Radical Muslim group calls off Opening Ceremony protest at Olympics, warns campaign is not over

GlobalPost

A radical Muslim group called off a plan to protest the Opening Ceremonies of the 2012 London Olympic games, reported Reuters this evening, claiming that police had told them to hold off. 

Although police claimed the protest would have been allowed to go forward, the protesters claimed otherwise: "We would have been immediately arrested otherwise," said organizer Mizanur Rahman.

Earlier today, Reuters reported that the radical group planned to protest the opening of the Games, where they intended to condemn both Britain and other nations they perceived as hostile to Muslims. 

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The British Islamist group, who own the website Evil Olympics.com, released a statement on the protests this evening, claiming that they were preventing from "convening peacefully."

The website claims that the issues to be addressed would include "the anti-Muslim British foreign policy, the prohibition of participating in the Olympic tournament, the need for unity among Muslims worldwide, and the global obligation of implementing the Khilafah (Islamic State)."

The website censured the British government and called it "tyrannical," claiming that its Muslim protest was the only such demonstration to be banned 

"We would also like to emphasize that the Evil Olympics campaign, is by no means over, and will continue throughout the tournament with special surprises along the way that will inshaa'allah (God willing) create worldwide impact," warned the statement.

Rahman is known for his extremism: in 2011 he completed a four-year-jail sentence, reduced from six (according to this video) for attempting to incite race-hate at a rally, according to the BBC. Rahman was first mobilized by the 2003 flap over Danish cartoon depictions of the Prophet Muhammad.

According to the BBC, at the rally he had allegedly called for "another 9/11" throughout Europe, and was photographing holding a placard that read "Annihilate those who insult Islam."

Rahman has stuck to his guns and continues to defend himself, as seen in this interview, claiming "there was nothing in this speech that was out of the ordinary....people have been making these demonstrations and making similar speeches and chants for decades in the UK.

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