Imam welcomes emergency security offer for mosques

Groups of opposing protesters gathered near a mosque in Liverpool on Friday, exchanging chants and gestures

Muslims have been "heartened" by the government's offer of emergency security for mosques following recent disorder in several towns and cities, an imam in Leeds has said.

Mosques in Liverpool, Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Hastings were targeted by protesters after the fatal stabbing of three children in Southport last week.

On Sunday, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced that police and local authorities could ask for rapid security to be deployed if needed.

Qari Asim, imam at Leeds Makkah Mosque, told the BBC: "My community feels so anxious and deeply worried about their safety on the streets."

Mr Asim, who is also chairman of the Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board, added: "It is absolutely horrifying what happened. In this country we have mechanisms to deal with issues peacefully and democratically."

Mosques were considered by Muslims to be "places of sanctuary", so people should feel safe there, according to Mr Asim.

The "blatant Islamophobic slurs" heard over the past few days from far-right groups were "despicable and disgusting", he said.

The Southport Islamic Society Mosque building was damaged during violent protests last Wednesday

The recent disorder followed the deaths in Southport on Monday 29 July of three girls aged six, seven and nine in a knife attack.

False claims had spread online that the person responsible was an asylum seeker who had arrived in the UK by boat and a Muslim.

Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, 17, from the village of Banks in Lancashire, appeared in court last week charged with murdering the three girls.

He was also charged with 10 counts of attempted murder after eight other children and two adults were seriously injured in the attack.

'Dangerous extremism'

In a statement on Sunday, the Home Office offered mosques greater protections as part of a new process, under which it said "rapid security" deployment could be requested in order to allow a return to worship as fast as possible.

According to the government, the extra security funding would be on top of the £24.9m already available as part of the Protective Security for Mosques Scheme.

Announcing the move, Ms Cooper said: “As a nation we will not tolerate criminal behaviour, dangerous extremism, and racist attacks that go against everything our country stands for.”

She added that anyone involved in violent disorder should expect to face the "full force of the law".

Mr Asim said Ms Cooper's announcement was "welcome and heartening" and the next step would be to roll out the scheme and determine who would benefit most from the funding.

Local government council security officers patrol on 5 August near the East London Mosque, following a weekend of violent protests in several towns and cities

He added that Britain was one of the most tolerant places in the world and praised its "rich diversity".

"But unfortunately some criminal thugs want to reverse the cycle of history and push the thinking that one race is superior to another. It goes against the grain of our country."

However, Mr Asim said that despite the unrest, people of all faiths had come together at the weekend to show solidarity, which proved "we have a lot more in common than what divides us".

"We need to listen to the legitimate concerns people have around immigration and start a dialogue," he said.

"But throwing bricks at mosques, attacking people of colour and chanting Islamophobic slurs is not the way forward and will not achieve anything except the full force of the law."

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