August 26, 2002	Monday	Jamadi-us-Saani 16,1423

LONDON, Aug 25: The British Home Secretary David Blunkett in an unprecedented move, has sent an apology to Muslims living in Britain after complaints of harassment by the UK security agencies.

The London based Daily Observer has reported that the senior British minister had to take this move after Muslim leaders sent letters to him complaining that MI5 and the security services were engaged in indiscriminate ‘fishing expeditions’ to try to find evidence of links to the Al Qaeda terror group.

The Home Secretary was quoted as expressing his regret that a number of individuals questioned by the British Intelligence Service MI5 had complained of harassment and intimidation.

The Muslims complained that People were regularly woken early in the morning and questioned about their ‘links’ with Afghanistan.

“One firm of solicitors, Arani and Company, have become so concerned about the number of Muslims being approached by MI5 and Special Branch that they have produced a detailed guide — to be distributed throughout the Muslim community — on how to deal with the intelligence services when they come calling.

The security agents were quoted as saying that names of those interviewed had been ‘found in Afghanistan’ or in the ‘caves of Tora Bora’.

The people questioned said that no evidence was brought forward about these allegations.