sometimes the statements can be construed as though they are fuelling Islamophobia. Mr Sacranie also attacked the treatment of alleged terrorists captured in Afghanistan, and now held by the US in Cuba: Of course, if they have committed a crime, let's bring them to court, let justice take its place; but detaining British citizens in parts of the world because they happen to be Muslims is wrong. The Quest for Sanity: Reflections on September 11 and the Aftermath, the Muslim Council of Britain, £12.75. INTERVIEW-Muslim leader urges Blair to think again on Iraq. By Georgina Prodhan 19 September 2002 Reuters News English LONDON, Sept 19 (Reuters) - A Muslim leader in Britain urged Prime Minister Tony Blair on Thursday to think again about going to war with Iraq and said the United Nations must not apply double standards to Islamic and non-Islamic countries. Iqbal Sacranie, Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), warned the United States and Britain against further alienating Muslims by using the U.N. to justify a war against Iraq while continuing to disregard U.N. resolutions on Israel.

This gives this impression that where there are U.N. resolutions that work against a Muslim country they can be implemented immediately whereas there have been clear U.N. resolutions on Palestine for the last 50 years...that are being ignored and blatantly defied by Israel, he told Reuters. Arab states have accused Israel of defying U.N. resolutions calling for the Israeli withdrawal from occupied Arab land. The United States and Britain are reported to be trying to draft a U.N. resolution setting a timetable for weapons inspections in Iraq and declaring Baghdad to be in material breach of existing Security Council resolutions. Making an appeal for peace, Sacranie urged Blair to consider the consequences of going to war with a second Islamic nation after Afghanistan. We hope and pray that, God forbid, it will not take place, said Sacranie, leader of what Britain's government sees as the representative body of the nation's mainstream Muslims. He also sharply criticised the U.S.-led war on terror that broke out after last year's September 11 attacks on U.S. cities carried out by Muslim men. Dutifully the British government and others joined this war that really has no frontiers, no laws, and no scruples.

The manner in which this war has been and is being prosecuted remains profoundly disturbing, he said. The MCB has launched a book on the September 11 attacks and their aftermath, The Quest for Sanity, which appeals for urgent dialogue between peoples to help eliminate the causes of terrorism. What happened on September 11, 2001 was simply evil and criminal, Sacranie writes in the foreword. Regrettably, it has been used to set a global course of action with little respect for human life, national sovereignty and the rule of law. The MCB plans to publish its views on a possible war with Iraq on Monday, after intensive consultations with British Muslim community leaders over the weekend. Leader: Muslim Bias Up Since 9/11 By BETH GARDINER Associated Press Writer 19 September 2002 AP Online LONDON (AP) - Discrimination against Muslims has increased sharply across Europe since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, isolating many Islamic communities and undermining efforts to build harmonious multiethnic societies, the leader of a British Muslim group said Thursday. Iqbal Sacranie, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said the year since the attacks had also brought infringements of civil liberties in Britain. Sacranie said European Muslims had been unfairly demonized in the media and urged Britain's government to give them more protection. The terrorists of Sept. 11 ... also hit our high towers of equal rights and equal inclusion, especially with respect to the British Muslim community, he said.

The community thought it was moving forward with inclusion and integration, but now it simply didn't know where it stood. The high media profile of British-based extremists added to the problem by worsening the general public's perception of Muslims, he said. Several radical clerics make frequent appearances on television and in newspapers with statements defending the attacks and calling for the establishment of Islamic law in Britain. The Muslim Council released a collection of articles on the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks entitled The Quest for Sanity. One article accused Britain of violating civil rights with a law that allows authorities to detain suspected foreign terrorists without charge or trial. Nine people are being held under the statute. Christopher Allen, a researcher at the University of Birmingham who wrote one of the book's articles, told reporters Thursday that discrimination against Muslims had increased sharply throughout the European Union over the past year, even in places where they had lived for decades with little tension. Muslims were being abused, spat on, and Muslim women in particular (have) become a target, he said. Everything about Muslims is distorted and exaggerated ... This has fed the flames of Islamophobia. Sacranie said British Muslims did not want special treatment, but sought the same protection afforded to other minorities, which he said Muslims are denied because they do not constitute a racial group. He called the Sept. 11 attacks evil and criminal but added that they had prompted a destructive chain of events. Regrettably, (terrorism) has been used to set a global course of action with little respect for human life, national sovereignty and the rule of law, he said.

He accused Britain and the United States of honoring no frontiers, no laws and no scruples in their fight. Muslim's warning. 19 September 2002 The Express TONY Blair risks ostracising Britain's two million Muslims if he continues to back military action against Iraq. US and British foreign policy was in danger of being seen as an indiscriminate war on Islam, said Iqbal Sacranie, the Muslim Council of Britain's secretary general. His fears were expressed in a foreword to a new book about the September 11 terror attacks in America, to be published today. In it Mr Sacranie writes: What happened on September 11, 2001 was simply evil and criminal. Regrettably, it has been used to set a global course of action with little respect for human life, national sovereignty and the rule of law. In the process, Muslims the world over and the cherished religion of Islam - a religion for all humanity - have been made the focus of irrational anger and hate. Mr Sacranie's decision to speak out reflects growing fears among Muslim leaders.

They believe that a military invasion of Iraq, coming so soon after the war in Afghanistan, will play into the hands of extremists. The book, The Quest for Sanity: Reflections on September 11 and the Aftermath, calls for increased dialogue and understanding between peoples. Threat of war - Britain - I understand German chancellor's opposition to Iraq attack, says Blair - MPs ... By Kate Connolly in Berlin, Patrick Wintour and Michael White. 19 September 2002 The Guardian English Threat of war - Britain - I understand German chancellor's opposition to Iraq attack, says Blair - MPs warn against pre-emptive military action. Tony Blair has insisted that understanding should be shown for German chancellor Gerhard Schroder's sceptical position on possible military inter vention in Iraq, even though it clashes with the British government's own view. Mr Blair said in an interview published today that his German counterpart had not isolated Germany internationally despite his opposition to an attack on Iraq, even if it receives United Nations backing. On the topic of Iraq, Germany is throwing up questions that it is very sensible to be asking, Mr Blair told the Tagesspiegel. There may well be differences of opinion but I have no doubt about the fact that at the end of the day every one will work very closely together.

We should not exaggerate the differences. He added that he had worked closely with Mr Schroder on international matters and expected to do so in the future. In all matters - whether Kosovo or Afghanistan, we've always worked together superbly. Now he is outlining his position on Iraq and we respect that, Mr Blair said. The prime minister's Iraqi strategy suffered a setback yesterday when Labour's chief foreign policy making body demanded the government should not support war against Saddam Hussein without the specific support of the United Nations. At a meeting attended by the foreign secretary, Jack Straw, as well as defence and international development ministers, a group of MPs, grassroots trade unionists and party members insisted Labour should not support pre-emptive military action of the kind Washington hawks envisage without the support of the UN. With many Labour MPs and activists similarly restless, a source said: We agreed a set of words that reflects the Labour party's concerns by stressing our over-arching commitment to an international UN-based approach. It is very difficult and sensitive.

The wording, agreed at a meeting of the Britain in the World policy commission yesterday, will be conveyed to the party national executive committee (NEC) on Tuesday - the day when Mr Blair publishes his dossier of evidence against President Saddam and leads the Commons in an emergency debate. Yesterday's pressure from the Labour policy commission - one of several anti-war moves ahead of next week's parliamentary debates - came as Mr Blair sought to keep up the pressure on President Saddam to fulfil his promise of untrammelled UN access. It's the pressure that has brought him to this position. We have got to keep up the pressure to make sure the weapons inspectors actually go in - not just that he says they can go in but they actually go in and that they can do their job, the prime minister said in London. Leftwing MPs remain unconvinced that the US-led strategy against Iraq is either justified or wise and believe that more mainstream colleagues share their concerns. Bush's response to the Iraqi offer was ludicrous and Blair and Straw should be talking more positively about it, said Jeremy Corbyn. Mr Straw, who has also been sceptical about President Saddam's offer, spent yesterday in urgent diplomatic talks seeking support for a firm UN resolution.

Many Labour MPs are adopting a wait-and-see stance, though Tony Wright suggested Mr Blair's next grilling by senior backbenchers on the liaison committee be brought forward from January so they can discuss Iraq. British Muslims have critcised the west's response to the September 11 attacks as initiating a global course of action with little respect for human life, national sovereignty and the rule of law, in a book published today.

Muslims and Islam have been made the focus of irrational anger and hate, says the Muslim Council of BritainSource @ http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/