British Muslim Initiative press release, 4 July 2007

The British Muslim Initiative remains firm in its condemnation of any and all attempts to undermine the safety, security and sanctity of human lives in the UK, and continues to call the Muslim community to offer full support to the police and security agencies in order that a full and thorough investigation could be conducted in the failed bomb attacks in London and Glasgow. However, BMI wishes to express its utter disgust at the attempt of some in attempting to score points at this critical time of our country and people, by peddling much repeated myths, falsehoods and lies in order to mend a beleaguered and flimsy argument at a time of great difficulty for all.

The attempt by some to promote the term ‘Islamist’ as indicative of the new evil element on the block, is nothing short of evil in itself. The groups mentioned in Denis MacShane’s article in the Telegraph yesterday (‘Islamist’ is the word for these terrorists) have been amongst the most vociferous and outspoken against the trend of extremism…. MacShane’s argument is not just false, it threatens to lump those who have all along rejected violence, with those who use violence as their means and declare violence as their objective, hence compromising all efforts to combat the rise of this threat.

BMI also expresses its alarm as to the coverage offered to the ideas and arguments of ‘former’ extremists, such as Ed Hussein and Hassan Butt, who have not stopped at merely relaying their experiences as ‘repentant extremists’, but go on to offer their input on the whole scope of Islamic theology, ideology and groupings, which given their former history, they have almost no proper insight into and have no right to assume the position of experts or authorities thereon.

See also Anas Altikriti’s piece at Comment is Free, 4 July 2007