A WikiLeaks diplomatic cable revealed that one in three young British Muslims favor killing in the name of Islam, and 40 percent want a Sharia law, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.
The Centre for Social Cohesion surveyed 600 Muslim and 800 non-Muslim students at 30 universities throughout the UK, and found that 32 percent of Muslims on UK campuses justified killing in the name of their religion, the Daily Mail Reporter report said.
The same poll was quoted by a U.S. diplomatic cable in January 2009 and said that 54 percent of the UK Muslims wanted a party representing their religion and world view in the parliament, and 40 percent wanted to be ruled under the Sharia law.
WikiLeaks’ release of thousands of U.S. diplomatic cables suggests the increased radicalization among Britain’s young Muslims, the daily newspaper said.
UK Muslims are among US' top priorities
Another cable dated February 5 2009, said reaching out to Britain's Muslim community was a 'top priority' for the U.S. embassy staff.
"Although people of Muslim faith make up only 3 to 4 percent of the UK's population, outreach to this key audience is vital to U.S. foreign policy interests in the UK and beyond. ... This is a top Mission priority," stated the cable.
A February cable outlined a U.S. plan encompassing 'engagement and community capacity-building' to counter the possible growth of 'violent extremism' in the UK.
Another U.S. cable from 2006 had suggested that the British Government had made 'little progress' in engaging Muslims and combating homegrown extremism.
In one of the latest cable releases, which illustrated the U.S. lack of faith in the UK’s government’s ability to engage and involve its Muslim subjects, had had a U.S. had an ambassadorial plan to empower Muslim communities to 'mobilize against extremism' and 'build community resilience'.
High unemployment & disability rates among Muslims
U.S. outreach plan for the two million British Muslims was published a month after a cable exposing the community’s high unemployment rates of both genders in comparison to other religious.
The cables also found that Muslims have the highest disability rates, with 24 percent of men and 21 percent of women, but other statistics claim that Muslims were the most likely group to be unavailable for work, or not actively seeking employment due to illness, their studies or family commitments.