DAR AL HARB - U.K.: "MOSLEMS HAVE A CRUCIAL ROLE IN ROOTING OUT TERRORISM" - - - BRITISH DHIMMIS DOING WHAT THEY DO BEST - BEING DHIMMIS

Blears in pledge to city Muslims
by Emma Pinch

A senior Government Minister yesterday told hundreds of Muslim leaders in Birmingham they had a crucial role in helping root out extremism, as the UK was put on critical alert for more terrorist attacks.

Communities Secretary Hazel Blears made her pledge to help deter radicalisation of young Muslims as the Midlands became the focus of the latest anti-terror operations.

A Staffordshire house, where a doctor was said to live with his family, was raided by anti-terror police while a man and a woman arrested by West Midlands and Metropolitan Police officers on the M6 were being questioned.

A total of five people had been arrested by last night as police linked an attempt to ram a blazing Jeep Cherokee into Glasgow Airport on Saturday to the discovery of two car bombs in London's West End on Friday.

And as investigations continued into the failed car bombings, Prime Minister Gordon Brown warned of a "long term and sustained" terror threat to Britain.

He said Britain's message to the terrorists must be: "We will not yield, we will not be intimidated and we will not allow anyone to undermine our British way of life."

Ms Blears' message to Britain's Muslims came at the Ghamgol Sharif mosque in Small Heath at a pre-arranged engagement with 250 mosque leaders from across the country.

She told The Birmingham Post after the meeting: "What I heard was very encouraging. There was a clear recommendation to everyone to support the police and condemn any terrorist activity.

"The message I brought with me was that I understand sometimes that people in Muslim communities feel they are under the spotlight, and have to understand that it is a small number of malevolent individuals, not communities as a whole."

She said it was important to deter radicalisation among young Muslims by making sure mosques were open and constructive places.

"I don't know in terms of the police inquiry whether the culprits were born and bred in Britain, but people were saying it's really important to reach out to young people - and there are many young people in Muslim communities - and make sure people discuss these issues. Making sure in the mosques that imams speak in English and are able to have a proper explanation of what real Islam is, this is very important."

She said the Government would offer support to imams and "making sure mosques are open and activities are positive and constructive".

Ms Blears dismissed suggestions that continuing British involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan was making Britain a less safe place in which to live.

"I'm aware that foreign policy has been and still is controversial, but I certainly don't accept that foreign policy is the reason why the attacks have happened.

"They have been going on since 1993 against countries which were never involved with Iraq. There are more fundamental issues than that of foreign policy. It's pretty clear where we are with Iraq - we've handed over three out of four provinces we were responsible for and we will carry on supporting that fragile democracy at the request of the Iraqi government. Things have moved on from a couple of years ago. But we've got to have a dialogue and keep it out in the open."

She added that the London and Glasgow attacks had been "a pretty daunting start for everyone, to be honest".

"The way the Government has responded as a team has been encouraging and there's a sense of uniting round a common purpose that we are all in it together and we've got to get on with it," she said.

As the nation was put on critical alert - meaning an attack is expected "imminently" - security was stepped up at major transport locations. Birmingham International Airport banned vehicles from the drop-off zone ringing its terminals to prevent any repeat of Saturday's Glasgow bomb attempt and armed officers maintained a high profile presence.

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1) Blears in pledge to city Muslims