"These benefits should not be lost by such irresponsible acts," Sawalha

By Hadi Yahmid, IOL France Correspondent

PARIS, August 29 (IslamOnline.net) -  The Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) Thursday, August 28, slammed plans for a conference commemorating those believed to be behind the September 11 hijack attacks, saying the organizing group is marginal and unrepresentative of the Muslim communities in Britain.

"Jama'at Al-Muhajirun (the Immigrants) has a limited influence on Muslim communities here," Mohamed Sawalha, an MAB member, told IslamOnline.net.

The group had said it would organize a conference on motives leading the 19 attackers Washington blames for the September explosions to commit that crime.

Sawalha decried groups as such "do not realize the negative impact their actions are afflicting on Muslim communities".

He noted that after the September attacks, Muslim communities better took their way forward, made the British government more aware of their rights and joined  in the political arena in a more organized form – advantages Sawalha said should be boosted.

"These benefits should not be lost by such irresponsible acts," he said.

‘19 Speakers’

The posters were seen in the Birmingham conference

In the meanwhile, the leader of Jama'at Al-Muhajirun Omar Bakri  said the conference is to probe reasons for the attacks, warning they could stand a repeat.

"We will discuss the causes; and If they are still there, results would be the likes of them," Bakri said in an interview with the London-based Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper Wednesday, August 27.

He said that 19 speakers of the Khilafa (succession) group would give speeches on behalf of the "real suicide bombers".

"The conference will also disclose the recommendations of the suicide attackers, as well as reading out a speech by Osama bin Laden," said Bakri.

Observers said the group is to further ostracize itself in the British society by misusing the atmosphere of freedom to propagate “its extremist concepts”.

"The group also gives justifications for itself being besieged and blown as part of the war on terrorism," said Bakri.

Bakri and members of the group earlier came under inquiry by the British police since September 11 attacks, and many of them were imprisoned.

There are some 1,546,626 Muslims in England and Wales, representing nearly 2.5 per cent of the general population, according to the 2001 National Census.