Call for mosque chairman to quit A Birmingham MP has called for the chairman of the city's Central Mosque to resign after he said the government could not be trusted. Chairman Dr Mohammed Naseem made the comments after terror suspect Yasin Hassan Omar was arrested in Small Heath on Wednesday morning.
Perry Barr MP Khalid Mahmood said Dr Naseem had brought the role of mosque chairman into disrepute. But Dr Naseem said he did not believe he had been offensive or controversial. "To the best of my belief, I haven't said something I thought was unhelpful," he said. What he has done is brought into disrepute the role of the chair of the Central Mosque and the Muslim community in Birmingham Khalid Mahmood "I was trying to put the record straight. "We have got a long tradition of democracy and a rule of law and that's what I think we should uphold." On Wednesday, Dr Naseem said there was no excuse for terrorism, but he said Tony Blair had lied over Iraq. "Now we cannot give our blind trust to the government," said Dr Naseem. Speaking to BBC Radio WM on Thursday he questioned the existence of al-Qaeda. "I don't think al-Qaeda exists because we Muslims all over the world have not known this organisation," he said. "The only information about this organisation is coming from the CIA. Now, the CIA is not known for telling the truth." Mr Mahmood, the first Muslim to be elected into Parliament, said: "What he has done is brought into disrepute the role of the chair of the Central Mosque and the Muslim community in Birmingham. "If he wants to make cheap political points then he really ought to relinquish his position as chairman and let somebody who is neutral and has the interests of the community do it." Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/- /1/hi/england/west_midlands/4723731.stm Published: 2005/07/28 10:40:07 GMT © BBC MMV Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
