London (ANTARA News) – Britain’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Monday hailed Archbishop Rowan Williams for his “great integrity” as the head of the Anglican Church prepared to clarify his controversial call to accommodate sharia, or Islamic law, in Britain.
The Archbishop was to elaborate before the General Synod of the Church of England on his comments that sparked a row and drew both calls for his resignation and signals of support.
The BBC quoted Brown’s spokesman as saying the prime minister “believes the Archbishop of Canterbury is a man of great integrity and dedication to public and community service.”
He also said Brown “understands the difficulty he (Williams) is facing at the moment” and was being kept informed of the debate that arose after Williams suggested aspects of sharia should be “formalized” under the British legal system.
Britain, which has 1.7 million Muslim citizens, had to “face up to the fact” that some of them did not relate to the British legal system, Williams said.
The Times reported that Brown had in a telephone conversation encouraged Williams to clarify his remarks.