Glasgow and London attacks

A link has been made between the attacks on Glasgow Airport and the West End of London. Mercifully, all three attacks were failed. Two people were injured at Glasgow; one person had a leg injury, and one of the attackers was seriously burned. On examination at the Alexandra Hospital in nearby Paisley he was found to be wearing what appears to have been an explosives vest. This was removed and made safe. One of the attackers was also heard to be yelling "Allah, Allah!" as he tried to run from bystanders. And it was the bystanders who were the heroes at Glasgow, stopping their flight and restraining them.

The BBC's security correspondent, Frank Gardner, has said that these potential car bombings are the wholemark of the insurgency in Iraq, and their tactics are now being deployed in the UK.

It is my stated position that the terrorists who call themselves Muslims are an abhorrence to the majority of the faithful of that religion. I have the deepest respect for Islam, as a younger cousin of Christianity, sharing a common forefather (Abraham) and prophets like Jesus are recognised by Islam. The assertion by the extremists that all infidels should be killed is in total contradiction of the Islamic teachings of the Koran, which recognises and acknowledges the existence of other faiths, like Judaism and Christianity. Provision is even made for the faithful of these religions, to the effect that they are not subject to the rules as laid down in the Koran.

The terrorists use religion as a pretext for their practices. The problems in the Middle East, which have existed for decades, create a potent rallying call for the extremists. Here in the UK, many a British born young man of Islamic background has been known to fall for their poisonous teachings. A dose of brainwashing is all it takes to turn them into suicide bombers, which is what the pair at Glasgow may have been.

I condemn in the strongest possible terms the intentions of those that perpetrated the foiled attacks in London and Glasgow. We should not use this as an excuse however, to retaliate against the Muslim community in the UK, who have a vital role to play. This sort of incident is also a marker that there is a very serious problem in society, when there are people about who condone this sort of activity. It is time we sat up, took notice and addressed the problems at hand. As was demonstrated at Glasgow Airport this afternoon, we can only defeat this evil if we all stand together.

Tags: glasgow, london, bomb, attacks, islam