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The chief Muslim organisation in Britain has condemned the BBC for giving a well-known Islamic extremist who hijacked a speech by the Home Secretary a prime-time platform to air his views today.

The decision to interview Abu Izzadeen today during the key 8.10am slot on the agenda-setting Today programme was heavily criticised by the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), which described Abu Izzadeen as a "thug" and accused the BBC of deliberately trying to generate publicity.

"We have received phone call after phone call from moderate Muslims who are appalled that the Today programme gave such an utterly marginal figure this prime-time spot to spout his bile almost interrupted," said Inayat Bunglawala, spokesman for the MCB.

"There was no attempt to balance the interview or challenge his views by having a mainstream Muslim view featured. This really plays into the hands of those who think of Muslims as bigots. People are very upset about this misrepresentation of Islam."

Abu Izzadeen, also known as Omar Brookes, renewed his attack on the Government, accusing Tony Blair of being a "Crusader" against Islam, and warned of Muslim retaliation in the UK if the Government continued with its measures against terrorism, during the interview this morning on Radio Four. He also rejected democracy and called for the UK to come under Sharia law during the heated exchange.

On Wednesday, he interrupted a speech by John Reid by shouting down the Home Secretary as he urged Muslim parents to keep a watch on their children and look out for signs which suggested they were being radicalised by extremists.

A convert to Islam, Abu Izzadeen has been investigated over comments made about the London suicide bombings, and is said to be a former spokesman for the radical Islamic group al-Ghurabaa, an offshoot of al-Muhajiroun - both of which are now banned in the UK.

Mr Bunglawala suggested that the BBC had been irresponsible to give him the oxygen of publicity.

"On this slot you would normally expect a leading figure of the land to come on," he said. "This was clearly designed to get maximum publicity, and the Today programme and its editors must think long and hard about what they are doing to community relations and cohesion."

He added that as far as he knew, the BBC had not approached either the Muslim Council of Britain or any other moderate organisation to appear on the programme alongside Abu Izzadeen.

"The interview gave an entirely misleading impression and was left unchallenged. You would at least expect there to be some balance by having an alternative voice, and if we were approached someone would have definitely gone on the programme," he said.

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