Scotland could face attacks by home-grown terrorists unless urgent action is taken, a prominent Muslim community leader has warned.
Edinburgh, Aug.23 : Scotland could face attacks by "home-grown" terrorists unless urgent action is taken, a prominent Muslim community leader has warned.
Mohammed Akram, president of the Council of British Pakistanis (Scotland), warned there was no evidence that the country would be "immune" to incidents like the 7/7 bombings which targeted London's transport network.
His comments came as a report revealed that almost half of Scotland's mosque leaders believed extremism existed in Muslim communities north of the Border.
A study by the council found that the "vast majority" of imams blamed the UK government's foreign policy.
"So far, the attacks have been unpredictable. The 7/7 attacks in London were home-grown and there's nothing to suggest that Scotland will be immune to that. We want our Muslim community to be more alert to try to combat extremism," Scotsman quoted, him, as saying.
The survey of head imams and their representatives,the result of the Scottish Executive-funded Democratic Participation Project, found two-thirds believed the relationship between Islam and the West would improve over the next decade.
However, Osama Saeed, the Scottish spokesman for the Muslim Association of Britain, said the findings excluded the views of large sections of the Muslim community.
Saeed also said "extremism" was a highly emotive word, which had various interpretations.
ANI