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Rice's UK Mosque Visit Cancelled Over Protests
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Stop the War Coalition plans demonstrations wherever Rice goes. (Reuters)
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LONDON,
March 30, 2006 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – US Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice's two-day visit to the north of England
suffered a second setback on Thursday, March 30, after a scheduled
mosque visit was cancelled over anti-war protests.
"The
visit wasn't cancelled because we don't like Condoleezza Rice,"
Ibrahim Master, a member of Masjide Al Hidayah's governing committee
in Blackburn, was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse (AFP).
He
said the decision followed a meeting on Wednesday, March 29, with a
group of Muslims, including members of the "Stop the War
Coalition."
Master
said the group threatened to protest inside the mosque when Rice and
her British counterpart Jack Straw visit the Muslim place of worship.
"It
would have compromised the safety of the visiting dignitaries."
Rice
is due to visit Blackburn, a former mill town that has a big Muslim
population, mostly of South Asian origin, to reciprocate a visit Straw
made to her home state of Alabama last year.
Poet
Roger McGough has already withdrawn from compeering a celebratory
concert in Liverpool on Saturday, April1, to be attended by Rice.
Opponents
of the US-led invasion-turned-occupation of Iraq are also planning a
demonstration outside the concert venue.
Protests
The
Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), the largest lobby group for the
Muslim minority, said there was widespread opposition to US foreign
policy and Rice's visit.
"This
particular US administration has upset many Muslims in the UK and
around the world ... so it is not particularly surprising that the
visit to a Blackburn mosque has had to be cancelled," MCB
spokesman Inayat Bunglawala told Reuters.
"The
US government needs to demonstrate that it is prepared to be more
even-handed in its relations with Muslims and Muslim countries."
Alex
Martindale, chair of a local pressure group "Blackburn With
Darwen Stop the War," praised the visit cancellation.
"An
historic decision has been made," he said in a statement.
"The
mosque committee and the surrounding community, in conjunction with
Muslim scholars from Blackburn and Preston, have taken the decision to
withdraw their invitation to Condoleezza Rice."
He
said the decision "is evidence that the bulk of the community,
Muslim and otherwise, are strongly against the visit."
Jamilah
Shah, a member of the "Stop the War Coalition" in Blackburn,
said protesters were hoping to prevent Rice from meeting with teachers
and students at Pleckgate High School Maths and Computing College
Friday.
"Parents
at the school haven't been consulted and are worried about
security," said Shah.
Wasted
Chance
The
Foreign Office said it dropped the visit out of respect for the wishes
of the local communities.
"It's
a pity that we will not be visiting a mosque in Blackburn," a
Foreign Office spokeswoman said.
"Everything
we are doing on this visit is being done with respect to the
communities involved, taking their views into consideration."
She
asserted that Rice and Straw "are looking forward to meeting
Muslim and civic leaders during the visit."
Master
said the mosque's governing committee regretted having had to cancel
Rice's visit.
"I
feel extremely disappointed and angry, to be honest with you, with
some people because they've proposed this action," he said.
"I
feel that we will not get this opportunity again.
"We
have to use these type of visits - very high-profile visits - for our
benefit and that's what we proposed to do."
He
asserted that the visit would have been a golden opportunity to
"show the non-Muslim world that mosques have nothing to hide and
non-Muslims have nothing to fear."
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