Officials have pulled the plug on a controversial International Islamic Revival Conference at which organizers had hoped to promote the idea that Islam will dominate the world.
WND had reported on plans for the event in London when Shariah Belgium leader Abu Imran said, “We would like to revive the spirit of that Islamic state. And we work every day to build that state again. That Europe is rightly an Islamic nation is a fact. Even if it wasn’t, we believe that Islam will dominate the world and we are working for that concept.”
Now conference organizer Sheikh Anjem Choudary is blaming Prime Minister David Cameron for the shutdown of the planned Islam-power fest, planned last weekend.
“The British government and the police regularly target the Muslim community in Britain,” Choudary said.
“They try to cancel any events which relate to calling for the Shariah, or talking about the foreign policy, or for saying that Muslims have the responsibility for getting rid of the intellectual obstacles that get in the way of bringing about the revival,” Choudary added.
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Listen to an interview with Choudary: |
Choudary said his group has come to expect this response from local and national British authorities.
“So this is what we expect, especially from a government such as the British that have a foreign policy of occupying Muslim land,” Choudary added.
Choudary also takes aim at British domestic policy.
“Even in their domestic policy they have the most draconian legislation, so we do expect that local police and local governments and the British government put pressure on proprietors of venues to cancel our events,” Choudary added.
Choudary added that police and local government officials have put pressure on his associates in the past.
“The local councils made up of the MPs have been putting pressure and in fact they’ve visited some of the brothers who are involved in organizing this event. They basically came with officers and with people in the local governments and they said they were going to ensure this event will not take place,” Choudary continued.
“So with this we see that the pressure is directly linked with whole philosophy of the Cameron regime,” Choudary added.
Another British-based conference planner, Abu Usama agrees saying that police and politics pulled the plug.
“I believe the police were involved and we were not able to go ahead. And there probably, most likely, was political pressure from British officials to prevent the conference from going ahead,” Usama said.
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Listen to an interview with Usama: |
British authorities however, are not so willing to admit their connection to the conference in one way or the other.
In response to the same question about political pressure on the Waterlilly Center to cancel the event, British Home Secretary spokesman Ben McKnight simply asked,
“On what basis would we be able to do that? The reports of cancellation all seem so speculative and heresay,” McKnight remarked.
Another spokesman for the Home Office delegated shutdown authority to the Metropolitan Police.
In a statement for the press, London Metropolitan Police spokeswoman Kate Southern said the department knew about the event.
“Police are aware of a planned Islamic conference to be held in Tower Hamlets on Saturday 27 November 2010,” the statement said.
A Waterlilly Conference Center/Tower Hamlets program coordinator who would only identify himself as Mr. Ullah, says the cancellation was because the management discovered the nature of the event.
“It was controversial and once we found out about it, it was cancelled immediately,” Ullah stated.
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Listen to the interview with Ullah: |
Ullah adds that there was some intervention from the local authorities.
“Yes sir. Basically, we do a lot of community events here and from the Metro Office, we have agents who liaise here on a regular basis. So basically when we have events here, we have to notify them,” Ullah explained.
“It’s just a safeguard for the businesses themselves and for the general public. We have been doing this for the last four or five months now,” Ullah said.
He added that the event had captured the attention of the local governments.
“We did communicate with them straightaway and I do have some contacts and they update us with information and we give them the same as well. It’s a transparent thing,” Ullah continued.
“I got a call from one of the guys in that department and he was stressing about the whole issue. What they did is they spoke to us and if the information is true the event is cancelled immediately,” Ullah added.
Ullah also says the Waterlilly Centre staff received a tip from a group called the English Defence League, a group that had planned a counter demonstration for the same day.
Representatives with the English Defence League have not responded to WND’s requests for comment.
Ullah adds that the Waterlilly staff also cancelled the event because they believe they were misled.
Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad says that his message got through, even though the event was scrubbed, via YouTube..
There, he said, “We will never, ever compromise our stand.”
“I did deliver my talk and that was it. I was able to promote revival and I delivered my speech and I did it by internet,” Muhammad stated.
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Listen to an interview with Muhammad: |
Muhammad said his advocacy of Shariah law and jihad has resulted in his arrest by Lebanese authorities.
“I have been arrested in my country for my beliefs,” Muhammad claimed.
Muhammad is free on bail in Lebanon after being charged with advocating terrorism in Lebanon.
Intelligence analyst and security Christopher Logan specializes in Islamic issues and operates the Logan’s Warning site. He says the sponsorship of the event goes beyond a few Muslims advocating Shariah law.
“They were at a minimum supported by Revolution Muslim. So ever since Revolution Muslim posted the threat to British MPs, I would say the authorities are watching and looking to crack down on any group with ties to them,” Logan observed.
This includes the Izharudeen group sponsored by Choudary.
The Revolution Muslim website was hacked and taken down in response to the site posting the threats against British Members of Parliament. The Investigative Project on Terrorism reports that Revolution Muslim British leader Bilal Zaheer Ahmad was arrested on Nov. 19 because of the threats made to British MPs.
WND previously reported how Choudary announced on CNN that his goal is Islamic domination of the world.
The comment came after Choudary confirmed he was in contact with people inside the United States and was encouraging them to attack the United States.
The exchange appears on video:
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