9% of Muslims 'ignore terror'

2006-09-24 12:32

London - Nearly one in 10 British Muslims would not tell police if they suspected another Muslim of being involved in a terrorist attack, a poll published in a Sunday newspaper showed.

About 9% said they would not inform on someone of the same religion, a figure which translates as 90 000 people across Britain, alleged the News of the World newspaper, which published the poll.

But 86%, almost nine out of ten, would alert officers, the tabloid added.

Young Muslims were more likely to keep quiet if they had suspicions over terrorism, according to the poll. Fifteen percent of 16 to 24-year-olds said they would not tell police, compared with 81 percent who would.

Britain has been on high terrorist alert since July 2005, when four British Muslim suicide bombers killed 52 people in a coordinated series of attacks on London's public transport system.

The survey, carried out by the ICM polling institute, also found that one in 20 respondents thought that attacks like those in London last July were justified.

ICM interviewed only 502 Muslims aged over 16 by telephone between September 8 and 20 to compile the survey.

Home secretary John Reid this week used a newspaper article to call on Muslim parents to inform police if they thought their sons were involved in terrorism.

In another speech, he warned parents to be wary of their children being "brainwashed" but the comments came in for criticism. He was shouted down by Abu Izzadeen, a notorious British Muslim extremist, while others questioned whether he was asking Muslims to spy on their offspring.

- AFP