Britain launched a £5-million fund on Wednesday to fight Muslim extremism at grassroots levels, calling it a “battle for hearts and minds”.
The need to counter Islamist militants was underlined by last week’s arrest of nine suspects in anti-terror raids in Birmingham, to foil an alleged “Iraq-style” kidnap and beheading plot.
The funds will be available to town halls across the country as part of what Prime Minister Tony Blair called a “radical and head-on” fight with extremists whipping up anti-Western passions.
“As the events of the last week show, community tensions are high in some parts of Britain and the security threat remains serious,” Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly was expected to say at the formal launch of the fund.
“This new, more local approach will help reach directly into communities to support the law-abiding majority in tackling the false and pernicious ideology spread by extremists.”
Police announced on Wednesday the release without charge of two of the nine Pakistani-origin British suspects arrested last Wednesday in Birmingham, prompting anger from Muslim groups.
But security sources insist the arrests were necessary, to foil an alleged plot to kidnap and behead a British Muslim soldier, whose execution was to be filmed and posted on the internet, the sources said.
“The battle for hearts and minds is more important than ever as is the need for closer working together,” Kelly said. “We need a new, strengthened partnership and unity of purpose to isolate those who seek to divide us.”
The so-called Pathfinder funds will be available to about 50 local authorities — mainly in Britain’s major cities — to work with local Muslim communities to devise new approaches to fight extremism.
“We can’t win the battle of hearts and minds from Whitehall; it can only be to be won in local communities. But we can provide more support and strategic leadership,” Kelly was due to say. — AFP