24th March 2006
Dear Sir/Madam,
I write in relation to the story entitled "The al-Qaeda supergrass who wanted to wage war in Britain" in Today's Times newspaper [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2027502,00.html].
The article incorrectly claims that Muhammad Babar was a member of Hizb ut-Tahrir when it states that, Babar said that he became a member of Hizb-ut-Tahrir and al-Muhajiroun while at university, when he became angered by the Gulf War."
This is the first time such an allegation has been made, and we would have expected you to contact us for our views on this. We state categoricaly that Muhammad Babar has never been a member of Hizb ut-Tahrir.
In the past, journalists at The Times have contacted us to seek our views on issues such as these prior to publication, and we are disappointed that this did not occur on this occasion.
However, we appreciate that in the rush to prepare stories this can sometimes happen, but we would be grateful if you could immediately correct the story.
Please feel free to call us if you would like to clarify this issue further.
Thanking you in advance of your reply.
Kind Regards,
Taji Mustafa
Media Representative
Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain