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Muslim MP banned from Islam conference
Paul Waugh, Deputy Political Editor14.07.08
A Muslim minister was banned from attending an Islamic conference in London after claims that some of its organisers are extremist backers of suicide bombers.
International development minister Shahid Malik had been due to speak at the opening ceremony of the four-day Islam Expo at Olympia on Friday, alongside Liberal Democrat MP Simon Hughes and former mayor Ken Livingstone.
The Department of Communities and Local Government was against the idea because some of those involved were alleged supporters of radical Palestinian group Hamas.
A spokesman for the department said: "We have reservations about the organisers, therefore we chose not to send any ministers."
About 40,000 people will have attended the four-day event in Olympia by the time it closes today. It featured sessions on Islamic art, cooking and culture, as well as debates.
Hours before the event, Mr Malik contacted Anas Altikriti, one of the directors of the conference, and said that he would not be able to attend.
Mr Altikriti said: "It seems that by Wednesday he got into difficulty with certain people - within his own party - advising him not to come.
"Shahid realised the importance of the event and was going to try everything in his power to make it. He realised... how untrue the criticism of the events and the organisers were.
"He informed me that the pressure was mounting from all quarters."
Mr Altikriti denied there was a link to Hamas, which supports suicide bombing as a legitimate weapon against Israel. "This isn't a Hamas project," he said.
He added: "It's quite breathtaking to ban one of the most prominent Muslim politicians and [stop] him saying what he wishes."
Asked about his withdrawal, Mr Malik said: "I obviously apologised to the organisers. It was unfortunately due to matters outsidemy control."
