Opposing sides from Britain’s extremist fringes have been kept apart by police amid tense scenes as thousands of Muslims emerged from one of Britain’s largest mosques after Friday prayers.
Passersby and tourists had watched with bemusement and alarm earlier on Friday as dozens of supporters of Britain First – a nationalist group that has been seeking to displace the British National party (BNP) as the standard bearer of the UK far right – marched through central London brandishing large St George and union flags.
They and a smaller group from the English Defence League (EDL) were hemmed in behind police barricades at the London Central mosque in St John’s Wood, shouting at crowds of Muslim men, women and children leaving the prayer hall.
There were chaotic scenes outside the mosque as some worshippers from the Central mosque themselves challenged the presence of a radical Muslim activist, Anjem Choudary, who was using a microphone to address the crowds. Several Muslims accused Choudary and his followers of in effect being with the far right protesters.
The Guardian