WIKILEAKS: FAILURE OF UK AND US TO “ENGAGE” WITH MOSLEMS
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/8200145/WikiLeaks-Britains-attempts-to-engage-Muslim-communities-made-little-progress.html
WikiLeaks: Britain’s attempts to engage Muslim communities ‘made little progress’
Efforts by the Britain to engage with Muslim communities after the 7/7 bombings in London saw “little progress”, US diplomats claimed in cables obtained by WikiLeaks.
British Muslims remained separate from mainstream society despite the investment of “considerable time and resources” in schemes to integrate them, the American embassy in London said.
The comments were written in August 2006 against the backdrop of the failed attempt to blow up transatlantic aeroplanes using liquid bombs.
An American diplomat based in London wrote: “Since 7/7, HMG has invested considerable time and resources in engaging the British Muslim community.
“The current tensions demonstrate just how little progress has been made.”
The cables, seen by The Guardian, also lay bare how the US embassy in London formulated its own plans to win the sympathy of Muslims.
According to further dispatches from the American embassy in Nairobi, British Somalis were suspected of travelling to southern Somalia to engage in “jihadi tourism” before returning to the country.
In the dispatch, on December 2 last year, US diplomats spoke of fears over the security for the 2012 Olympics, and expressed concerns that a “Mumbai-style attack” could occur in Britain.
American officials also voiced fears the new government formed after the election would take a “simplistic” approach to tackling terrorism and that attempts to fight terrorism were being hampered by a “wave of litigation” over British Guantánamo Bay inmates.
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