By Peter Beaumont Rethink leads Briton to break with group Blair wanted to ban after 7 July One of the most senior members of the controversial Islamist Hizb ut-Tahrir movement, the group which Tony Blair pledged to ban after the 7 July bombings, has dramatically defected. Maajid Nawaz, a Briton who was jailed in Egypt…
By Jessica Shepherd {Muslim spiritual leaders say Blair’s call for training in UK universities is misguided} University imams have reacted angrily to comments made by Tony Blair last week about their education. The prime minister said imams should be trained in UK universities. Too many, he told a conference of Islamic religious leaders, entered Britain…
Tony Blair has unveiled plans for a new generation of Muslim imams, trained in the UK, to help counter extremism. In an attempt to reduce the number of overseas clerics teaching in British mosques, Mr Blair announced funding would be available for those studying in the UK. Overseas clerics have been accused of fuelling radicalism…
A quarter of Britain’s two million Muslims believe UK Government agents staged the July 7 suicide bombings, a new survey has found. They think the four men named as the killers of 52 passengers on the London transport system were not responsible for the attacks. The poll, for the commercial TV station “Channel 4”, late…
Tony Blair says he wants the “voice of moderation” among Muslims to be heard, as $1m funding was announced to boost Islamic studies at UK universities. Ministers hope the money, announced as a report criticised teaching quality, will help train more imams in the UK. At a conference on Islam, Mr Blair also called for…
