Imam will not face charges over leaked messages
The religious head of Scotland's biggest mosque will not face charges over a series of leaked messages that apparently praised an extremist who was executed after murdering a politician in Pakistan.
The religious head of Scotland's biggest mosque will not face charges over a series of leaked messages that apparently praised an extremist who was executed after murdering a politician in Pakistan. Glasgow Central Mosque imam Habib ur Rehman was said to have made favourable comments about assassin Mumtaz Qadri, who was hanged in February for the murder of Punjab governor Salman Taseer, who opposed Pakistan's strict blasphemy laws. The imam said a series of Whatsapp messages about Qadri in which he reportedly called the killer a ''true Muslim'' had been ''taken out of context'' and were about his opposition to Qadri's hanging and the Pakistani justice system. Police Scotland said it had reviewed the comments but no criminality has been established''. Speaking at a conference in Glasgow on Thursday representing differing strands of Muslim faith, Imam Habib ur Rehman repeated that his comments were ''misconstrued'' and said the situation had added to his ''sense of tragedy'' following recent terror attacks. He said: ''I condemn extrajudicial killing and anarchy. The spirit of Islam is a spirit of peace.'' Police Scotland Superintendent Jim Baird said:Officers have reviewed all comments as reported to Police Scotland and whilst it is appreciated that individuals raise issues that concern them, on this occasion no criminality has been established. Police Scotland thank the members of the public who raised this issue with us.Each person who reported their concerns to the police, and who were not anonymous, was responded to individually. This assisted us in directly answering the specific points they raised.''