Guardian man fired after blog attack
By Rhys Blakely,
Times Online
A Guardian journalist has been fired after a blogger revealed he was a member of a extremist Islamist political party and had not declared his interest when writing for the newspaper's comment pages after the July 7 attacks.
The Guardian's move - taken after reporter Dilpazier Aslam refused to resign from the party, Hizb Ut Tahrir - echoes recent media oustings in America, but is the first time a British journalist has been forced to step down after coming under fire from bloggers - independent web diarists.
Scott Burgess, who runs the Daily Ablution blog, revealed Aslam’s ties to Hizb Ut Tahrir, which operates legally in Britain but is banned in several other countries.
Hizb Ut Tahrir has courted controversy for campaigning for a global Islamic state under sharia law.
According to a 2003 BBC report, available online, the Hizb Ut Tahrir's website "promotes racism and anti-Semitic hatred, calls suicide bombers martyrs, and urges Muslims to kill Jewish people".
It is described in an internal Home Office briefing note as a "radical, but to date non-violent Islamist group".
The note described the organisation as "an independent political party that is active in many countries across the world. HT's activities centre on intellectual reasoning, logic arguments and political lobbying. The party adheres to the Islamic sharia law in all aspects of its work."
The note adds: "It probably has a few hundred members in the UK. Its ultimate aim is the establishment of an Islamic state (Caliphate), according to HT via non-violent means. It holds anti-semitic, anti-western and homophobic views."
A spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain has emphasised that Hizb Ut Tahrir does not speak for the Muslim mainstream.>>>continued
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,1-1707775,00.html
Times Online
A Guardian journalist has been fired after a blogger revealed he was a member of a extremist Islamist political party and had not declared his interest when writing for the newspaper's comment pages after the July 7 attacks.
The Guardian's move - taken after reporter Dilpazier Aslam refused to resign from the party, Hizb Ut Tahrir - echoes recent media oustings in America, but is the first time a British journalist has been forced to step down after coming under fire from bloggers - independent web diarists.
Scott Burgess, who runs the Daily Ablution blog, revealed Aslam’s ties to Hizb Ut Tahrir, which operates legally in Britain but is banned in several other countries.
Hizb Ut Tahrir has courted controversy for campaigning for a global Islamic state under sharia law.
According to a 2003 BBC report, available online, the Hizb Ut Tahrir's website "promotes racism and anti-Semitic hatred, calls suicide bombers martyrs, and urges Muslims to kill Jewish people".
It is described in an internal Home Office briefing note as a "radical, but to date non-violent Islamist group".
The note described the organisation as "an independent political party that is active in many countries across the world. HT's activities centre on intellectual reasoning, logic arguments and political lobbying. The party adheres to the Islamic sharia law in all aspects of its work."
The note adds: "It probably has a few hundred members in the UK. Its ultimate aim is the establishment of an Islamic state (Caliphate), according to HT via non-violent means. It holds anti-semitic, anti-western and homophobic views."
A spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain has emphasised that Hizb Ut Tahrir does not speak for the Muslim mainstream.>>>continued
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,1-1707775,00.html
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