Scottish Muslims hold anti-terrorism rally
Regional-UK, Local, 7/9/2007

Members of Scottish Muslim groups and mosques were gathering in Glasgow Saturday for a rally against terrorism following last weekend's attempted car bomb attack on the city's airport.

In England, the Muslim Council of Britain was convening a special meeting of key imams and community activists from across the country in the aftermath of two coinciding car bombs being found in central London, which police linked with the Glasgow attack.

An Iraqi doctor, Bilal Abdullah, apprehended at the scene of the airport attack, was being charged Saturday with conspiracy to cause explosions.

Bilal is the first person to be charged in connection with the car bombs. Police are also questioning six others about the attacks, most of whom are believed to be also doctors.

The related events have double significance, coinciding with the second anniversary of the 7/7 attacks on London's transport system that killed 56 people, including four which police say were responsible for the bombings.

The Glasgow rally, organized by local mosques and Islamic groups, is being hailed as "Scotland United Against Terror," with support from other faith leaders, trade unionists and politicians, including Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon who is speaking at the event.

Osama Saeed, one of the organizers, said Muslims had been "staggered by the messages of support we've been getting this week from the four corners of the globe." "We thought on a local level we'd get together and do this to allow the grassroots to display their anger at the attacks," Saeed said.

"The eyes of the world will be on Scotland sending out the message that all our communities are united against terrorism," he told the BBC.

On Friday, Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill expressed solidarity with Muslims being demonized as terrorists by attending Edinburgh Central Mosque, where she said the vast majority of Scots were "correctly disgusted" by a backlash of Islamophobic attacks.

In Perth, northern Scotland, the local Scottish Nationalist MP Pete Wishart also met leaders of the Muslim community to discuss what can be done to ensure good community relations strengthened.

"There are many threads to our Scottish make-up and many communities in modern Scotland. None of those communities should be made to feel like scapegoats," Wishart said.

"We agreed that we will not allow Scotland to become divided because of what happened in Glasgow and that our community bonds will remain strong," he told the local Dundee Courier newspaper.

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