Call made for Muslim community not to cooperate with police

By staff writers

7 Jun 2006

-07/06/06

In the developing argument about the recent police security raid on a house in Forest Green, London, in which a man was shot, former Daily Express journalist Yvonne Ridley ñ who converted to Islam after a kidnap experience in Afghanistan ñ has said the Muslim community is being ìterrorizedî and should withhold cooperation from the police.

Ms Ridley alleged that the police raid in East London on Friday 2 June 2006.was based on false intelligence about a chemical weapons plot (similar to earlier ricin scares), that an unarmed man had been shot without warning, and that such strong-arm tactics were leaving Muslims fearful and isolated.

Police say that the full picture has not emerged and that the shooting is under investigation. Community liaison officers have been trying to allay local fears.

Speaking at a meeting of George Gallowayís anti-war Respect Party last night, and on BBC Radio 4 this morning, Ms Ridley said that Muslims were being unfairly targeted in police operations, following the 7/7 and 21/7 London bomb incidents.

She pointed out that 3,000 arrests and 950 imprisonments of Muslims under anti-terrorist measures in the UK had led to only 12 charges, most strongly disputed.

Ms Ridley said that Muslim community leaders who met with senior police officers believed that they were getting access and influence, when in fact they were getting neither.

She did not respond directly to a question on the BBC about what alternative tactics she would recommend to the police. Senior Metropolitan Police spokesperson Steve Allen invited her to talk with him directly about the issue.

There is increasing concern about the resentment and polarisation of attitudes within sections of the Muslim community (in fact a spectrum of religious and cultural expressions) over police anti-terror tactics.

Prime Minister Tony Blair declared yesterday that he was ì101 per cent behind the policeî and said that they had to respond to intelligence, were often in ìan impossible positionî and would be traduced if a terror attack took place and they had failed to act.

Critics say that the police need to re-think the use of arms and to develop more effective strategies for community cooperation, reassurance and conflict handling.

Ms Ridley, who unsuccessfully stood for a seat on Westminster city council in May 2006, has asked the Metropolitan police why, if suspected chemicals were involved, they had not cordoned of the area in Forest Green before the raid.

She has been told that the police do not comment on specific operational matters while they are under investigation.

[Also on Ekklesia: Muslim Council of Britain chooses new head [0] 05/06/06; Muslims are concerned at UK anti-terror tactics [1] 03/06/06; Beyond the politics of fear [2] An Ekklesia response to the London bombings; Concerns grow over Stockwell killing [3]; Church report backs shoot-to-kill policy [4]; Religious leaders call for action after shooting of innocent man [5]; Muslim tells Christians 'War on Terror' seems like 'War on Islam' [6]; Ex-spy wages peace on terror in the Middle East [7]; Canterbury Cathedral invited to turn tables on war games [8]; Christian peacemakers protest on third anniversary of Iraq invasion [9]; Canterbury Cathedral urged to turn wargame row into peace pledge [10]; Global faith gathering tackles religious roots of terror [11]; Six point alternative to war [12]]

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