From April to July 2001, the northern English towns of Oldham, Burnley and Bradford saw violent confrontations between young Asians and the police, culminating in the clashes of 7-9 July in Bradford in which 200 police officers were injured.

The clashes were prompted by racist gangs attacking Asian communities and the failure of the police to provide protection from this threat. In the scale of the damage caused and the shock they delivered to the nation, the 2001 riots were the worst riots in Britain since the Handsworth, Brixton and Tottenham uprisings of 1985.

The world's largest Muslim body has condemned the suicide attacks on the United States, but avoided siding openly with the US military campaign in Afghanistan.

Foreign ministers from the 56-member Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) held an emergency meeting in Doha, Qatar, with the aim of reaching a joint position on terrorism and the current crisis.

The BBC's Middle East correspondent Frank Gardner says the OIC final statement was a skilful piece of diplomatic engineering that avoided upsetting the United States while trying to appease angry Muslim populations.

The OIC chairman and Qatar emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, warned that an anti-terrorism campaign which spread to other Muslim states would not be accepted.

CAIRO, Oct 8 (AFP) - Governments of Muslim states ignored calls by Osama bin Laden and the Taliban for a holy war against the United States, while expressing concern Monday about the consequences of the US attacks on Afghanistan.

Iran and Iraq were among the few to openly condemn the overnight military operation, while most other states stressed that the strikes should not harm civilians.

The offensive which the Taliban militia described as a "terrorist attack on the whole Muslim world" sparked angry reactions from Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, whose country has also been the target of frequent US and British raids since his invasion of Kuwait in 1990.

Tens of thousands of people may have died in the attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon in Washington on September 11. The identities of those responsible for what was clearly a carefully-planned and expertly-executed operation remain unknown, although the FBI and other American officials are claiming to have identified Arab contacts of Osama bin Laden as involved.

RIYADH, - Saudi Arabia's top-ranking cleric said Sunday it was acceptable for Muslims living in Europe not to sacrifice animals for the upcoming Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha festival because of foot-and-mouth disease.

"If Muslims in Europe find themselves in a situation where they are prevented from sacrificing a beast after what has been said about the state of the animal, they must abide by the rules," said Sheikh Abdelaziz bin Abdullah al-Sheikh.

"The sacrifice of an animal is not an obligation for Muslims but it is a tradition. Those who have the means to sacrifice an animal can do it. For those who do not, it is not obligatory," he said.

The brother of a man allegedly attacked by three Leeds United footballers has been telling a court he thought Sarfraz Najeib had been killed.

Shahzad Najeib told the Hull Crown Court jury that he went to see his brother Sarfraz lying on the floor after he was assaulted in Leeds city centre. He told the court that three or four white males were attacking the 20-year-old and that two men also attacked him.

Leeds United footballers Lee Bowyer, 24, of Leeds, Jonathon Woodgate, 21, of Middlesbrough, and Tony Hackworth 20, of Leeds, all deny causing Mr Najeib, of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, grievous bodily harm with intent. They also deny affray.

The Need for Dissent: Radicalism is retreating, but it's more necessary than ever before

By George Monbiot

If Osama bin Laden did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him. For the past four years, his name has been invoked whenever a US president has sought to increase the defence budget or wriggle out of arms control treaties. He has been used to justify even President Bush's missile defence programme, though neither he nor his associates are known to possess anything approaching ballistic missile technology. Now he has become the personification of evil required to launch a crusade for good; the face behind the faceless terror.

By Roger Hardy, BBC Middle East analyst

Osama Bin Laden, named by US officials as the main suspect in the 11 September attacks against America, is Saudi-born and a Wahhabi.Many people are accordingly asking about the character of "Wahhabism" and debating whether it is an inherently radical form of Islam.

The term "Wahhabi" is often used very freely.

The Russian media, for example, use it as a term of abuse for Muslim activists in Central Asia and the Caucasus, as well as in Russia itself - rather as the Western media use the vague and derogatory term "Islamic fundamentalism".

Here is the evidence made available by the UK government concerning responsibility for the terrorist atrocities in the United States on the 11th September 2001. Judge for yourself.

RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE TERRORIST ATROCITIES IN THE UNITED STATES, 11 SEPTEMBER 2001

INTRODUCTION

1. The clear conclusions reached by the government are:

The federal government is set to introduce legislation that would strip charitable status from groups proven to be fund-raisers for international terrorist organizations.

Under proposed new laws, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) would notify the Solicitor General and Minister of Revenue if its investigation concludes that a charity registered under the federal Income Tax Act is in fact raising money for terrorists.

CSIS will also be able to provide such information secretly -- "in the interests of national security" -- and once the ministers support its findings, the process of stripping an NGO of its tax- favorable charitable status would begin right away.