BBC defends suicide bomb plotline for 'Spooks'

The BBC has defended its decision to run a drama programme in which an Islamic suicide bomber was recruited at a fictional Birmingham mosque.

Following the transmission of 'Spooks' on BBC THREE on June 2, vandals sprayed the words 'kill the suicide bombers' on a white outside wall of Central Birmingham Mosque in Belgrave Road.

Religious leaders from the Muslim community in the area believe that the incident was prompted by the plotline of the drama episode.

Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) officials have called for a meeting with BBC management to convey directly the "numerous complaints from British Muslims relating to the episode".

The MCB believe that the episode prompted "Islamophobic attacks" on mosques and Muslim university students.

"The BBC will be held responsible for any attacks on individuals and Islamic centres and mosques," MCB Secretary General Iqbal Sacranie said.

In letter to BBC One controller Lorraine Heggessey, the MCB's media committee secretary, Inayat Bunglawala, said that the "sensationalist" programme reinforced many negative stereotypes of British Muslims, and "pandered to grossly offensive and Islamophobic caricatures" of Imams, Muslim students and mosques.

He added: "Many viewers will have been left with a distorted impression of what actually takes place inside mosques, perhaps now regarding them as a place for political intrigue and the plotting of acts of terrorism.

"In short, we believe that this episode of 'Spooks' will do a lot of harm to the already woeful image of the British Muslim community that the media itself has helped to create. It will only add to the fear and suspicion that many Muslims have to face in their day-to-day lives. It may even provoke an even greater increase in the amount of deliberate abuse and violence that has been directed against our community and its institutions in recent months."

However, Ms Heggessey, in a point-by-point rejection in defence of the episode, said that the programme offered a balanced view of a difficult subject.

"The events take place in a fictional mosque and community centre, set in a fictional district of Birmingham," she wrote.

"The programme was extensively researched and the BBC's usual rigorous editorial policy and legal requirements have been followed."

The programme, which has already been transmitted on the BBC’s digital channel BBC THREE, was aired last night on BBC ONE.

(GMcG)