Council bosses are today investigating how an extremist Muslim cleric was allowed to preach hate from the floor of a public meeting at a Birmingham community centre.
British Muslim Omar Brooks was filmed at the council-owned Small Heath Youth and Community Centre praising the bravery of a London bomber's suicide compared to non Muslims - who he characterised with vomiting and urinating in the street.
Brooks, who also goes by the name of Abu Izzadeen, is known as the heir to radical preacher Omar Bakri Mohammed, and has previously described the London bombers as 'completely praiseworthy'.
Last night Khalid Mah-mood, MP for Perry Barr, branded the council's part in the episode "absolutely dis-graceful". He said lending out the rooms to figures like Brooks facilitated the potential "brain-washing" of moderate local Muslim youth.
The rally was organised by a little-known umbrella group called the Islamic Research Forum, which includes members of Al-Ghurabaa and the Saviour Sect, both formed from the break up of Al-Muhajiroun.
The meeting was held at Small Heath community centre on Sunday July 2, with the video of his speech being posted on the website of AlGhurabaa - an extremist group Brooks is linked to, which this week condemned dead Birmingham Muslim soldier Lance Corporal Jabron Hashmi as "a traitor to Islam and professional terrorist".
Entitled How Can We Prevent Another 7/7? his speech at Small Heath drew appreciative laughs from his audience.
At one point 31-year-old Brooks announced dramatically that the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre "changed many lives". After a pause he delivered his punchline: "Especially those inside."
Mr Mahmood said the council had a serious duty to prevent groups which preached racial or religious hatred from disseminating their message on its properties. He said ordinary Muslims would be appalled at extremists like Brooks being given the opportunity to "brainwash" their youth.
"Groups like this are divisive to Muslim young people," he said. "These are people who follow Omar Bakri and they are idiots who should be banned.
"These people are there to brainwash young kids. There would be a petition against the BNP holding a meeting on Local Authority premises. But it is not just the BNP which preaches hatred. The council needs to be vigilant about who is making bookings."
A spokesman for the Islamic Research Forum defended the conference, saying it was about addressing "legitimate grievances" which had led to the July 7 bombings. "The point of the conference was to prevent another 7/7," he said. "We don't want to see things continue. Tony Blair is arrogant in his way of dealing with Muslims, Iraq, Afghanistan and the concerns of all Muslims. If Tony Blair is not serious about those grievances, Britain is never going to be safe and we are going to pay the price."
The community centre where the conference was staged is advertised on a Birmingham City Council web-site as being available for adult education, birthday parties, elderly groups and public meetings.
A spokeswoman for Birmingham City Council said it was concerned to hear about allegations and it would investigate. "The city council would certainly not want to lend its community centres to any group that would seek to incite racial hatred within the community. We will be looking into the circumstance around this specific booking." ..SUPL:
