Muslims chant abuse and burn poppy during silence

Published on Thursday 11 November 2010 17:12

Muslim protesters burned a poppy and chanted "British soldiers burn in hell" during yesterday's two minutes of silence in London.

Dozens of protesters calling themselves "Muslims against Crusaders" screamed "British Troops are murderers" and "There will be no security for Britain while troops remain in Muslim land" as bystanders fell silent to remember fallen soldiers.

About 50 members of the English Defence League staged a counter-protest, turning their back on the Muslims during the two-minute silence in Kensington, central London. As soon as the silence started, a Muslim yelled out: "British soldiers go to hell." The chants continued, and halfway through the silence, one of the group held up a poppy, set it alight and threw it on the ground.

The EDL leader then ran through the police cordon to attack them. Punches were thrown before riot police entered the fray and arrested him. A second scuffle and further arrests followed, before the Muslim protesters were herded by police to the nearest Tube station while the EDL members were held back.