UK: 130 people forced to flee from Islamic school after 'suspicious' fire breaks out

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The far-Right English Defence League led a series of protests after serving soldier Lee Rigby was killed by two fanatical Muslim converts last month.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | UK Desk
Source/Credit: Daily Mail | UK
By Helen Collis | June 9, 2013

130 people forced to flee from Islamic school after 'suspicious' fire breaks out in middle of the night

Police are treating a fire at an Islamic school as suspected arson just days after an Islamic centre was burnt to the ground in London.

The fire broke out at Darul Uloom, a Muslim madrassa or religious school, in Chislehurst, Kent, just before midnight on Saturday.

Around 130 people were inside the school at the time of the blaze and police said two people were treated for smoke inhalation. No one was hospitalised.

The fire comes four days after an Islamic centre, graffiteed with EDL in giant letters was burned to the ground in Muswell Hill, north London.

There are fears it was a race attack to avenge the murder of drummer Lee Rigby.

Speaking to the Mail Online, the Met Police said no arrests had been made in connection with the latest suspected arson, at the school in south east London. He said there was minor damage to the building.

The spokesman said he was not aware of any evidence linking the attack to a political group.
'Inquiries are ongoing and we are treating it as suspicious,' he said.

The far-Right English Defence League led a series of protests after serving soldier Lee Rigby was killed by two fanatical Muslim converts last month.

EDL leaders denied the group was behind the fire in Muswell Hill, north London, but supporters posted vile celebrations online, prompting fears of copycat attacks and increased racial tensions.

Just as in the aftermath of the July 7 bombings, in 2005, Islamic centres and mosques have seen a rise in the number of reported attacks.

Following the daylight killing in Woolwich, there have been reports of verbal and other assaults against Muslims.

The Islamic school, set in the pretty Kent village, is about six miles (10 kilometers) from Woolwich, where the off-duty British soldier was butchered to death last month, allegedly by two Islamic extremists.

The killing inflamed tensions in the UK, which has seen a spike in anti-Muslim attacks since then.

Speaking to the Mail Online, Dr Basharat Nazir, spokesperson Ahmadiyya Muslim Association (AMA), said he knew of one verbal attack against a mosque in Morden, south London - the largest mosque in western Europe - in the days after Lee Rigby's killing.

A police presence was subsequently installed at the centre, to provide protection for the Muslim community and others using and visiting the mosque.

Commenting on the spate of attacks, Dr Nazir said the Muslim association was running a nation-wide campaign to educate extremist Muslims and others of the true peaceful principles of Islam.

'We want to make sure Muslims understand the true teaching of Islam,' he said, adding that some Muslim leaders were making extremist interpretations of the Qur'an and of Jihad -  the idea of improving oneself.

The association said after the Woolwich attack that the 'actions of the perpetrators of this crime bear no resemblance to the true peaceful Islam that we know and love'.

The attackers' principles were based on a 'warped and twisted ideology' the AMA said.

Michael Adebolajo, 28, of Romford, Essex, and Michael Adebowale, 22, have both appeared in court charged with murder. Adebolajo has also been charged with the attempted murder of two police officers and possession of a firearm.



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