Outrage of the week!

A Muslim preacher of hate today ridiculed British soldiers who were abused during a homecoming parade - branding them cowards who have an 'uncanny knack for death by friendly fire'.

Firebrand preacher Anjem Choudary praised the Muslims who had protested at yesterday's parade for the 2nd Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment in Luton.

And in an inflammatory message posted on an Islamic extremist website, Choudary viciously mocked their comrade who was killed by friendly fire in Iraq.

His words came as police charged a man who allegedly shouted abuse at the Muslim anti-war protesters.

Choudary, who has links with banned Muslim cleric Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed, likened the soldiers to Nazis and branded yesterday's homecoming a 'vile parade' of 'brutal murderers'.

Choudary said: 'On 10th March 2009 200 pathetic and cowardly British soldiers from the second battalion, of the Royal Anglian Regiment, pompously marched through Luton to demonstrate their skill at murdering and torturing thousands of innocent Muslim men, women and children (in Iraq) over a 24-month period.'

Choudary leads the controversial Islam For The UK organisation which wants Britain to be an Islamic state, ruled by Sharia law.

His group was formed after Bakri's fundamentalist organisation Al-Muhajiroun was banned by the Government.

He said: 'Non-Muslims in Britain must appreciate that the actions of the British soldiers must be condemned unreservedly; they are not heroes but closer to cowards who cannot fight, as their uncanny knack for death by 'friendly fire' illustrates.'

His cruel comments were clearly designed to mock the memory of Private Darren George, 23, from Pirbright, Surrey, who was accidentally shot by a colleague in Kabul on April 9, 2002.

Today it was revealed that yesterday's shocking scenes were likely to have been organised by an extremist group directly linked to Bakri Mohammed.

Within hours of the march ending the London School of Sharia had posted a message in support on its website.

The group is led by Bakri, the 'Tottenham Ayotollah', who now preaches to his followers from Lebanon via videos posted on websites after he was barred from Britain.

Bakri, 51, today said he felt 'proud' of the Luton protesters but denied any involvement in organising the demonstration.

The preacher, speaking from the Lebanon, said: 'My brothers from Luton were protesting against people they see as killers of Muslims in Iraq - including women and children'

But one Muslim community leader today condemned the extremists.

Akbar Dad Khan, of Building Bridges in the town, said: 'They are about 10 to 15 hotheads. The best thing to do is just to ignore them. They do not represent the views of the community. They are a small hotch-potch of hot heads.

'They love the attention and the media should not give them the time of day. The vast majority of the Muslim population in Luton - like elsewhere - want to live peacefully and get on with their lives.'

'Many people from all backgrounds opposed the Iraq war but there are proper ways to conduct yourself,' he added.



One protester at yesterday's rally, Sayful Islam, the leader of the Luton branch of an organisation that has the same beliefs as al-Muhajiroun, was unrepentant today.

He said: 'The anger has been rising. The parade was the final insult. They have killed, maimed and raped thousands of innocent people. They can't come here and parade where there is such a Muslim community.'

Last month members of the same group were seen at an anti-Israel demonstration in the Bedfordshire town.

In his internet posting, Anjem Choudary said that the British soldiers were 'terrorists'.

He said: 'They cannot be excused for simply 'carrying out their duty', which incidentally (and vividly) was also used by Nazi soldiers in Germany to justify their notorious and bloody campaigns in the early 20th century.'

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