Peter Robinson Apologises Over Islam Comments

Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson has made a public apology at the Belfast Islamic Centre, following comments he made when he defended local Pastor James McConnell, who said Islam was "heathen", "satanic" and "spawned in hell".

Mr Robinson said he would not trust Muslims for spiritual guidance but would trust them to "go down the shops" for him.

The DUP leader met Muslim community leaders at the Belfast Islamic Centre and apologised. Upon arrival at the Islamic Centre, he was greeted with a bunch of flowers.

Also present at the meeting was Muhammad Asif Khattak, one of the two Pakistani men attacked in north Belfast at weekend.

After the private meeting, Peter Robinson said: "This society does depend on people from ethnic and religious minorities for the day-to-day life of our province, I can't spend the rest of my life apologising, but what I can do is spend the rest of my life building the united community in Northern Ireland."

Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said the public apology was "the right thing to do" and added: "There is an onus on all of us in positions of political leadership to represent everyone in our society, that involves promoting equality, mutual respect and tolerance and standing up for all communities. Those are the key principles of the Good Friday Agreement."

Mr McGuinness also urged Pastor McConnell to "take lead from the first minister."

Alliance Party leader Anna Lo also welcomed the apology and said: "It offers us the opportunity to move forward, from words of reassurance to actions that will make a real difference to the lives of people from minority communities."

(CVS/IT)