LONDON, May 12: Muslim immigrants to Britain can be “very isolationist” and that can be exploited by political extremists, Britain’s minister for Europe Peter Hain said on Sunday.

Speaking in the aftermath of the assassination of Pim Fortuyn, the Dutch politician who defended his anti-immigration stance by claiming Muslims were illiberal, Hain said that problems arising from religious differences could be more dangerous than problems of racial differences.

He made the remarks in an interview with The Sunday Times, which said they were likely to spark a row over immigration.

“Islam is now a much bigger factor than racial tension and we are going to need to resolve that together, not by targeting Muslims as Fortuyn was doing, but sending a clear message that British Muslims are welcome here and enrich our culture, but also that they must be part of our culture,” Hain said.

“Muslim immigrants can be very isolationist in their own behaviour and their own customs.

“That in the end is going to create real difficulties and is likely to be ripe for exploitation by extremists, whether it is followers of Osama bin Laden on the one hand, or racists on the other.

“It just takes two to integrate, and we need to work with the Muslim community.”

Hain, a veteran of campaigns against apartheid, insisted that his comments were not a criticism of Muslims in general.—AFP