A MUSLIM group which sparked fury last year by burning poppies at an Armistice Day parade has been refused permission to protest outside Westminster Abbey during the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.
The far-right English Defence League had threatened to hold a counter-demonstration if the group, Muslims Against Crusades, which has described the Royal Family as “enemies of Allah and his messenger”, were given clearance by Scotland Yard.
The ban imposed on Muslims Against Crusades was made using special powers enjoyed by the police, who will have thousands of officers on duty in central London on Friday week to ensure the ceremony is not marred by protests.
Earlier this year, a member of the group, Emdadur Choudhury (26), was fined £50 for burning poppies last November outside the Royal Albert Hall while others chanted “British soldiers burn in hell” during a two-minute silence to honour Britain’s war dead.
Before applying for permission for the protest, the group said the wedding should be disrupted because “unfortunately, Britain’s continued interference in Muslim lands is showing no signs of abating. The plundering of resources, the murdering of innocent (Muslim) men, women and children and the forced indoctrination of the satanic democratic creed have become hallmarks of a brutal regime led by a very brutal dictator,” it said.
Despite the ban, the group’s spokesman, Anjem Choudary, said it still plans to hold some form of demonstration on the day “to raise awareness among the masses here and around the world that the Muslims will never remain silent”.
Scotland Yard has said 60 people free on bail will be barred from Westminster on Friday week, while undercover officers will act as spotters to identify known troublemakers, who will be arrested under powers normally used for football hooligans.
Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner Lynne Owens said: “We know from previous demonstrations that some of the same people keep appearing.
“The use of spotters will allow us to intervene quickly. It is the first time that we will have used it at an event like this . . . There is no specific intelligence of any threat to the royal couple or the event, but we would be naive to ignore all the chatter on social network sites and elsewhere.”
Up to 50 heads of state will attend the ceremony.
