[Al Arabiya Latest] The leader of the largest Muslim organization in Britain vowed Friday to take the secretary of state for communities in the UK government to court for defamation after she accused him of inciting violence against Jews and British troops.
"Blears defamed me when she claimed I called for an attacks on Jews all over the world"
Dawud Abdullah, Deputy of MCB |
Dr. Dawud Abdullah, deputy secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain said he will sue Hazel Blears, secretary of state for communities, for vilifying him in the media after talks between the cabinet minister and MCB on Friday did not resolve their differences. "Blears defamed me when she claimed I called for an attacks on Jews all over the world," Abdullah told AlArabiya.net. "That kind of defamation is upping the stakes and I feel obliged to defend myself in a legal manner against such serious and defamatory allegations," he said adding that he hoped the matter would be resolved after he responded to Blears' accusations in a letter to the Guardian.
Members of the Muslim Council of Britain also criticized Blears' campaign against Abdullah saying it threatened the relationship between the Muslim community and the UK government. Abdullah's lawyers accused Blears of adopting "an extraordinary and malicious interpretation," of the Istanbul Declaration Abdullah signed this year in solidarity with the people of Gaza.
Seeking damages
"A government which tries to suppress discussion of such views by the kind of crude bullying to which Hazel Blears unfortunately stoops will have little moral support, not only in the Muslim community, but in wider society"
Abdullah, Deputy of MCB |
Abdullah explained he and MCB have taken all steps to de-escalate the crisis and that the UK government persisted despite a series of meetings and discussions the latest of which was one on Friday when MCB concluded it must seek damages. "We have explained all our concerns and have met with parliamentarians to move on. But the government has tried to publicly humiliate me. A government which tries to suppress discussion of such views by the kind of crude bullying to which Hazel Blears unfortunately stoops will have little moral support, not only in the Muslim community, but in wider society," Abdullah said and added that the government's ongoing pressure was a "classical colonial attitude" towards oppositional voices within society.
The deputy's lawyers warned Blears that unless she issues a retraction and apology by April 15 they will issue proceedings for libel. |