BPP SAY: BRITISH TROOPS
OUT OF AFGHANISTAN - MUSLIM EXTREMISTS OUT OF BRITAIN
Into the jaws of hate: Soldiers'
parade marred by Muslim extremists
Screaming hate and brandishing
vile placards, Muslim extremists and far-Right groups clashed yesterday
in ugly scenes that marred a parade by soldiers.
Around 40 members of a group
called Muslims Against the Crusades (MAC) arrived with inflammatory
banners featuring slogans such as 'Butchers return' and 'What are you
dying for? £18k'.
They were soon confronted by
100 people, some wearing English Defence League T-shirts, who shouted
'scum' and 'Muslim bombers off our streets'.
Clashes: Police hold back Muslim
protesters as they trade insults with English Defence League members
while soldiers take part in a homecoming parade in Barking, Essex
The Muslim protesters shouted 'murderers'
as troops from the Royal Anglian Regiment paraded through Barking
Police, who had received
intelligence warning of trouble at the march in Barking, Essex,
separated the groups behind barriers on opposite sides of the road.
But violence flared after 200
soldiers from 1st Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment - who lost five men
in a recent tour of Afghanistan and had been granted freedom of the
borough - marched past thousands of well-wishers.
MAC supporters shouted slogans
such as 'murderers, murderers' and 'British troops go to hell', while
the mainly white crowd opposite, some of whom are believed to have
been BNP supporters, threw frozen pork sausages and chanted 'scum' and
'Allah, Allah, who the f*** is Allah?'
The anti-MAC contingent then
stormed the barriers and traded punches before around 100 officers,
including some on horseback, broke up the mob.
The clashes came little over a
year after Muslim extremists screamed 'baby killers' and 'rapists' at
soldiers from 2nd Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment parading through
Luton after a tour of duty in Iraq.
Members of the public who
travelled to Barking yesterday to cheer the troops said they were
'disgusted' by what happened.
Police lead away the protesters from the
Muslim Against the Crusade Group as they face jeers from English
Defence League members
The homecoming ceremony was delayed by an
hour after far right protesters hurled frozen sausages at the Muslim
group
Charlene Byrne, 24, whose
boyfriend Lance Corporal Scott Hardy was killed in an explosion near
Musa Qala on March 16, said: 'They should never have been allowed to
hijack this. Not everyone supports what's happening in Afghanistan -
but they shouldn't take it out on the soldiers.'
Alex Mitchelson, 18, whose
brother has completed two tours of Afghanistan, said: 'He would been
disgusted by what happened here today. I had Muslim protesters racially
abusing me as I walked by.'
The leader of Barking and
Dagenham Council recently wrote to Home Secretary Theresa May asking
her to ban MAC because he feared its extremist propaganda could cause
violence.
Two men were arrested after police
intervened during the violent clashes
Liam Smith acted after MAC
posters about the protest, showing a bomber bursting through a flag of
St George, appeared on the town's war memorial. Previous leaflets
depicted British soldiers beside a bloody puddle in the shape of a
skull.
Mr Smith said: 'We don't want
these people with their hate-filled agenda in our borough.'
The MAC members - one of whom
allegedly spat at a soldier - left after police gave them safe passage
to Barking underground station by forming a human wall.
One of the organisers, Abu
Abbas, said: 'The protest is not about the Anglian Regiment but all
occupations in Muslim lands. They have gone over and killed civilians.
We cannot accept this.'
But Barking and Dagenham
Muslim councillor Manzour Hussain said: 'MAC do not represent the vast
majority of law-abiding, peaceful Muslim members of society who respect
Britain's Armed Forces and the work they do.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1286784/Muslim-protesters-brand-war-heroes-murderers-homecoming-parade-turns-violent.html#ixzz0r0aXvhnd
