Les députés belges veulent interdire le voile intégral
Femme portant le niqab, un "voile intégral" qui ne laisse voir que les yeux. Photo : Le Monde
LE MONDE: Les députés belges membres de la commission de l'intérieur de la Chambre ont approuvé à l'unanimité, mercredi 31 mars, une proposition de loi visant à interdire le port de la burqa dans les lieux publics.

Ce texte doit être approuvé prochainement en séance publique mais, selon ses auteurs, il marque déjà une importante première dans un pays européen. "Nous devons ressentir de la fierté d'oser faire cette démarche alors qu'il y a aussi des débats en France, en Suisse, en Italie", a expliqué le député Denis Ducarme, membre du Mouvement réformateur (libéral francophone).

Le texte n'évoque pas explicitement la burqa ou le niqab. Il parle de "tout vêtement cachant totalement ou de manière principale le visage". Si la personne qui porte un tel vêtement n'est plus identifiable, elle sera punie d'une amende ou d'un emprisonnement (de 1 à 7 jours).

La notion d'"espace public" évoquée par le texte recouvre les trottoirs, les accotements, les passages aériens et souterrains pour piétons, les parcs, les jardins publics, les terrains de sport, les aires de jeu, les bâtiments à vocation culturelle accessibles au public et les bâtiments des services publics. >>> Bruxelles, correspondant | Mercredi 31 Mars 2010

LE MONDE: Débat sur le voile intégral : où en sont nos voisins ? >>> | Dimanche 28 Mars 2010

Al hamdu lillah! Belgium Moves to Ban the Burqa
TIMES ONLINE: The face-covering veil is set to be banned within weeks in Belgium, making it the first country in Europe to make the wearing of Muslim clothing illegal.

Women who flout the ban will face from one to seven days in jail or a fine of 15 to 25 euros.

While President Sarkozy is encountering obstacles to his plans to outlaw the face-covering niqab in France, Belgium's main parties are united behind the move and the influential home affairs committee voted for it unanimously today.

A vote in the full Belgian parliament is expected on April 22 and a "yes" vote seems assured given the political consensus.

"Wearing the burqa in public is not compatible with an open, liberal, tolerant society," said MP Daniel Bacquelaine, from a French-speaking centre right party who proposed the bill.

"The burqa is contrary to the dignity of women. It is a walking prison."

He added: "We cannot allow someone to claim the right to look at others without being seen.

"It is necessary that the law forbids the wearing of clothes that totally mask and encloses an individual."

Denis Ducarme MP, also from the centre-right Reform Movement, added: "This is a very strong signal that is being sent to Islamists. I am proud that Belgium would be the first country in Europe which dares to legislate on this sensitive matter." >>> David Charter, Brussels | Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Mission Destruction: Obama Opens Up East Coast for Oil Drilling
The President is due to announce his plans later today in scheduled remarks on "energy security". Photograph: Times Online
TIMES ONLINE: President Obama will today announce plans to open huge swaths of the US coastline to oil and natural gas drilling, much of it for the first time.

The affected areas include 167 million acres (259,000 square miles) of ocean along the vast Atlantic coastline as well as eastern parts of the Gulf of Mexico and the north coast of Alaska.

The proposals, which Mr Obama is due to announce later today at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington in scheduled remarks on "energy security", are designed to reduce America's dependence on imported oil.

But The New York Times said it was far from clear whether they would achieve their more immediate political aim: winning crucial Republican support for energy and climate change legislation due to go before the Senate in the next few weeks.

"While Mr Obama has staked out middle ground on other environmental matters — supporting nuclear power, for example — the sheer breadth of the offshore drilling decision will take some of his supporters aback," the newspaper reported.

"And it is no sure thing that it will win support for a climate bill from undecided senators close to the oil industry, like Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, or Mary L Landrieu, Democrat of Louisiana."

The proposals would end a longstanding moratorium on East Coast exploration for natural resources, a move that would please oil companies but is likely to outrage environmental groups and residents of coastal areas. >>> Times Online | Wednesday, March 31, 2010

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Obama to Open Offshore Areas to Oil Drilling for First Time >>> John M. Broder | Tuesday, March 30, 2010

General Election 2010: Gordon Brown Warns Against Immigration 'Scaremongering'
THE TELEGRAPH: Gordon Brown has warned political parties against ''scaremongering'' about immigration in the general election campaign.



In a major speech on immigration in east London, the PM acknowledged it was ''legitimate'' for voters to express anxiety about the numbers of incomers and their impact on their public services and lifestyles, and said politicians must address these concerns.

But he said that net inward migration to the UK was in fact coming down and that no mainstream party was advocating shutting the country's doors to newcomers altogether.

He urged the major parties to present ''a united front'' against those who would ''bring down the shutters around Britain entirely''.

The real choice for voters on immigration at the election was between Labour's points-based system, designed to restrict non-EU entrants to those with in-demand skills, and Conservative plans for an annual cap on migrants, said Mr Brown. >>> | Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Immigration Comes At Hefty Price
NRC HANDELSBLAD INTERNATIONAL : Immigrants are expensive for Dutch society, but few people want to say it out loud for fear of the consequences, a study by a Dutch scientist has found.

The economic effects of immigration have become a hot-button issue in Dutch politics. The mere mention of the subject is often greeted with suspicion and loathing. But that didn’t stop scholar Jan van de Beek from writing his doctoral thesis on the issue. In his PhD research, which he defended at the University of Amsterdam on Tuesday, he answered two related questions: what kind of economic consequences did mass immigration to the Netherlands between 1960 and 2005 have, and why is it such a taboo to study the economic effects of these immigrants?

Van de Beek has come to conclusions the Netherlands may not like. Since the 1970s, little research has been done into the economic effects of immigration, for fear of playing into the hand of the xenophobic right. As recently as last year, populist politician Geert Wilders asked the Dutch cabinet to calculate the net costs or benefits imposed on society by immigrants. Cabinet refused to do so, which led to uproar amongst several opposition parties. The minister responsible called it “improper” to reduce citizens’ contribution to society “to a profit-loss analysis”.

The reluctance to study the matter has done well to conceal some unpleasant facts, Van de Beek claims. For one, the Dutch policy of recruiting workers from outside of Europe in the 1960s needlessly delayed the modernisation of Dutch industry. As the Dutch economy was modernised in the 1980s, many immigrants were laid off and became dependent on welfare. Even today, the Dutch welfare state mainly attracts immigrants that impose a net cost on the Dutch economy, Van de Beek found.

Van de Beek is a mathematician and a cultural anthropologist. He is interested in social problems and has a soft spot for numbers. “In 1999, I was writing my master’s thesis about Dutch asylum policy,” he said in an interview. “I wanted to devote a chapter to the economic aspects of the matter, because the asylum debate centres mostly on numbers. To my surprise, I couldn’t find any sources. Filling this gap became the subject of my doctoral research.” 43,000 euros per immigrant >>> Dirk Vlasblom | Tuesday, March 30, 2010

The Net Is Closing Around Pope Benedict XVI
NRC HANDELSBLAD INTERNATIONAL – EDITORIAL: Now that it has been revealed that the pope failed to act against the sexual abuse by clerics when he could have, he has become part of the problem.

The Dutch archbishop, Johannes Simonis, appeared on national television this week to argue that the Dutch Catholic Church had been ignorant of the massive sexual abuse that had taken place within its ranks over the last few decades. If there is one single Roman Catholic prelate who could not argue the same, it is pope Benedict XVI. Archbishop Simonis demonstrated a shocking naiveté by his choice of words. “Wir haben es nicht gewusst,” he said, German for “we didn’t know”. This phrase recalls the excuse German citizens used after the war to explain their failure to prevent atrocities committed by the Nazi regime.

Whether Simonis was telling the truth or not, the pope cannot possibly say he was unaware. In July of 1996, then cardinal Ratzinger, chief ideologist for the Vatican in his capacity as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, received a letter from the archbishop of Milwaukee in the United States. The archbishop asked Ratzinger for advice regarding two priests in his diocese who had sexually abused children in their care. One of them had done so at a school for the deaf. And ecclesiastical authorities knew of the abuse but failed to act.

Ratzinger never even bothered answering the letter. The New York Times revealed this striking example of the Vatican’s callousness and arrogance on Thursday.

The Church is hoping the matter will blow over. Papal spokesman Federico Lombardi called the case “tragic”, but said the Vatican did not learn about the case until the late 1990s. Lombardi made a splash before by going on the offence and saying sexual abuse is not exclusively committed within the Church. But the New York Times’ article goes a long way towards debunking this ‘pot calling the kettle black’ argument.

The net is closing around pope Benedict XVI. His letter to the Irish faithful last weekend was full of consoling words, but little promise of action. It was mostly political in nature and an attempt at damage control. >>> Editorial | Friday, March 26, 2010

Serbia Apologises for Srebrenica Massacre
NRC HANDELSBLAD INTERNATIONAL: The Serbian parliament passed a landmark resolution Wednesday condemning the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of over 9,000 Bosnian Muslims but stopped short of labelling the killings a genocide.

The ruling coalition of pro-Western democrats and socialists hopes to win EU and investor favour with measure, which was adopted after debate over nearly 13 hours broadcast on live television. The adoption of the text with a majority of 127 of the 173 lawmakers ends years of denial by Serbian politicians about the scale of the killings.

"We are taking a civilised step of politically responsible people, based on political conviction, for the war crime that happened in Srebrenica," said Branko Ruzic, whose socialist party was led by strongman Slobodan Milosevic during the 1990s.

According to the latest estimate by the International Criminal Court for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Bosnian Serb forces led by general Ratko Mladic killed 9,210 Bosnian Muslim men and boys after taking over the eastern enclave that was put under the UN protection. The massacre is Europe's worst atrocity since the Second World War.

Belgrade applied for European Union membership in December but must capture and send Mladic to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague before starting talks. The former general is believed to be hiding in Serbia. >>> AFP, NRC, Reuters | Wednesday, March 31, 2010

News Hub: Obama Steps Up Confrontation

The Obama-Sarkozy Love-in
MAIL ONLINE: Presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Barack Obama appeared inseparable as they went to extraordinary lengths last night to defuse speculation of a chilly relationship.

Mr Obama repeatedly referred to Mr Sarkozy by his first name during the French President's first Washington visit and spoke fondly of his trip to Paris last year.

'We respect one another and understand one another,' Mr Obama said. Obama and Sarkozy can't stop smiling at each other as they agree they are 'inseparable' in their thinking over Iran >>> Mail Foreign Service | Wednesday, March 31, 2010

US School Children Warm to Chic Carla Bruni
THE INDEPENDENT: Carla Bruni-Sarkozy turned up the heat on her first trip to Washington as France's first lady, visiting a school in a poor neighbourhood and lunching at Ben's Chili Bowl.

The ex-top model later met US first lady Michelle Obama for dinner with their husbands - behind firmly closed doors in the Obamas' private residence quarters in the White House, leaving the curious guessing about how the glamorous four got along and whether their children joined them.

The White House put such a clamp on the dinner details that not even the menu was released.

Youngsters at Washington's KIPP DC charter school were over the moon at their visitor and her entourage of bodyguards and serenaded her with Ain't No Mountain High Enough.

Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy read them a book from the Madeline series about a girl living in France - in English, which the Italian-born French first lady speaks fluently. When eighth-graders asked her about her favourite museum she responded, to their delight: "If you come to Paris I'll bring you to the Louvre and I'll show you the Mona Lisa, and then we'll go to the restaurant."

Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy, who took up a singing career after quitting the catwalk and is now active in foundations fighting illiteracy and Aids, had surprised pupils at Juilliard Music School with a visit the day before in New York. >>> Associated Press | Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Blair Needs £5m to Pay for His Lairs – and His Henchmen (Poor B****** Can’t Get By On Less!)
MAIL ONLINE: Tony Blair has told friends he needs to earn at least £5million a year just to break even.

The former prime minister has been heavily criticised for cashing in on his contacts for personal gain and is thought to have made around £20million since leaving office.

But last night his former election agent John Burton claimed Mr Blair needed the astonishing annual income - and possibly much more - to pay spiralling wage bills at his growing list of companies and charities.

The revelation about his finances came as the former premier returned to the political fray with a lukewarm televised endorsement of Gordon Brown.

Mr Burton, one of Mr Blair's most loyal political friends, said: 'What I asked him was, you know he gets this criticism about what he earns. I said how many people do you employ? And he said 130.

'I mean it was 25 about two years ago and he said to me I have got to earn £5million a year to pay the wages, so God knows what he has got to earn now to pay the wages.'

Mr Burton's extraordinary claims mean average wages could be as high as £200,000 a year. And his figures suggest Mr Blair now needs to make £20million a year. Tony Blair: Why I need £5m every year just to get by >>> Jason Groves and Sam Greenhill | Wednesday, March 31, 2010

US General Apologises for Gay Dutch Troops Slur
THE TELEGRAPH: An American general has apologised for his claim that the presence of homosexual troops was responsible for the Dutch army's failure to prevent the 1995 Srebrenica massacre.

John Sheehan, a former US General and Nato commander, caused outrage two weeks ago when he alleged that open homosexuality in the Dutch ranks had so damaged military morale that the country's army was powerless to prevent genocide in Bosnia.

He claimed, before a US Senate hearing, that Henk van den Breemen, the Dutch chief of the defence staff in 1995, had told him of problems related to gay troops.

"I am sorry that my public recollection of those discussions of 15 years ago inaccurately reflected your thinking on some specific social issues on the military," he wrote in a letter to the Dutch general.

Without explicitly referring to gay Dutch military, General Sheehan acknowledged that a weak United Nations mandate for troops was the problem facing peacekeepers.

"To be clear, the failure on the ground in Srebrenica was no way the fault of individual soldiers," he wrote.

A spokesperson for the Dutch Ministry of Defence said General Van den Breemen was satisfied with the apology. >>> Bruno Waterfield, in Brussels | Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Related:

THE TELEGRAPH: General John Sheehan Isn't the First Bigot to Blame 'The Gays' >>> Tom Chivers | Friday, March 19, 2010

THE TELEGRAPH: Gay Dutch Soldiers Responsible for Srebrenica Massacre Says US General >>> The Telegraph’s Foreign Staff | Friday, March 19, 2010

Anti-immigrant Support Rises as Italian Far Right Makes Big Gains in Poll
TIMES ONLINE: Regional elections see surge in votes for Northern League party, which campaigned on anti-migrant agenda

Final results from Italy's regional and local elections have confirmed a surge in support for the anti-immigrant right, mirroring similar gains recently seen in the Netherlands and France.

With Silvio Berlusconi and his allies taking four regional governorships from the left, Umberto Bossi's Northern League has emerged as the undisputed winner. The League was expected to take 13% of the national vote, up from 8% at the last general election in 2008 when it used a poster of white sheep kicking out a black one.

Bossi's party won two important governorships – Piedmont, the region around Turin, and the Veneto. In the Veneto it received a 10% higher share than the prime minister's Freedom People movement.

The League also continued its expansion into areas outside its Po valley homeland. In "red" Emilia-Romagna it won almost 14%.

The party's success fitted an emerging pattern. Earlier this month the Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders, who has compared the Qur'an to Hitler's Mein Kampf, made big gains in local elections. In France Jean-Marie Le Pen's National Front won nearly 10% of the vote in regional ballots. >>> John Hooper in Rome | Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Scandal and the Italian Vote

Suicide Bombs Strike Southern Russia
THE NEW YORK TIMES: MAKHACHKALA, Russia -- Two suicide bombers including one impersonating a police officer killed at least 12 people and injured 18 others in the southern Russian province of Dagestan on Wednesday, officials said. Nine police officers were among the dead.

The blasts in the North Caucasus region came two days after a twin suicide bombing tore through the Moscow subway system, killing 39 people and wounding scores, and a day after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin vowed to drag terrorists ''out of the sewer.''

Dagestan borders Chechnya, where Russian troops have fought two full-scale wars against Islamic separatist rebels in the past 15 years.

In Wednesday's attacks, a suicide bomber detonated explosives in the town of Kizlyar near Dagestan's border with Chechnya, when police tried to stop the bomber's car, Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev said in televised comments.

''Traffic police followed the car and almost caught up -- at that time the blast hit,'' Nurgaliyev said, adding the car was heading toward the center of Kizlyar.

As investigators and residents gathered at the scene of the blast, a second bomber wearing a police uniform approached and set off explosives, killing the town's police chief among others, Nurgaliyev said. A school and police station nearby were also damaged.

Grainy cell phone video footage posted on the life.ru news portal showed the moment of the second blast, with officials wandering past a destroyed building before a loud clap rings out and smoke rises in the distance. >>> Associated Press | Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Authorities Analyze Security Following Metro Blasts

RUSSIA TODAY: Authorities analyze security following Metro blasts: The first funerals of the 39 people who were killed in Monday's suicide bombings in the Moscow Metro will be held on Wednesday. Dozens of others remain in hospital, with several in a critical condition. >>> | Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Israel Lobby Presses Congress to Soften Obama's Tough Stance on Netanyahu
THE GUARDIAN: American Israel Public Affairs Committee circulates letter urging White House to 'reinforce' relationship with Israel

America's main pro-Israel lobby group is mobilising members of Congress to pressure the White House over its bitter public confrontation with Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister.

The move, by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), appears aimed at exploiting differences in the Obama administration as it decides how to use the crisis around settlement building in Jerusalem to press Israel toward concessions to kickstart peace negotiations.

Aipac has persuaded more than three-quarters of the members of the US House of Representatives to sign a letter calling for an end to public criticism of Israel and urging the US to "reinforce" its relationship with the Jewish state.

The open letter, which has been circulating among members of Congress for the last week, says that while it is recognised that there will be differences between the two countries, they should be kept behind closed doors. "Our view is that such differences are best resolved quietly, in trust and confidence," it says. >>> Chris McGreal in Washington | Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Hartes Urteil: Deutsches CIA-Opfer muss 2 Jahre ins Gefängnis
Bild: Kronen Zeitung
KRONEN ZEITUNG: Die Geschichte des Khaled el-Masri klingt wie das Drehbuch zu einem Agenten-Thriller, dürfte aber wahr sein: Der Deutsch-Libanese wurde während eines Mazedonien-Aufenthalts von CIA-Agenten verschleppt und gefoltert - während die deutschen Behörden untätig zuschauten. Heute gilt El-Masri als traumatisiert. Er fiel mehrfach wegen Straftaten auf. Jetzt wurde er wegen einer Prügelei zu zwei Jahren Gefängnis verurteilt.

Es war zu Silvester 2003, als der damals 40-Jährige auf dem Weg in einen Kurzurlaub an der mazedonischen Grenze von Grenzpolizisten aus dem Reisebus geholt wurde. Er war ins Visier einer internationalen Terrorfahndung geraten - offenbar, weil er den gleichen Namen hat wie einer der mutmaßlichen Drahtzieher der Anschläge vom 11. September 2001. Monatelang verhört und misshandelt >>> | Dienstag, 30. März 2010

Smacking Ban Extended to Muslim Madrassahs and After School Clubs
MAIL ONLINE: Islamic schools are to be banned from smacking after a report warned that children were at risk of physical abuse.

Children's Secretary Ed Balls today acted to extend the ban on smacking to all who teach or care for children outside the family including leaders of Muslim madrassahs.

The move followed an investigation by Government adviser Sir Roger Singleton which found evidence youngsters in madrassahs were sometimes given physical punishments, including a 'clip round the ear' or the 'hen' position, where fingers are squeezed around a pencil.

'I do not think that there should be any scope to conceal reality by dissembling with words,' said Sir Roger, chief adviser on child safety.

'A "clip round the ear" could result in a damaging blow to a child's head.'

He went on: 'I was told of other physical punishments such as the "hen" position where fingers are laced with a pencil and squeezed.'

He also raised concerns about treatment of children in some fundamentalist Christian part-time schools, where biblical references to chastising youngsters are taken literally.

Existing laws outlaw smacking by teachers in schools. But those who tutor children outside school, in part-time educational settings and weekend and evening faith schools are not covered.

These include Britain's estimated 1,600 madrassahs. >>> Laura Clark | Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Gulf Sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed al-Nahyan Found Dead in Morocco
THE TELEGRAPH: The boss of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), the world's biggest sovereign wealth fund, has been found dead in Morocco.

Gulf sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed al-Nahyan was ranked 27th on the Forbes list of the most powerful people in the world. Photograph: The Telegraph
Sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, who directed ADIA's recent acquisition of 15pc of Gatwick Airport, was found four days after his glider aircraft went missing. He was 40.

ADIA, which is thought to have assets worth $627bn (£420bn), declined to comment.

The Sheikh had no deputy director. However, sources close to the fund said that a succession plan is being worked on.

Ranked 27th on the Forbes list of the most powerful people in the world, Sheikh Ahmed was also a half-brother of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, Abu Dhabi's ruler and the president of the United Arab Emirates.

Sheikh Ahmed took control of ADIA in 1997 where he was described as "very hands on" in investment decisions. The sovereign wealth fund's most high-profile investment was a stake of about 4pc in Citigroup. >>> Louise Armitstead, Chief City Correspondent | Tuesday, March 30, 2010

TIMES ONLINE: Sovereign wealth fund boss found dead in Morocco: A team of French and Moroccan divers have found the body of an Emirati sheikh who headed the world's largest sovereign wealth fund, four days after the ultralight glider he was travelling in crashed into a lake near Rabat. >>> Philippe Naughton | Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Washington: Première rencontre au sommet pour Sarkozy avec Obama à la Maison Blanche
LE TEMPS: WASHINGTON, Les présidents américain Barack Obama et français Nicolas Sarkozy se retrouvent mardi à Washington avec la volonté d'approfondir leur dialogue sur les grands dossiers internationaux et de tourner la page des malentendus qui ont parasité leurs premiers pas.

Attendu depuis de longs mois côté français, ce rendez-vous à la Maison Blanche vient réparer un oubli, puisque M. Sarkozy est le dernier grand dirigeant européen à y être reçu, bien après la chancelière allemande Angela Merkel ou le Premier ministre britannique Gordon Brown.

Les deux dirigeants devaient se retrouver mardi après-midi (19h30 GMT) pour un entretien de plus d'une heure dans le Bureau ovale, avant de donner ensemble une conférence de presse dans les jardins de la Maison Blanche.

Pour donner un retentissement particulier à cette rencontre, M. Obama et son épouse Michelle ont convié leur visiteur et son épouse Carla Bruni-Sarkozy à un dîner à quatre dans leurs appartements privés, avant le départ du couple présidentiel pour Paris. >>> AFP | Mardi 30 Mars 2010

Editorial : Acte de défiance
LE TEMPS: Le double attentat de lundi dans le métro moscovite va pousser le président Dmitri Medvedev à réprimer les islamistes caucasiens

Des scènes comme celle du théâtre de la Doubrovka à Moscou en 2002 semblaient appartenir au passé. Des femmes voilées, portant des ceintures d’explosifs, avaient effectué une prise d’otages spectaculaire. Lundi, deux jeunes femmes ont pourtant humilié le pouvoir russe en se faisant exploser dans deux stations du métro moscovite proches du siège du FSB (services secrets russes) et du Ministère de la défense. >>> Stéphane Bussard | Mardi 30 Mars 2010

Suisse – Détention difficile : Amnesty très inquiète pour Max Göldi
20MINUTES.ch: La «dégradation drastique» des conditions de détention de Max Göldi préoccupe Amnesty International.

L'organisation appelle les autorités libyennes à améliorer immédiatement la situation, a-t-elle indiqué mardi dans une brève prise de position.

L'employé d'ABB emprisonné près de Tripoli a été transféré le week-end passé dans une cellule sans fenêtres ni eau chaude, selon son avocat Salah Zahaf. La pièce est très humide et sent mauvais, a ajouté Amnesty International. Et l'organisation de préciser que M. Göldi a été privé de promenade lundi. >>> ats | Mardi 30 Mars 2010

New Dark Age Alert! Islamic TV Show ‘Backed Marital Rape’ and Promotes Extremist Groups, Claims Muslim Think Tank
MAIL ONLINE: Britain's leading Islamic TV channel has regularly broadcast demeaning material about women and promoted extremist groups, it was alleged yesterday.

Programmes on the Islam Channel have told women they should not refuse to have sex with their husbands or leave home without their permission, an inquiry by the Islamic think-tank the Quilliam Foundation found.

Women who wear perfume in public have been labelled prostitutes.

The channel has regularly acted as a propaganda platform for Hizb ut-Tahrir, the fundamentalist organisation that Tony Blair wanted to ban after the 2005 London bombings. It has also promoted hate preachers, a report said.

And, the inquiry by the Islamic think tank the Quilliam Foundation found, its broadcasts are also trying to sow hatred between different Muslim groups by promoting a single strand of hardline theology.

The Islam Channel, launched in 2004, is the most watched satellite channel aimed at a Muslim audience and the think tank is now calling for an investigation by regulator Ofcom.

Report author Talal Rajab said: 'Unfortunately during the three month period that we monitored its output, it repeatedly promoted bigoted and reactionary views towards women, non-Muslims and other Muslims who follow different versions of Islam.

'Although the channel does not directly call for terrorist violence, it clearly helps to create an atmosphere in which religiously-sanctioned intolerance and even hatred might be seen as acceptable.'

One programme featured remarks instructing women that 'the idea that a woman, even if married, can refuse relations with her husband because of individual choice was part of the Western culture.'

It was necessary for 'maintaining a strong marriage' that a woman should submit to a man, viewers were told.

Under English law, a husband who forces his wife to have sex is guilty of rape. >>> Steve Doughty | Thursday, March 25, 2010