UK protester regrets call to bomb US
LONDON: A British Muslim said yesterday he regretted calling for the United States and Denmark to be bombed during a protest in London last year against publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad.
Umran Javed, who is on trial accused of soliciting murder and inciting racial hatred, told London's Old Bailey criminal court he got carried away during last February's demonstration outside the Danish Embassy in the British capital.
He said he had not intended to say anything at the protest, prompted by the publication of cartoons in a Danish newspaper that many Muslims considered insulting to Islam, until a megaphone was thrust into his hands.
"I regret saying these things, they were just soundbites, slogans," said Javed, 27, who had travelled from his home in Birmingham, central England, to take part in the demonstration.
"I do not want to see Denmark being bombed or the USA. I was disappointed I said these things. I made the statements in an emotionally charged atmosphere. These things were the only thing that came into my mind." Prosecutors said there was no doubt he had intended to incite murder and racial hatred.
The demonstration, where some protesters waved placards praising the 2005 London bombings by four Islamists which killed 52 people, attracted widespread condemnation