UK troops are greeted by abuse from Muslim protesters

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Home from the war... and our troops are greeted by abuse from Muslim protesters

Twice in two years they have fought in Iraq. Twelve of their regimental comrades paid the ultimate price there and in Afghanistan.

Over the past two years they have spent day after day patrolling hostile territory, where every passer-by could have a gun or a bomb.

So the 200 men of the 2nd Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment perhaps had a right to expect a heroes’ welcome yesterday on a homecoming parade through Luton.


Venom: Faces contorted with fury, some of the Muslim demonstrator who marred the homecoming of the Royal Anglian Regiment yesterday


Returning heroes: Members of the 2nd Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment parading through Luton yesterday after their tour of duty in Iraq

Instead, they were faced with the hate-filled jeers of anti-war protesters waving placards saying: ‘Anglian soldiers: Butchers of Basra,’ and ‘Anglian soldiers: cowards, killers, extremists.’

There was a furious reaction from the hundreds lining the streets to support the soldiers – known as the Poachers. Shouting ‘scum’ and ‘no surrender to the Taliban’, they turned on the Muslim demonstrators.

Police were already out in force to protect the anti-war group and arrested two men among the soldiers’ supporters.


Sickening: The protesters had printed out placards, branding the soldiers of the 2nd Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment 'cowards' and 'killers'


Police closely monitor the anti-Army group as the 200-strong regiment passes through Luton town centre

Last night the mother of David Hicks, a captain with the Royal Anglian Regiment who was killed in Afghanistan in August 2007, called the protests ‘extremely distressing’.

‘I felt very saddened and extremely upset,’ said Mrs Hicks, of Wokingham, Berkshire. ‘I also feel a little angry. I think every mother or father who has lost somebody in Afghanistan or Iraq would feel very difficult about this.

‘It’s very easy to tarnish all the Muslim community with the same brush, but I do wonder, if the roles were reversed, if such a protest would be allowed in a Muslim country.’

Gordon Brown condemned the protests and ministers and senior politicians branded the demonstration ‘insulting’ and ‘sordid.’

Shadow Secretary of State for Defence Dr Liam Fox said: ‘This is offensive, appalling and disgraceful.


Elsewhere along the route hundreds of townsfolk turned out to clap and cheer on the soldiers


Tempers flared as pro-Army supporters took offence at the small protest and police were forced to separate the groups

'It is only because of the sacrifices made by our armed forces that these people live in a free society where they are able to make their sordid protests.’

Luton South Labour MP Margaret Moran called for an inquiry into the way police handled the incident.

She said: ‘Calling people baby-killers and the rest seems to amount to provocation of the worst kind when these lads and lasses have risked their lives for the freedom these people enjoy. It seems to me this amounted to huge provocation and was potentially racially divisive.’

But the Muslim protesters were unrepentant. Teacher Sayful Islam, self-styled leader of the Luton branch of al-Muhajiroun – the now-banned radical organisation led by Sheikh Omar Bakri – said: ‘The anger has been rising. The parade was the final insult.

‘They have killed, maimed and raped thousands of innocent people. They can’t come here and parade where there is such a Muslim community. What do they have to be proud of?’


Posters were displayed accusing the Army of maiming babies and innocent civilians in Iraq


Counter attack: A placard spells out backing for our troops

The battalion is based in Germany, but Bedfordshire is one of the areas where it recruits, along with neighbouring Hertfordshire and Northamptonshire.

Trouble flared as the soldiers marched to a meeting with the Duke of Gloucester, the regiment’s colonel-in-chief, and local dignitaries.

He said:' The anger has been rising up. The parade was the final insult.

'They have killed, maimed and raped thousands of innocent people. They can't come here and parade where there is such a Muslim community. What do they have to be proud of?'

Leaflets urging Muslims to demonstrate against the soldiers' homecoming had been distributed around Luton earlier in the week.

Under the headline 'Criminals' it railed against the troops' 'audacity' at marching though the town centre and accused them of having 'blood on their hands.'


View from behind the veil: A group of Muslim women at the demonstration


Sign of dissent: An anti-government message

It read 'Muhammad said :"He among you who sees a munkar (evil) should change it with his hand. If he can not do that , then with his tongue(by speaking out against it)".'

It finished with the words:' We urge the Muslims of Luton not to stay silent against these murderers of Muslim men, women and children and to do what we as Muslims have been obliged to do and speak against an open evil.'

Police had penned the protesters into a small area and two lines of officers separated them from a large number of local people, waving Union and St George’s flags. At one point a man climbed onto a roof and threw a packet of bacon at the Muslim group.

Bedfordshire police said the Muslim protesters were later ‘escorted from the area to a safe place to disperse’.

The force said last night: ‘Everything that went on will be examined and if any offences have been committed then we will arrest them.’

An Army spokesman said the battalion, which is due to take part in a similar march in Watford today, was ‘deeply touched’ by the strong support shown by the people of Luton.

He said: ‘There is no better boost to a soldier than to see hundreds of people turn out to watch them on parade.'

The regiment's tragic roll call

The Royal Anglian Regiment has lost ten soldiers during the Afghan conflict and two during the Iraq conflict.

Those killed in Afghanistan are:

Private Aaron McClure, 19, from Ipswich, Suffolk; Private Robert Foster, 19, from Harlow, Essex; and Private John Thrumble, 21, from Chelmsford, Essex. All three were killed in a ‘ friendlyfire’ attack by a U.S. F15 fighter plane in Helmand on August 23, 2007.

Captain David Hicks, 26, from Wokingham, Berkshire, was killed on August 11, 2007, when a patrol base in Helmand was attacked by small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades.

Private Tony Rawson, 27, from Dagenham, Essex, was killed on August 10, 2007, when his ‘attack’ patrol came under fire from the Taliban in Helmand.

Lance Corporal Alex Hawkins, 22, from East Dereham, Norfolk, was killed on July 25, 2007, by an explosion as his patrol returned to base in Helmand.

Corporal Darren Bonner, 31, from Gorleston, Norfolk, was killed on May 28, 2007, by an explosion when his convoy was attacked in Helmand.

Lance Corporal George Davey, 23, from Beccles, Suffolk, shot himself during ‘a tragic firearms accident’ in Helmand on May 20. 2007.

Private Chris Gray, 19, from Leicester, was killed during a firefight with the Taliban in Helmand on April 13, 2007.

Private Darren George, 23, from Pirbright, Surrey, was shot by a colleague who had a ‘dizzy spell’ while handling a machine gun in Kabul on April 9, 2002.

Those killed in Iraq are:

Private Adam Morris, 19, from Leicestershire; and Private Joseva Lewaicei, 25, from Fiji. Both were killed by a roadside bomb on patrol in Basra on May 13, 2006.

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I'm posting this report in this thread because it gives contrast to the story above.

Kick out Christians and provide sanctuary for radical Muslims and you no longer wonder why these issues are happening in the UK...

Don't let it happen here!!!

U.K. Deports Christians Under New Immigration Rules

Adrienne Gaines News - Featured News

March 12, 2009 -- A prominent Christian musician and a team of college-age missionaries were recently deported from the United Kingdom under new immigration rules that require religious workers to be sponsored by a licensed organization and obtain visas to enter the country.

In early March, Colorado-based singer Don Francisco was denied entrance into London and a Master's Commission team from Arkansas was deported from Scotland because immigration officials said they needed work visas under new regulations introduced in November.

"One of the things that has been said to me over the last few days is that Christians have to operate under the radar all over the world," said Judy Littler Manners, a Christian leader based London. "But this is the first time they may be forced to do it in this country."

Francisco was scheduled to participate in the Christian musical Why Good Friday, which includes 10 of his songs. But when he arrived at Heathrow Airport on March 2, he was detained, fingerprinted and escorted onto a flight back to the U.S., because immigration officials said he lacked the proper paperwork.

"I felt like they were looking for reason to keep me out," said Francisco, who has traveled throughout the U.K. for 30 years without incident.
"Anyone who goes into England from this point on for any reason other [than] to be a tourist and just spend money had better have their ducks in a row," he added.

The previous day, a Master's Commission team from Arkansas was denied entrance into Scotland when an immigration worker learned they would be volunteering in soup kitchens in partnership with Assemblies of God churches in Edinburgh.

"She told us that we'd have to have a work visa," said Craig Johnson, associate youth minister at Harvest Time Church in Fort Smith, Ark., and leader of the missions team. "So essentially you can stay [in the U.K.] as a tourist for six months, but if you want to volunteer some of your time working in a soup kitchen, you have to have a work visa."

Johnson said the chief immigration officer had the power to allow the 11-member group through, but she instead returned them to the U.S. on March 4, when the first flight became available.

"The [immigration] team kept apologizing to us profusely," Johnson said. "The [chief immigration officer] had the power to just discretionally wave us through. She was just doing her job; I understand that. But discretionally she could have waved us through."

Christian leaders inside the U.K. said few ministries are fully aware of the complex new Home Office regulations, which were quietly introduced late last year. The rules require that religious workers be sponsored by an organization that has registered with the government, and applicants must pay a fee to obtain a work visa.

Volunteer missions workers would register under Tier 5 of the Australian-style points-based system, while ministers, who would be considered skilled workers, would apply under Tier 2.

"All migrants, not just charity workers, coming to the U.K. to work or study require a Certificate of Sponsorship," said a U.K. Border Agency spokesman. "Anyone without this certificate and the right visa will be refused entry."

Daniel Webster, parliamentary officer for the London-based Evangelical Alliance, said the regulations were introduced in response to illegal immigration and the increased threat of terrorism. But the complicated rules have left many ministers confused.

"The recent cases highlight just how complex these cases are and the urgent need for churches and ministries to be kept up to date," Webster said. "The Evangelical Alliance is working on a full analysis to help churches better understand the law so that this does not happen again."

Although no one Charisma spoke with was willing to attribute the deportations to an anti-Christian bias, some leaders are concerned that ministries may be disproportionately affected by the new rules.

"I think what a lot of us thinks is that there definitely is a sub-agenda here,"

Manners said.

"It's not aimed at Christians, but the ones it's going to affect are going to be Christians because they're going to be honest. If Don Francisco had said he was a singer, he probably would have gotten through, but because he said ‘gospel singer,' they got him."

Manners believes the new regulations are partly a means of generating income from the visa and sponsorship fees. But she said forcing sponsor organizations to register allows the government to create a master list of ministries and could open a door for officials to make "spot checks."

The Rev. Andrew Smith, superintendent of the Assemblies of God Churches in Scotland, said he was "horrified" by the way his nation treated the Arkansas missionaries. He said he paid the $550 fee to sponsor the Master's Commission team, but the application was not processed in time.

"I felt that the team should have been allowed to stay even though technically our application was being processed by the U.K. Border Agency," he said. "Even though technically they weren't allowed to do charitable work, they should have been allowed to stay as tourists."

He notified Member of Parliament Michael Connarty, who Smith said was "outraged" at the deportation. Connarty is filing a complaint with the Home Office, but Smith wants to see the Border Agency issue a formal apology and refund of cost of the Arkansas team's airfare.

"We're not taking this lying down," Smith said, "because I was ashamed that my country would [deport the missionaries]. ... We don't want to be restricted from inviting co-workers from around the world in standing with us in sharing the gospel here."

Francisco said he still hopes to participate in the Why Good Friday? production, but he's worried that the deportation will prevent him from ever being allowed into the U.K.

"My main concern is that this one misinterpretation and misapplication of immigration law will result in my being unable to return to the U.K. in the future," he said. "One question that is always asked at a border is, ‘Have you ever been denied entry into this country?' Unless this present situation is reversed, my truthful reply would probably result in yet another denial of entry."

Judy Littler Manners
Fountain House
55 Spencer Park
London SW18 2SX
Tel +44 (0)20 8870 3707