UK TV show 'uncovers extreme Saudi preachers'

British documentary makers say they have discovered female Saudi preachers at an influential British mosque are urging followers to kill homosexuals and view all non-Muslims as “vile”.

The London Central Mosque and Islamic Cultural Centre, known as the Regent’s Park Mosque, is one of the most respected centres for moderate Islam in western Europe, according to The Times newspaper.

However, an undercover investigation by Channel 4 Dispatches programme has found extremist preachers have held study circles there and are teaching followers a hardline version of the faith followed in Saudi Arabia, known as Wahhabism.

The documentary, which will be broadcast in the UK on Monday, is a follow-up to Undercover Mosque, which investigated a number of mosques and was made by the same team more than a year ago. That resulted in an investigation by West Midlands Police, who accused the makers of distorting sermons and inflaming tensions.

Officers took no action against extremist preachers whose words were broadcast. Ofcom rejected the complaint and the force had to apologise to Channel 4. It agreed at the High Court to pay $181,000 for libel.

In the programme, Ahmed Al-Dubayan, the mosque’s director, said the women were not authorised by the mosque.

The Muslim Council of Britain, of which the mosque is an affiliate, said: “Some of the statements are deeply offensive . . . [but] it would be very wrong, and quite unfair, to smear the whole centre.”

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