MCB Raises Yusuf Islam Detention with FCO Minister

MCB Deputy Secretary General Dr Abdul Bari met today, with Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) Minister of State Douglas Alexander to raise the grave concerns of the Muslim community about the detention of Yusuf Islam in the US.

Dr Abdul Bari said “Yusuf Islam is a deeply respected and very popular British Muslim figure and his detention by the US authorities is completely unacceptable.”

Mr Alexander assured Dr Abdul Bari that the British Government were taking these concerns seriously, and the Foreign Secretary, who is currently in the US, raised the issue with US Secretary of State Colin Powell. The Minister further stated that he understood from the US Authorities that Mr Islam would be departing from the US later today.

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The Muslim Council of Britain (www.mcb.org.uk) is the UK’s representative Muslim umbrella body with over 400 affiliated national, regional and local organisations, mosques, charities and schools.

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