LONDON - The British government said on Wednesday it would not publish in full its report on the sources of funding of Islamist extremism in Britain, prompting opposition charges it was trying to protect its ally Saudi Arabia.
The report, commissioned by former Prime Minister David Cameron in November 2015, was handed to the government last year and ministers have been under pressure to release its findings following three deadly attacks in Britain since March which have been blamed on Islamists. But Home Secretary Amber Rudd said that though some extremist Islamist organizations were receiving hundreds of thousands of pounds she had decided against publishing the review in full. “This is because of the volume of personal information it contains and for national security reasons,” she said in a written statement to parliament. The review found the most common source of support for these organizations was from small, anonymous donations from people based in Britain, Rudd said.
But it also found overseas funding was a significant source of income for a small number of organizations. “Overseas support has allowed individuals to study at institutions that teach deeply conservative forms of Islam and provide highly socially conservative literature and preachers to the UK’s Islamic institutions,” Rudd’s statement said. (Reuters)