Carry on insulting UK troops, say preachers

Three of the UK's most prominent extremist Islamic preachers today compared British soldiers in Iraq to the terrorists who carried out the 7/7 and 9/11 attacks.

Exiled Omar Bakri, his follower Anjem Choudary and Ishtiaq Alamgir, the man who led the recent protest against troops in Luton, said Muslims should continue to insult British soldiers and attack "evil" democracy and freedom of speech, no matter what the consequences.

They said British forces had "blood on their hands" and warned that Britain could face more terror attacks if it did not accept "the truth of Islam".

The clerics spoke at a hotel in Walthamstow, with Bakri appearing by video link from Lebanon.

They accused soldiers in Iraq of carrying out torture, rape and murder and also called for the introduction of Sharia law to Britain, saying non-Muslims who did not accept it should leave the country.

Alamgir said: "The soldiers are saying they are doing their job. This is very shallow. The same could be said about the individuals who carried out the 7/7 or 9/11 attacks that they carried out on the orders of Sheikh Osama bin Laden."