I watched the BBC News 24 program Hardtalk last night - an interview with Anjem Choudary, Former UK Head of Al Muhajiroun. Hopefully the interview will come up on the Hardtalk homepage at some point, because I'd urge you all to watch it. Here's the blurb.
The interviewer Stephen Sackur did an ok job under difficult circumstances, I suppose, though I yearn for the day when Paxman is turned loose on these people. I would like to have seen Sackur make a lot more of the remark (re: the London 7/7 bombings) that no non-Muslim can be considered "innocent". I'd also like to see Choudary asked, given that he utterly rejects British law & the British state and recognises only Sharia, on what grounds he & those sharing this viewpoint should have *any* rights whatsoever in this country - for example, the right not to be shot on sight by the police.
Choudary is certainly a charismatic, articulate person, with utter certainty in his views, and the politician's art of being uninterruptable. I'm torn as to whether such media exposure is a good thing (give them enough rope...) or bad (would we have give Hitler air time?). Certainly Pipes has some interesting views on this:
Television in Time of War
Daniel Pipes
New York Sun
August 2, 2005
JP
PS There *is* an older Hardtalk interview with Choudary from May 2003 which I haven't seen myself that is available for download:
Hardtalk - Suicide Attacks - May 2003
3 comments:
After seeing Paxo's abysmal display with Galloway on election night, - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4553075.stm - I'm not so sure I'd want to see him interviewing anyone. The desire for 'fireworks' is leading to a debasement of the interviewing process (all sneering and bluster) and allowing people off the hook.
I ALSO heard Choudhury on a BBC news bulletin (probably 5live, might have been R4) being asked about the cleric who's done a flit to Lebanon. Which is BOLLOCKS.
The cleric who's gone to Lebanon is Omar Bakri Mohammed:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4133150.stm
Choudary and Bakri are the deputy leader and leader of Al Muhajiroun.
Guess what? It's a Zionist plot! And Al-Qaeda doesn't exist! Well thank Allah for that...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/syria/story/0,13031,1547568,00.html
Bakri held as he leaves Beirut TV station
August 12, 2005
The Guardian
The controversial Muslim cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed was last night held in a Beirut prison after he was arrested by Lebanon's general security department less than a week after he fled from the UK. ... Last night his spokesman, Anjem Choudary, said he understood the cleric had been released by Lebanese officials but that was unconfirmed.
...
Mr Bakri said al-Qaida did not exist and he did not know anybody who belonged to the organisation. He said he had disbanded al-Muhajiroun because he had been persecuted by the "Zionist" media in Britain and that he had not worked as a preacher since then.
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