British soldiers die fighting terrorists while new ones created at home

British Islam colleges 'link to terrorism'

MP calls for inquiry as lecturers give backing to Taleban and Hamas

TWO British universities have given their approval to a pair of Islamic colleges with close links to fundamentalist scholars and political movements, The Times can reveal.

Ministers faced calls last night for an inquiry into the apparent connections between the colleges, which train imams for British mosques, and hardline Islamist groups.

The European Institute of Human Sciences (EIHS) and the Markfield Institute of Higher Education are both registered charities and their courses have received univer-sity accreditation.

The rector of the college at Markfield, near Leicester — where a new campus was opened by the Prince of Wales last year — is Professor Khurshid Ahmad. He is also vice-president of Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan’s largest hardline Islamic party.

Professor Ahmad has publicly praised the Taleban regime in Afghanistan. In an article in July 2003 on his party’s website, he wrote: “All of that area which was controlled by the Taleban had become the cradle of justice and peace.”

Markfield’s courses have been validated by the University of Loughborough and one of its lecturers is Azzam Tamimi, who has declared his support for the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
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