London UK, 26th July 2010 – Two major proofs emerged in the past few days that destroy the official government narrative of the past five years, that Islamic ideas induce the type of violence that led to 9/11 or 7/7.

Firstly, the evidence to the Chilcot Inquiry on the Iraq war from former MI5 chief, Eliza Manningham-Buller, that the Iraq war ‘radicalised’ a generation of Muslims in Britain, and secondly, yesterday’s leak in the Sunday Telegraph of a classified civil service report presented to ministers in Britain’s coalition government.

Commenting on this issue, Taji Mustafa, media representative of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Britain said: “These two pieces of evidence have finally placed a nail in the coffin of the discredited arguments that Islamic ideas and groups lead towards violence and ‘terror’.”

“Lady Eliza Manningham-Buller’s testimony utterly contradicted the Blairite lie, cynically used to deflect attention from disastrous and illegal wars, as well as serving as a justification for intrusive policies in Muslim communities around the UK – the Prevent strategy – as well as a justification for Britain’s colonial foreign policy which now ought to be called the ‘Create’ strategy’!”

“The leaked civil service report says a ‘clear assessment’ has been made that individuals ‘do not progress’ to violence through political Islamic groups such as Hizb ut-Tahrir. The Sunday Telegraph’s report also mentions that in a ‘restricted’ memorandum to Eric Pickles, the Communities Secretary, written on July 15, Robert Mason, one of his senior officials, says the civil service report present ‘a clear assessment that individuals do not progress through non-violent extremist groups to violent groups … Extreme groups may also provide a legal ‘safety valve’ for extreme views’. The thinktank, Demos, recently issued a report with similar arguments.”

“The only people left supporting the now discredited arguments, which have helped to wreak havoc in parts of the Muslim world, as well as create suspicion and mistrust within the UK, are die-hard Islamophobes, those with a vested interest in maintaining this tired rhetoric, and foolish politicians.”

“Much of this argument has been created by so-called ‘thinktanks’ who earned massive amounts of money through ‘research’ grants and absurd ‘deradicalisation’ projects by peddling a simplistic linear argument of ‘the more Islamic, the more dangerous’. Hizb ut-Tahrir in Britain refuted this in a detailed report published in 2007 titled ‘Radicalisation, Extremism & ‘Islamism’ – Realities and myths in the War on Terror’. Such organisations, which have a huge conflict of interest due to the financial benefit they have gained from this waste of taxpayers money, will doubtless continue to argue their corner along with those who have a neocon global outlook or are merely anti-Muslim.”

“Indeed, the Telegraph article falls into this trap by recycling lies that Hizb ut-Tahrir works to re-establish the Khilafah in Britain and that its members radicalised Omar Sharif.”

“The current government has made it clear it wishes to adopt a strategy of coercive assimilation when it comes to Muslims, clamping down on dissenting and critical voices, and may try to clamp down on Hizb ut-Tahrir and others because they stand in the path of subjugating the Muslim community. However, at least, it will not be able to use the now discredited justification in the lies peddled about Islam and Islamic groups.”

“Indeed the article’s quote from former Tory communities spokesman, Paul Goodman, that ministers who believe in the ‘conveyor belt’ fallacy are ‘entitled to expect the civil service to respect these views’, is an ominous sign that this coalition government may decide to ignore expert advice and take the fight to the Muslim community anyway, no matter how damaging the consequences.”

“Despite this, Hizb ut-Tahrir will continue its efforts to create a real dialogue and explain the political system Muslims seek to establish in the Muslim world, and dispel the myths about Islam”.

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