For British Muslims, "the Most Profound Challenge Yet"

July 14, 2005

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/13/AR2005071302314.html?referrer=email&referrer=email

On July 14, 2005 The Washington Post reported, "Britain's security services, politicians and Muslim community leaders responded with anger and dismay Wednesday to what some Muslims called their worst nightmare: the disclosure that the four suspected killers in the London transit explosions were homegrown Islamic suicide bombers... Leaders of the country's 1.6 million-member Muslim community engaged in some public soul-searching over how it was that young men of relatively well-off backgrounds became so alienated from society and so fanatical that they allegedly carried out bombings that killed at least 52 people and injured 700. They noted that more than 100 incidents of threats and attacks, including the killing of one Muslim, have been reported since the bombings... Several mosques have been damaged, and there have been more than 100 incidents of threats and attacks against Muslims since the July 7 bombings, although community leaders reported no upsurge in attacks Wednesday. The worst incident took place Sunday when a Pakistani man was beaten to death by young men in Nottingham, in the Midlands region north of London."