May 31, 2008	Saturday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 25, 1429

ISLAMABAD, May 30: A six-member delegation of prominent British Muslims is arriving here on Sunday to meet people from different walks of life, share with them their experiences and achievements and remove misconceptions about the lives of Muslims in the UK.

Natasha Khan JP, official spokesperson for the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, briefed newsmen here on Friday about the visit’s aims and objectives and the delegation’s activities during their stay in Pakistan.

This is the third such delegation since 2005 and the visit is being funded by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office under the ‘Projecting British Islam’ project.

The group will meet members of parliament in Islamabad including those hailing from the tribal areas and visit a religious seminary. It will also visit Mirupur where they will meet the prime minister of Azad Kashmir and students of the AJK University.

The group will visit Jhelum and meet members of an NGO fighting forced marriages.

Ms Natasha said in the UK Muslims had excelled in every field of life. Unfortunately, there were misconceptions which needed to be removed through direct dialogue and meetings between the citizens of Islamic countries and the UK Muslims. She said such dialogues were vital when extremism had become a growing threat.

She said the group would include Glasgow-born Azeem Ibrahim, a young scholar, financial wizard, gifted entrepreneur and self- made multi-millionaire and one of the wealthiest young people in the US. Aged just 31, Azeem has been ranked by The Sunday Times Scots’ Rich List among the wealthiest young people in the UK with estimated fortunes of $106 million.

Adeeba Malik, chief executive of QED-UK, a leading national development agency and Mohammed Imran, an employee of the Muslim You Helpline, a registered charity which provides pioneering faith and culturally sensitive services to Muslim youth in the UK, are also part of the group.

The delegation will also include Jehangir Malik of Islamic Relief who visited Afghanistan, Albania, Chechnya, Indonesia, Iraq, Kashmir, Kosovo, Sudan and some other countries as field officer.

Two other members of the group are Zareen Roohi Ahmed, a senior partner at Waterhouse Consulting Group, heading the Muslim Communities and Counter-Extremism Division and Shaheen Taj, founder and director of All Wales Saheli Association, the first woman to head a major UK Muslim organisation.