MORE than 20,000 British Muslims gathered yesterday at a conference in London, the largest meeting of its kind to be held in Europe.

Ken Livingstone, Michael Mansfield, QC, and the former Pakistan cricketers Saeed Anwar and Imran Khan were among the speakers promoting “global peace and unity”.

Tariq Suwaidan, a Muslim scholar from Kuwait, echoed many of those who addressed the conference when he insisted that Muslims did not support the terrorists behind the 9/ll attacks in America and the London bombings in July.

He said: “We totally refuse to be looked upon as terrorists and we totally refuse that these people represent us — they don’t.” He said that the terrorists were “enemies of Islam”.

However, he was critical of the dominance of the West and said that Western values were “hurting the world”.

Sir Iqbal Sacranie, Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Britain, attacked the Government’s proposed anti-terrorist legislation. The most “dangerous” aspect, he said, was the proposal for new powers over places of worship. “You cannot have the power of a government to close down a mosque. Who’s next in line?” he said.

Families from all over Britain travelled to the conference in the London Docklands, organised by the Islam Channel, Britain’s leading Muslim television station.

Sophia Qureshy, 21, a student from Woking, Surrey, said: “I was attracted by all the good speakers, many of whom I have seen on the Islam Channel.”

Asked if she thought that non-Muslims would feel threatened by such a gathering, she said: “No, non-Muslims are more aware that we are here, that we live in this society and that we engage and integrate in a peaceful way.”

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