Not content with upsetting the Jewish religion, Professor Richard Dawkins, the celebrated atheist, has now annoyed some Muslims.

Speaking about the damage caused to the library in Timbuktu, in Mali, he described those who burnt it down as Islamic Barbarians.

His comments have been interpreted as being derogatory to Islam and insulting to followers of the religion by some on the social networking site Twitter.

The best selling author of The God Delusion and Oxford Professor, Tweeted that “Like Alexandria, like Bamiyan, Timbuktu’s priceless manuscript heritage destroyed by Islamic barbarians”.

His comments were met with a backlash with many people condemning him of unfairly attacking Islam and ignoring the many acts of vandalism carried out by Christians.

But he hit back saying: “Some people (perhaps 1st language not English) think I was calling ALL Muslims barbarians. No. I was calling Islamic BARBARIANS barbarians.”

Daily Telegraph, 30 January 2013

Perhaps Dawkins should try describing an act of Israeli state terrorism as the work of “Jewish barbarians” and then attempt to justify this comment on the basis that he was “calling Jewish BARBARIANS barbarians”. The objections to his remark about the God of the Old Testament would pale into insignificance.

A man who was put on trial after staging an anti-religion protest by ripping out pages from the Koran in front of Muslims has had the case against him dropped.

A jury at Leicester Crown Court failed to reach a verdict in the case against Peter James Crawford last month. The Crown Prosecution Service reviewed the evidence and a decision was made not to continue with a fresh trial. The case was dropped against Mr Crawford, 52, when the prosecution offered no evidence against him at a hearing.

Speaking this week, Mr Crawford’s defence advocate during the trial, Steven Newcombe, said: “I think the prosecution made a sensible decision not to have a retrial in the light of the jury being deadlocked. There were other ways of dealing with this matter, rather than attempting to prosecute Mr Crawford in a crown court. He has learned a lesson and I’m sure he will conduct himself with a greater degree of sensitivity.”

A spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service said: “When jury cannot decide on a verdict, the prosecution must decide whether to seek a retrial on the basis of the same evidence. A number of factors must be taken into account, including the likely penalty if the defendant is found guilty, the time delay in securing a date for the retrial, the views of the victim, judiciary and police and the likelihood of another jury reaching a decision.”

Leicester Mercury, 11 January 2013

The jury in the trial of a man who staged an anti-religion protest by ripping out pages from the Koran in front of Muslims has been discharged.

The eight women and four men on the jury at Leicester Crown Court failed to agree on a verdict. They sent a note to the judge saying there was no prospect of them reaching either a unanimous or a majority verdict on which at least 10 of them agreed.

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An atheist shocked Muslim volunteers at a stall promoting Islam when he ripped out pages from the Koran. Peter James Crawford (52) then threw the holy book onto the ground and told them: “Your religion is a load of b******s.”

He is on trial at Leicester Crown Court accused of causing religiously aggravated intentional harassment, alarm or distress, by demonstrating hostility based on membership of a particular religious group, Islam. He denies the charge.

The incident happened at the Islamic Information Centre’s stall, near the Clock Tower in Leicester city centre, on a busy Saturday afternoon, on May 12.

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