London: Britain's Muslims have been hit by stray racist attacks, with firebombs
being thrown at a mosque and an Iraqi-owned restaurant in Northern England since the
beginning of the US-led war against Iraq.
The attacks, which caused minor damage, followed official warnings issued to 350
mosques and community centres by the Muslim Council of Britain about the risks of a
backlash after the outbreak of war against Iraq.
In the latest incident, the Madinah mosque in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, was hit by a
petrol bomb early last week, which caused superficial damage. A pig's head was
thrown at the same mosque last year, during the Afghanistan war.
Ten days ago, a petrol bomb was thrown at a pizza restaurant run by Iraqi immigrants
in Redcar, Cleveland, as staff served customers.
A man was arrested after the attack.
The extent of hatred was much less compared to the post-September 11 situation, a
spokesman of the Council said. Then hundreds of incidents, ranging from life-
threatening attacks on Pakistani taxi drivers to fire-bombings of several mosques,
were reported.
Ahmed Versi, editor of 'Muslim News', said he believed there would be far fewer
racist incidents during this conflict because the British public was far more
critical of the war and far less sure of its morality.
PTI
