In her latest article on the "Counterterrorism Blog", Zeyno Baran, the Director of the International Security and Energy Programs at the Nixon Center and close friend of the regimes of Central Asia, yet again makes the tired claim that Hizb ut-Tahrir though not a terrorist organisation, incites terrorism. Yet again, in her entire article Baran was unable to bring one text from the vast array of HT's comprehensive literature which supports this fanciful contention. The article is also plagued with the usual factual inaccuracies and contradictions that have come to be expected from Baran.

Shock, horror,  Hizb ut-Tahrir even has a webpage in Danish says Baran – as if it is a grave offence to translate the thoughts and culture of the Islamic political party Hizb ut-Tahrir into another language. Her ludicrous claims that Hizb ut-Tahrir in Denmark has been inciting Muslims to kill members of the government and encouraged Danish Muslims to go to Iraq to fight Americans are not substantiated with any evidence whatsoever. Similarly, Hizb ut-Tahrir's opposition to Israel's brutal and oppressive occupation in Palestine, not Europe, is misrepresented by Baran when she erroneously alleges that Hizb ut-Tahrir has been calling for the killing of Danish Jews. If this were the case, then why does Baran not provide any incontrovertible evidence to prove that Hizb ut-Tahrir has called for the killing of Danish Jews? The reality of the matter is that it was Jyllands-Posten, the Danish newspaper responsible for the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) which fabricated these allegations in order to place pressure on the Danish government to ban the party in Denmark [for more background on this read" False news: a prior Muslim controversy involving Jyllands-Posten at ]www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/02/333456.html]

Many will question the sincerity of Baran's statement that "No Western or Muslim government should tolerate people calling for killing of people in the name of their religion", when she herself has vehemently supported America's neo-conservative foreign policy in Iraq and Afghanistan that has killed thousands of civilians in the name of spreading democracy and freedom.

When Baran comments on the demonstrations held by Muslims in London, she claims, without basis, that Hizb ut-Tahrir was involved in demonstrations that included incendiary slogans and placards. This is despite the fact that Hizb ut-Tahrir's demonstration on Saturday was completely unconnected with Friday's demonstration which had incendiary slogans and placards. There were no placards at our demonstration threatening massacre or glorifying the events of 7 July and 9/11. In a statement the police noted that Hizb ut-Tahrir's protest was "well natured" and the overwhelming majority of media outlets made a clear distinction between the two demonstrations. Simple research on Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain's website [www.hizb.org.uk] would have established that in a press release on February 9th, Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain reiterated, "the need for Muslims to protest peacefully and responsibly in response to the publication of offensive caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) by European media outlets." We also pointed out that "At this juncture, the way forward is neither in continued publication of offensive cartoons nor violent protests, but in sincere and robust intellectual debate and dialogue regarding Islam and the West." Of course, none of this was cited by Baran, as it did not support the conclusions she had already arrived at and was seeking a justification for.

Her claim that Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain has been forming new groups since the events of 7/7, which were incidentally condemned by us, is again not substantiated with any form of evidence and seems to be her own invention.

This latest article will be treated by most students and teachers of Political Islam with the contempt it deserves as it is merely further evidence of Baran's lack of objectivity and shoddy research.

Dr Imran Waheed
Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain