LONDON, April 19: Radical British Muslims broke into a news conference held by moderate Muslims on Tuesday, denounced Prime Minister Tony Blair as Satan and urged Muslims to boycott next month’s election. Around 20 protesters, many wearing scarves to hide their faces, ripped a locked door off its hinges at one of London’s main mosques and burst into the event organized by Britain’s main Muslim lobby group, the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB).

They pushed their way to the front of the room, stood on chairs and shouted slogans against the MCB, Mr Blair, Jews, Christians, apostates and the entire British political system.

“Tony Blair can go to hell! Tony Blair can go to hell!,” they chanted as television cameras turned on them. “There is no God but Allah!”

The protest laid bare tensions within Britain’s 1.6 million-strong Muslim community, where a minority of hardliners often garners publicity for radical opinions including praise of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Those tensions are mirrored elsewhere in Europe, notably in France, which is home to the continent’s largest Muslim community as well as its biggest Jewish community.

After about 20 minutes, the protesters — young, male, mostly bearded and wearing traditional Muslim dress including headcaps and flowing robes — left of their own accord.

In leaflets handed to reporters, they identified themselves as belonging to a group called “The Saviour Sect”.

The protesters said the MCB, a respected collection of some 400 Muslim organizations throughout Britain, was a mouthpiece of the British government.

“Go to hellfire Sacranie,” one of them shouted at MCB leader Iqbal Sacranie, who tried to reason with the demonstrators.

—Reuters