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Arab News
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Pakistan, UK discuss counterterrorism, security cooperation to tackle cross-border crime
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the United Kingdom (UK) have held talks on counterterrorism and security cooperation as both countries seek to promote bilateral cooperation to combat cross-border crimes, state media reported on Friday. The second round of the Pakistan-UK Counter Terrorism Dialogue took place in London in February 2025, reviewing global and regional threats and exchanging best practices. Over the years, the armed forces of both countries have also maintained close cooperation, particularly in counterterrorism efforts and professional military training. 'During the meeting discussions were held on Pakistan-UK relations, including enhancing cooperation in counterterrorism, security and preventing cross-border crimes,' Radio Pakistan said in a report following a meeting between Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and British Under Secretary of State for Faith, Communities and Resettlement Lord Wajid Khan. Earlier this month, Rana Sanaullah, an adviser to Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif, had met British High Commissioner Jane Marriott to discuss enhancing security cooperation between the two countries and adopting a joint strategy against 'terrorism.' Last June, Pakistan and the UK agreed to enhance cooperation in the fields of organized crime and the prevention of illegal immigration during Naqvi's meeting with National Crime Agency Director-General James Babbage and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Director-General Jonathan Allen. In 2022, the UK signed an agreement with Pakistan allowing the return of foreign criminals and immigration offenders from the UK. Under this arrangement, Pakistani nationals with no legal right to stay in the UK including criminals, failed asylum seekers and immigration violators, can be deported. Pakistanis currently represent the seventh-largest group of foreign criminals in prisons across England and Wales, accounting for nearly 3 percent of the foreign national offender population.
Middle East Eye
25-02-2025
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
Labour's faith minister backs new British Muslim Network
Labour's faith minister has backed the British Muslim Network (BMN), a new national body appearing to undermine the leadership credentials of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), ahead of its launch on Tuesday evening. Labour's faith minister, Lord Wajid Khan, has thrown his support behind the new network, along with deputy speaker and Conservative MP Nusrat Ghani, former Conservative chair Baroness Sayeeda Warsi and ex-England cricketer Azeem Rafiq, according to the Guardian. The launch event, set to take place in London on Tuesday evening, follows a series of controversies surrounding the network. Critics have accused the BMN of lacking credibility within British Muslim communities and undermining the MCB's attempts to engage with the Labour government. But the BMN's leadership has argued that the government should engage with a "whole range" of Muslim groups, including both the MCB and BMN. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters 'Start-up days' Last July, Middle East Eye first reported on plans to create a new Labour-supported Muslim group designed to engage with the government. MEE then revealed earlier this month that the initiative had lost most of its backing, including hundreds of thousands of pounds in funding, with several Muslim MPs saying privately that they would not attend the BMN's launch. On BBC Radio Four on Tuesday morning, BMN co-chair Akeela Ahmed was asked whether "reports of withdrawals of offers of funding for your body and disquiet from some Muslim Labour MPs" were true. Exclusive: British Muslim Network backed by charity set up by former archbishop Welby Read More » Ahmed replied: "It's not true. We are in very early days, we are in start-up days at the moment. We are privately funded, and we are speaking to people within the British Muslim communities about funding for the organisation, but we haven't had any funding withdrawn." Qari Asim, an imam and another BMN co-chair, recently joined other Muslim scholars in signing a pact called the "Reconciliation Accords" with Jewish leaders, including Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis. The accords were presented as "rebuilding a meaningful trust between Muslim and Jewish communities" and the signatories, including Asim, met King Charles at Buckingham Palace on 11 February. The BMN's advisory board, made public this week, includes Abdurahman Sayed, the CEO of London's Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre, and Zahed Amanullah, a former director of the Concordia Forum thinktank Amanullah, currently a fellow at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, spoke at an event hosted by the UAE-backed "countering extremism" organisation Hedayah last December on countering antisemitism and Islamophobia. Questions of representation Headlines have focused on the support the BMN has received from Sayeeda Warsi, who was the first Muslim woman to serve in cabinet under David Cameron's Conservative government. Warsi is now an independent peer after quitting the Conservatives last September, complaining that the party had moved too far right. "For too long British Muslims have been made to feel their voices do not matter," Warsi told the Guardian ahead of the BMN's launch. "The British Muslim Network is part of a much-needed effort to change that." 'For too long British Muslims have been made to feel their voices do not matter' - Baroness Sayeeda Warsi The BMN's website says: "British Muslim communities face many internal and external challenges - such as social and economic disadvantage, anti-Muslim prejudice and inadequate funding and professional advice. "Yet our communities also hold immense talent, expertise and potential, which can offer solutions not just to our own challenges, but to those of wider British society." An invitation to the launch event, seen by MEE, said the network had been created as a result of 'the joining of many heads and hearts over the past few months and is linked to conversations that have been taking place in British Muslim communities for many years.' The network has insisted it does not aim to challenge the Muslim Council of Britain's role, with Ahmed saying the BMN aims to "complement" the MCB's work. Critics have suggested that the BMN's co-chairs and advisory board lack credibility, warning that the government could use the network to continue to avoid engaging with the MCB, Britain's largest umbrella body claiming to represent British Muslims. Consecutive governments have followed a policy of refusing to engage with the MCB - despite it having over 500 member organisations, including mosques, schools, local and county councils, professional networks and advocacy groups. Exclusive: British Muslim Network backed by charity set up by former archbishop Welby Read More » Starmer's government adopted this approach and even ignored communications from the MCB during the far-right riots that raged across the country for over a week in August. The BMN does not claim to be a similarly representative body. But the faith minister's support signals that the government is likely to engage with the new body, despite its ongoing boycott of the MCB. One well-placed Labour insider, who asked to remain anonymous, told MEE the BMN risked facilitating "attempts to divide the Muslim community into so-called good Muslims that will be allowed to engage with the government, and so-called bad Muslims that will be boycotted." This is a characterisation that the BMN rejects. Speaking to the BBC on Tuesday, Ahmed said the government should engage with the MCB. "The MCB is one group that is working in this space, and the government should engage with it," she said. "But the government should also engage with a whole range of British Muslim organsiations and British Muslims around the country. "That engagement is not taking place," Ahmed added.
The Guardian
25-02-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Sayeeda Warsi and Mishal Husain back new lobby group for British Muslims
Prominent British Muslims in politics, media, business and sport have come together to influence government policy on behalf of 4 million British Muslims. The minister for faith Wajid Khan, the Tory MP and deputy speaker Nusrat Ghani, the former Conservative party chair Sayeeda Warsi, the broadcaster Mishal Husain, the ex-England cricketer Azeem Rafiq and the anti-racism group Hope Not Hate are backing the newly formed British Muslim Network (BMN). The Muslim Council of Britain has been the main representative body for Muslims for about 30 years, but successive governments have had a policy of 'non-engagement' with the MCB dating back over a decade. Akeela Ahmed, co-chair of BMN, told the Guardian this meant policies concerning British Muslims were being made without their voices being heard, affecting cohesion, while insisting BMN aimed to 'complement' organisations like the MCB, rather than replace them. BMN aims to bring together practitioners and experts to identify challenges British Muslims face to policymakers, in areas including health, education, immigration, equalities and the economy, aligning research with government's goals, while growing its membership nationwide. It also aims to counter negative attitudes by highlighting contributions made by British Muslims to society, and encourage Muslims to take up positions on boards and vote. The establishment of BMN marks a shift towards promoting the interests of the UK's Muslims as a diverse British social identity, rather than purely as a faith group, and comes after a surge in Islamophobic incidents, revealed by charity Tell Mama. Co-chair Qari Asim, one of the UK's most prominent imams, said BMN's mission went beyond tackling anti-Muslim prejudice, and that it was 'not being set up just to be a conduit to talk to the government,' but would link 'activists, strategists, professionals and policymakers for the benefit of British society.' Ahmed said: 'There's a lot of misconceptions and negative attitudes attached to British Muslims … some from particular politicians and their rhetoric. 'Of course, there are challenges within the Muslim community, like with any community, like in British society, but some of those challenges have been weaponised, I think, to really paint a very negative picture of British Muslims. 'So the British Muslim Network, we're hoping to overcome some of those negative attitudes, to really put into the public sphere and the public conversation the reality of the lived lives of British Muslims around the UK and that they are overwhelmingly, just like any other person in the UK, just trying to live their lives. 'They care about education, they care about employment, they care about health, they care not just about their local communities, but the wider challenges facing the country. We really want to put forward a positive and confident narrative around British Muslims and their role in British society.' The founding of BMN follows months of discussions between leading British Muslims, amid concerns of a 'growing sense of alienation,' a spokesperson said. Speaking ahead of BMN's launch event, Sayeeda Warsi, the peer who was the first Muslim woman to serve in cabinet, said: 'For too long British Muslims have been made to feel their voices do not matter … The British Muslim Network is part of a much-needed effort to change that.' Nusrat Ghani said British Muslims were 'making contributions across the UK and I am pleased to play a role in highlighting that', while Sunder Katwala, the director of the British Future thinktank, said: 'Britain will be a more inclusive country once every institution of power and influence can confidently engage with all parts of society.' The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government has been approached for comment.
