Thursday, September 20, 2001

British Student Union Enforces Ban Against Campus Activities by Militant Islamic Group By DAVID WALKER London Britain's National Union of Students is enforcing a campus ban against a militant Islamic organization that was distributing fliers at Britain's University of Manchester. The union backed the leaders of a Manchester student group, who called the police on Monday when they spotted recruiters for the London-based Al-Muhajiroun handing out leaflets to Muslim students enrolling for the new term. The student union, which represents three million British college students, passed a measure in April banning Al-Muhajiroun from all campuses because it had distributed racist and homophobic literature to students. Al-Muhajiroun recruiters left the Manchester campus after Monday's incident. A spokesman for the student union said members of the organization had been seen previously at campuses at this time of year -- most British universities commence their academic programs in late September -- and their presence after last week's jetliner attacks was provocative. In the spring a close colleague of President Vladimir Putin of Russia labeled Al-Muhajiroun an agency for recruiting Muslim students in London to fight against Russian troops in Chechnya. He also said the London School of Economics had been infiltrated by Islamic extremists, an accusation strongly denied by the institution. Home Secretary David Blunkett said Wednesday he was closely monitoring recent comments by Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed, the leader of Al-Muhajiroun, who called publicly for the death of "those who wage war against Allah." The Labor politician added that it was important to maintain a balance between preventing violence and preserving free speech. He warned that militants may be seeking to foment unrest by provoking the authorities into arresting them, in the hope that they would win martyr status. Al-Muhajiroun could not be reached immediately for comment, but in the past it has accused the British government of racism against Muslims. Its Web site expresses sympathy with the Taliban and says that America has declared war on 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide. Brooks Duke, vice president of the student union, said he had seen leaflets from Al-Muhajiroun that promoted hatred. They "talk about the destruction of Israel and about promoting homophobia -- it's generally racist material. They also promote the discussion about the Jihad." He offered support to affiliated student unions that seek to ban racist literature. The annual conference of the student union in April this year identified Al-Muhajiroun by name as guilty of anti-Semitism and homophobia and passed a motion banning the organization from all campuses. Mr Duke said the student union defended multiculturalism and freedom of religious expression. A spokesman for the student union added, "A lot of institutions have Islamic societies, and people may think this lot [Al-Muhajiroun] are a student group. They are not. They have nothing to do with Islamic groups on campus which will be harmed by their literature." Of the one million students in undergraduate programs at British universities, only around 40,000 are Muslims. Participation is thought to be low because many Muslims, for cultural and religious reasons, dislike government loans. Many believe that the Koran forbids the collection of interest. Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

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