WASHINGTON – An expert on Islam said Thursday that the United States and other Western nations are indirectly aiding the spread of radical Islamic groups abroad.

Dr. Patrick Sookhdeo, international director of U.K.-based Barnabas Fund, said at a lecture hosted by Family Research Council that the “Arab Spring” is a good example of how the United States and other nations are enabling the spread of Islamism, especially in Libya and Egypt.

In Libya, he said, the support given by NATO and the U.S. to the rebel group, known as the NTC, is a matter of concern. “We had to support the NTC, which was the rebel group,” said Sookhdeo, who added that “they were a coalition of groups that included al-Qaida.” “We have removed one dictator and replaced that dictator with a political ideology rooted in a religion that wants our destruction.”

From that example, Sookhdeo moved to Egypt, which also recently had a dictatorship toppled by the civilian uprising. “The conclusion is the Salafist Wahhabists have effectively triumphed,” said Sookhdeo, noting that the elections resulted in the Salafists gaining around 60 percent of the seats in the legislature.

Christian Post, 26 January 2012

In reality, of course, the Salafi al-Nour party got only 29% of the seats in the newly elected People’s Assembly. Sookhdeo presumably arrives at his figure by adding the 38% of seats won by the Muslim Brotherhood. Is this “expert on Islam” really so ignorant of Egyptian Islamist politics that he thinks the Brotherhood are “Salafist Wahhabists”?

For a rather more informed discussion of the impact of political Islam on the Arab world, see Gulf News, 27 January 2012