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Muslim leader slams cops

26/ 3/2008

A MUSLIM leader has slammed police for failing to deal with Asian gangs who force young white girls into prostitution.

Mohammed Shafiq, director of the Rochdale-based Ramadhan Foundation, has claimed officers are differentiating between criminals on the basis of race. He says fears of a repeat of the Oldham race riots mean officers are `overtly sensitive' and are not clamping down on prostitution.

His comments are to be aired this week on a BBC programme which will reignite the controversial issue.

The broadcast comes after a 2004 Channel 4 documentary which claimed Asian men in Bradford were grooming under-age white girls for prostitution was cancelled.

Police claimed it could provoke racial violence during the local election campaign. But on Panorama tomorrow Mr Shafiq claims the police are `over cautious' when dealing with the issue.

"They fear being called racist," he says. "They are not Asian criminals, they are not Muslim criminals, they are not white criminals. They are criminals and should be treated as criminals."

Mr Shafiq claims some of those involved were gangs trying to make money after a drop in the cost of drugs. He said: "I am the only Muslim leader in the UK that speaks up against this sort of thing and I do it because these teenage girls are somebody's sisters and somebody's daughters. I have two daughters and wouldn't want that to happen to them.

"If there is a drug dealer grooming a white teenager into prostitution then I don't want the police or local authority not to be open about it."

In Oldham a specialist team called Messenger has been set up to combat the issue of child exploitation.

A spokesman for Greater Manchester police described the allegations as `nonsense based on ignorance'.

He said: "The fact that we have charged 12 people through Messenger in Oldham alone shows that we are taking concrete, real action."

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