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Muslim leaders in Britain appeal for ‘unity’

By DPA

London : A leading British Muslim organisation Tuesday condemned the "barbarity" of the failed car bombings in London and Glasgow and urged the community to help "prevent terrorism."

Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), said it was an "Islamic duty" not only to condemn such actions, but also to provide all the support necessary to prevent such atrocities from taking place.

"The events of the past few days have been very disturbing and challenging for all of us," he told a news conference at the MCB office in east London.

The MCB, the largest umbrella organisation of Britain's 1.7 million Muslims, is considered overwhelmingly moderate.

"It looks sadly as if the terror threat currently facing our country will be with us for some time to come. So let us be absolutely clear about this – that those who seek to deliberately kill or maim innocent people are the enemies of all of us," said Abdul Bari.

Meanwhile, a Muslim leader in Scotland Tuesday spoke of fears of a "rising hostility" towards the Asian community in Scotland after the car bomb attack on Glasgow airport.

Osama Saeed, spokesman for the Scottish Muslim Association, said police were probing an attack on an Asian newsagent and a fire next to a mosque in the city.

In some ways it had been expected that there would be a backlash, said Saeed, as there had been after the Sep 11, 2001 attacks in the US and the suicide bombings in London on July 7, 2005.

"But we have got to stress to people we are in this together and we are all in the same boat. We have all been victims. It hurts when these things happen. You are Scottish born and bred, yet people look at you when you walk down the street as if you don't belong, as if you are persona non grata," he added.