The UK Foreign Office is launching the first of a series of 'goodwill visits' to Islamic countries by senior members of Britain's Muslim community aimed at rebuilding dwindling support for the US-led war against terrorism.
According to Muslim News Online, the first group, which leaves for Cairo and Riyadh on Saturday, includes four Muslim parliamentarians.
These include Labor MP Khalid Mahmood, Conservative MEP Bashir Khanbai, Labor peers, Lord Patel and Lord Bhatia, and Mohammad Riaz, adviser to Conservative leader Ian Duncan Smith.
The Foreign Office said in a statement that the aims of the missions are to promote "greater understanding and dialogue between the West and Islam and help to overcome difficulties."
Future visits are expected to include other Muslim politicians, academics, religious and community leaders and businessmen. Other destinations are yet to be arranged and it is not known if Iran will be included, the report said.
A Foreign Office spokesman insisted that the Muslim delegation would not be going as representative of the British government, but he added that it is hoped it would build upon previous visits to Muslim countries by the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary.
The initiative, which comes as the US is expected to embark on the second stage of its war against terrorism, comes ahead of a new 'charm offensive' to win the support of Muslim leaders.
Later this month, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw is also due to speak about the need for greater dialogue at the Oxford Center for Islamic Studies, just after the Archbishop of Canterbury holds a seminar between Christian and Muslims on January 17.
Several prominent Muslim in Britain have repeatedly criticized the continuing aerial assault on Afghanistan amid fears that an expanded war could lead to a clash of civilizations between the West and Islam, a theory which the US and its allies reject. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
