Muslim chef 'stress' over pork

A Muslim chef was "stressed and humiliated" after being switched to a job where he was expected to cook pork products, a tribunal has heard.

Hasanali Khoja from Edgware, north-west London, said even wearing gloves or using tongs to cook would not protect him from the risk of splashes.

Mr Khoja, who was working for the Metropolitan Police, also alleges that racist gestures were made at him.

The 60-year-old chef is claiming religious discrimination.

In 2005, Mr Khoja started a catering manager job at Hendon police training centre.

But he was found to have inadequate IT skills and in August that year, he accepted a different job at the same site.

His objections to touching pork products were respected, the tribunal heard.

'Racist' gestures

In February 2007, Mr Khoja said he was transferred to a police kitchen at Heathrow Airport where he was expected to prepare and cook all types of food.

A meeting was then arranged to discuss Mr Khoja's pork objections.

Mr Khoja alleged human resources manager, Paul Bell, told him his job was at risk if he did not follow instructions. continues here

Government adviser on Islamic terror arrested after man is stabbed at his home

A Muslim who advised the Government following the July 7 London bombings has been arrested after an alleged stabbing.

Inayat Bunglawala, 39, was held on suspicion of attacking another man at his £300,000 home.

Mr Bunglawala, who also briefed former Security Minister Tony McNulty on the threat posed by Islamic radicals in the UK, was arrested two weeks before Christmas last year.

The identity of the alleged victim is unknown and it is not clear what circumstances led to the alleged attack in the early hours of December 13 last year.

Mr Bunglawala has been released on bail while the Crown Prosecution Service considers bringing charges.

Mr Bunglawala is one of the most prominent members of the Muslim Council of Britain, an organisation which advises the Government on extremism and counter-terrorism.

After the July 7 London bombings in 2005, he was one of seven Muslims appointed to a Home Office taskforce tackling radicalisation in the UK.

Last week, Mr Bunglawala was featured on the BBC and in many newspapers as the moderate ‘voice’ of British Islam after the Luton anti-war demonstrations.

Critics claim his arrest will once again focus attention on the MCB.

In his final years as Prime Minister, Tony Blair came to distrust the organisation amid claims it was linked to Islamic extremism. But the MCB has enjoyed a renaissance under Gordon Brown and briefed Counter-Terrorism Minister Bill Rammell on community tensions last week. MCB representatives also advised Foreign Secretary David Miliband during last year’s Israel-Gaza War.

Conservative MP Patrick Mercer, who worked as a security adviser to Mr Brown, said of the alleged incident: ‘This calls into question the Government’s vetting of its Islamic advisers.’

Mr Bunglawala has previously worked as a civil servant at Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs but now runs an Islamic website.

His wife, Tahmina Saleem, works for Redbridge Council in East London. They have several children. According to the Land Registry’s records, Mr Bunglawala bought his large Luton townhouse for £300,000 in August 2007.

Many in the Islamic community have been concerned at his behaviour. Mr Bunglawala – the MCB assistant general secretary and Press spokesman – lodged a complaint with the BBC after its website described firebrand cleric Abu Qatada as an ‘extremist’.

Dubbed Al Qaeda’s ‘Ambassador in Europe’, Abu Qatada gave religious authority to extremist groups in the UK and abroad, including the men behind the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre.

Last night, a BBC News source said: ‘We were right to call Abu Qatada an extremist and we would be happy to do so again.’

In 2005, following his appointment to the Home Office, it was revealed that Mr Bunglawala had previously accused the BBC’s management of ‘Zionism’ due to the presence in the Corporation of several prominent Jews, including Michael Grade and Alan Yentob.

Five months before the 9/11 attacks, Mr Bunglawala circulated writings of Osama Bin Laden, whom he regarded as a ‘freedom fighter’, to hundreds of Muslims in Britain.

When this came to light in 2005, Mr Bunglawala said he did not hold those views any longer.

Last night, Mr Bunglawala refused to discuss the alleged stabbing as it was a ‘police matter’.

His lawyers, the £400-an-hour celebrity firm Carter-Ruck, said that he ‘vigorously denies having committed any criminal act whatsoever in relation to this incident’.

A spokesman for Bedfordshire Police confirmed the arrest of Mr Bunglawala but refused to comment further. continues here

Muslim leader in call for Sharia law in UK

A MUSLIM leader believes knife attackers should be locked up for 42 days like terror suspects.

Sarfraz Sarwar, 60, said he couldn't see the difference between the knife crime epidemic and those accused of plotting and carrying out terror attacks.

Mr Sarwar, of Gordons, Pitsea, also backed calls for Sharia law to be introduced in Britain and said public flogging should be carried out in town centres.

His comments follow those made by Lord Chief Justice, Lord Phillips, who said aspects of Sharia could be used to settle Islamic disputes, but not in the courts.

Mr Sarwar said: "What's the difference between knife criminals and suicide bombers?

"They should do exactly what they do with terrorists, "They should hold them for 42 days, question them and put them in prison and solve the problem."

He said Sharia law would act as a deterrent in solving crime in Britain.

He added: "If anybody is caught with a knife then give them ten lashes in the town centre.

"Sharia law is not controversial. It's a deterrent. Muslim countries don't have half the problems we have because Sharia law is there."

Aspects of Sharia law involve stoning, lashings and cutting off hands.

Mr Sarwar continues to run a minorities support group in Basildon. He was the leader of the Basildon Islamic Centre, in Laindon, before it was burnt down in 2006. continues here