Author: Associated Press
Publication: MSNBC Online
Date: November 24, 2001
URL: http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/ap11-24-031202.asp?reg=EUROPE
LONDON, Nov. 24 - British Muslims
who went to Afghanistan to fight for the Taliban should not face prosecution
when they return home, London Mayor Ken Livingstone said.
''We've got to accept that these
people went off because of a deep sense of injustice about what's happening
in Israel and the West Bank,'' Livingstone said in an interview published
in Saturday's edition of The Daily Telegraph newspaper.
''Of course, I disagree with them,
but there are only about a dozen of them,'' Livingstone was quoted as saying.
News reports have suggested that
as many as 200 British Muslims had gone to support the Taliban. Three British
Muslims were reported killed in Afghanistan in late October, though the
circumstances were unclear.
After the United States accused
the Taliban of sheltering the suspects in the Sept. 11 terror attacks,
hundreds of foreign fighters - most of them from Pakistan - crossed into
Afghanistan to help the Islamic militia.
However, Zaki Badawi, president
of London's Muslim College, said Saturday that he doubted that any British
Muslims were fighting for the Taliban.
''There are lots of stories about
it and every time they claim somebody is fighting then we discover them
somewhere in Pakistan,'' Badawi said in an interview with British Broadcasting
Corp. radio.
The British military has helped
the United States with its attacks in Afghanistan, and Badawi added that
he would regard any British Muslims who fought for the Taliban as traitors.
''Anyone fighting against this country
is a traitor, and I feel this very strongly. If you are a citizen of this
country you have to abide by the law of this country,'' Badawi said.
