"At the next election, Straw will have a lot of problems," Hibatullah said

LONDON, September 21 (IslamOnline.net) – British Muslims are threatening to vote against the ruling Labour party of Prime Minister Tony Blair in the next elections to down the "warmongers," and secure a "more ethical foreign policy," a leading British newspaper reported Sunday, September 21.

Recalling Labour's defeat in by-election in London constituency of Brent East on Thursday, September 18, Ihtisham Hibatullah, a spokesman for the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB), said it was a "clear warning" to other Labour MPs to change policy on Iraq, the Middle East and Afghanistan, said The Independent.

"This isn't an anti-Labour mobilization at the moment," Hibatullah said.

"It's about stopping the warmongers. We want an ethical foreign policy. We have a very substantial vote bank which, if channeled, could be very effective."

Blair suffered a mid-term blow at the polls when a hitherto Labour stronghold fell to the opposition Liberal Democrats in a closely fought by-election.

It was the first time since Blair came to power six years ago that Labour has lost a by-election anywhere, let alone in the ethnically diverse Brent constituency.

Liberal Democrat standard bearer Sarah Teather beat Robert Evans, a Labour member of the European Parliament, by a 1,118 vote margin to become at 29 the youngest member of the House of Commons.

Hibatullah maintained she won the seat partly because MAB had urged Muslims in the constituency to vote for Liberal Democrats.

Prominent MPs Targeted

He asserted that Muslim activists are targeting a number of prominent lawmakers  who hold seats with large numbers of Muslim voters, particularly Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, in Blackburn and the east London legislators Oona King, Jim Fitzpatrick and Energy Minister Stephen Timms, the British daily said.

In Blackburn , which has 26,000 Muslim voters, Straw has already faced fierce criticisms from Asian Labour councilors and local mosques over his government’s policy on Afghanistan and Iraq .

"At the next election, Straw will have a lot of problems," The Independent quoted as saying Ahmed Versi, editor of Muslim News in Britain .

Timms has also been confronted by local mosque leaders in his constituency for the same reasons.

The daily expected the ruling Labour party candidates to face a daunting test in the mid 2006 general elections, since British Muslims have been staunch Labour voters.

In east London , mosque leaders are discussing putting up anti-Labour candidates at the next general election.

Muslims were also joining some local Labour parties - such as Harrow to try to influence local party policy, the paper added.

The Labour's government of Blair has been accused of doctoring intelligence to make the case for Iraq war.

Blair denies the claims, but has yet to emerge from a crisis triggered by the death in July of David Kelly, a Ministry of Defense expert on Iraq and weapons of mass destruction, who was the source of the BBC report.

 Anti-Labour Rally

In a related development, The Independent said groups inside the London-based Stop the War Coalition are planning to organize a mass anti-Labour rally in London next week, in which they will unveil their broader anti-New Labour agenda.

The rally will attack Blair's leadership and include a "national oil day" demonstration at petrol stations and burning effigies of the prime minister and his war ally U.S. President George Bush.