POLICE officers have been drafted in to protect candidates in an East London consituency amid new threats of violence from Islamist extremists.

Riot squads were on standby last night before a hustings involving Labour’s Oona King and George Galloway, whose bitter battle for the Bethnal Green & Bow seat has descended into street violence.

Ms King and Mr Galloway both appealed for calm and, during a break in proceedings, they were seen talking together in a friendly manner. But their words seem to have been lost on some in the audience. Each time Ms King rose to answer questions she was loudly booed by up to 30 Respect supporters — even if she was only talking about the minimum wage.

The police presence appeared to have prevented any hijacking of the meeting. Three youths were taken away after trying to force their way inside.

Tensions are running so high that Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, had a 30-strong police escort when he went to a Brick Lane curry house for lunch while campaigning with Ms King. As they entered Salique’s restaurant about 80 Respect supporters, many from outside the constituency, waved antiwar placards and chanted “Hey, ho, Oona must go” and “Go, go Galloway”.

Mr Galloway, who left Labour over the issue of the Iraq war, was not among the demonstrators. He is said to be “badly shaken and very worried” after he and his 23-year-old daughter were attacked by extremists on Tuesday night.

Ron McKay, Mr Galloway’s agent, said that he was held hostage for 30 minutes by the gang, which threatened to lynch him.

His attackers were believed to be followers of the radical cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed and members of the same group that disrupted the Muslim Council of Britain’s campaign launch at Regents Park Mosque the same day. Mr McKay said that Jay Stewart, Mr Galloway’s son-in-law, had just left the tenants’ meeting with his children, aged three and six months, when the intruders burst in.

The gang barricaded Mr Galloway in the room and told him he was “a false prophet” and that they were preparing the gallows for him.

Mr Stewart called the police and two officers arrived who bundled Mr Galloway into a car and have him driven away.

As the youths spilled on to the street they were confronted by local teenagers and fighting broke out. A large number of police were summoned scene and weapons, including a set of nunchucks, are thought to have been recovered. Three men were arrested, one of whom has been charged with possession of an offensive weapon.

The candidates condemned the violence but simultaneously used the incidents to blame each other for the increasingly poisonous campaign.

Mr Galloway’s candidacy in Bethnal Green, where almost 50 per cent of the electorate is Muslim, means that the issue of Iraq is dominating the local campaign. Ms King, who has been pelted with eggs and had her car tyres slashed, blamed her opponent for inflaming feelings. “Extremism breeds extremism,” she said. “Everyone in this constituency is aware Respect have been whipping things up, particularly among one section of the community. I’m not surprised that things turned ugly and now they are even uglier.”

Mr Livingstone, who accompanied Ms King on a visit to the East London mosque in Whitechapel before they had lunch, also criticised Mr Galloway. He said: “I’ve been fighting elections in London for 35 years and this is the first time I’ve had to have a team of police with me.”

He said that although he and Ms King were on opposite sides during the Iraq war debate he was supporting her because she worked “damn hard” for the people of East London.

He said: “You feel that behind all the rhetoric, it’s all about George, it’s always about George.” Mr Livingstone said that if Mr Galloway had wanted to make a stand over the war he should have stood against Tony Blair or Geoff Hoon instead of trying to oust one of Parliament’s few black women.

Mr Galloway attacked Labour’s comments as shameful and said that he was trying to play down the tensions.

BIG CHANGES

Communists put up candidates in 1929, 1931, and 1950 and the National Front in 1945, 1974, and 1979.

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