Posted on 06/30/2007 7:17:12 PM PDT by angelcindy
LONDON (AFP) - London Mayor Ken Livingstone called on Britons Saturday not to demonize Muslims after a double car bomb plot was foiled in the capital, amid fears of a Islamist terror threat.
At the same time he criticized Britain over its ties with Saudi Arabia, which he said had fuelled intolerance in the past through its Wahhabist form of Islam, creating a "major problem."
"In this city, Muslims are more likely to be law-abiding than non-Muslims and less likely to support the use of violence to achieve political ends than non-Muslims," he told BBC Radio.
"They have played a good and active and growing role in creating a multi-cultural society," he added.
He noted that terrorist acts had been carried out in London over the years by various groups including for example far-right groups. For years the British capital was wracked by violence by the Irish Republican Army (IRA).
"All I am interested in as mayor is that we try to prevent all acts of violence whether it is by a disaffected young member of the (far-right) BNP (British National Party), whether it is by an Islamist or a Wahhabist supporter," he said.
It was crucial to understand "that that doesn't mean that all white men are potentially a threat to society any more than all Muslims are," he added.
But he said criticized the government's ties with Saudi Arabia, saying it remained unclear if Riyadh had stemmed huge amounts of funding which he said flows from the country.
"We have got to understand that when we talk about the Wahhabi strand of Islam, which is very intolerant, our major problem in dealing with it is that it flows out of Saudi Arabia," he said.
He said Wahhabi was the official religion of the Saudi royal family, and noted that Riyadh was one of the main buyers of British arms.
"For a very long time, politicians at national level were refusing to be sufficiently critical of the fact that the Saudi regime didn't clean up its act," he said.
"Now we are assured that they have, but there's been decades of literally hundreds of millions of pounds flowing out of Saudi Arabia with official backing into the most intolerant strand of Islam, buying influence all over the world for it.
"I think we have to be absolutely clear that that is not still going on. I don't have access to the sort of MI6 briefing to say whether that's come to an end or not," he said.
Red Ken would not dare say this either though.
That is my fear if we do not act now they will and the there will blood shed to a degree we have never seen in Britain.
The riots of the 70s/80s will be nothing compared to what may happen if we do not act against the muslim/Islamist community now.
LOL
Yes they are if not in those words but many say deport the leaders of the mosques.
bttt
I was talking to an American about a week ago and they said they were not aware of honour killing in the States. I mentioned we have had a far number in Britain giving her various web links. Both of use came to the conclusion during the course of the conversation that there are probably as many or if not more in the US but are not reported as such therefore giving the impression that the Muslims are more integrated and less radical in the States than is really the case.
How true
Rubbish no real Brit beleives that attack was ever justified regardless of what they believe the reason may have been.
bttt
They need to adopt Breaker Morant’s rule 303!
Thank you sometimes I feel that there is a very much hand in the sand attitude by some Americans to this real danger that both our countries face.
whoops head not hand
Yeah, I picked up on that one too. To me it's the funniest thing about the whole article. I think that because the Marxist IRA has "Republican" in their name, writer assumed "right wing."
Talk about guzzling the multi-culti uber alles Kool-aid!!
How many of the people he is so ardently defending want to live under sharia law? I think it is around 40%.
Idiot.
To adopt Rule 303, you need an Enfield. The Brits are disarmed, and are at the mercy of their govt, and the likes of Mayor Red.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.