Beckett: Muslims should be UK ambassadors

Margaret Beckett has called on Muslims to act as ambassadors for Britain in a bid to tackle the threat posed by Islamic extremism.

Talking about the "serious and increasing threat" from international Islamic terrorism, the foreign secretary said UK Muslims should speak positively about their lives here when they visit countries overseas.

In a speech to the Royal United Services Institute in London, she said regular travel to Islamic countries in south Asia and the Gulf make Muslims "the most powerful potential ambassadors for Britain" and "the greatest means we have of bridging the divide which the terrorists are trying to widen".

She acknowledged that the situation in Iraq is "dangerous and volatile" but rejected claims that the problems in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East are symptoms of a wider struggle between Islam and the West.

And while not seeking to downplay the divides which have surfaced recently between the Islamic community and others in the UK, Beckett insisted this was not a "battle between civilisations".

"It's all too easy to buy into the terrorist rhetoric of a great clash of civilisations and of a moment of crisis," she said.

"I am not underestimating the gravity of the threat we face.

"But let us deny the terrorists the historical importance they claim to themselves. They have no right to speak for the great and noble faith of Islam.

"This is a not a battle between civilisations but a stand-off between the whole of society on the one hand and a fairly small and
particularly nasty bunch of murderers and criminals on the other."

Beckett went on to stress that Islamic extremism is only practised by a small number of UK Muslims.

"The Muslim communities in this country did not ask the terrorists to act in their name," she said.

"The vast majority are sickened by the slur on their great and noble faith.

"They make a huge and vital contribution to the life of this country. And they, the Muslim communities, have a special ability to
make a difference in the struggle against extremism."