statement on Iraq detectives
investigating the murder of 19-year old
Marsha MacDonald who died from three
massive blows to the head have confirmed
that they're investigating a similar
incident that took place in January a 17
year old girl suffered head injuries
after a suspected attack in the
Strawberry Hill area of southwest London
French media reports say a Spanish man
charged with killing the British
schoolgirl Caroline Dickinson seven
years ago has admitted the murder 13
year old Caroline was staying at a youth
hostel on a school trip in Brittany when
she was raped and killed by an intruder
she lay in bed and three students from
an agricultural College in Shropshire
have been killed in a road crash three
other men were badly injured in the
accident which happened near the
entrance to Harper Adams University
College near Newport last night thank
you his David Croft with all the sport a
flurry of runs as John Kerry mentioned
at the end of their innings from New
Zealand and their World Cup match
against the West Indies in Port
Elizabeth Simon Mann has all the details
they finished on 241 for 7 from their 50
overs that was a good effort from New
Zealand after being 147 per six in the
33rd they got there thanks to a sensible
innings from wicket keeper Brendon
McCullum who was 36 not out and scible
ignorance from andre adams who finished
35 not atany got those runs from 24
balls with two sixes and a four New
Zealand's struggled early on Stephen
Fleming 25 Vettori 13s tyrus 5 they were
66 for 3 then a good stand
ah Stalin can for them both went in
quick succession aster was caught behind
although don't hit it off Heinz and cans
went too long off also off hind to
finish with three four thirty five so
Weston is need two hundred and forty two
to win the very interesting see how it
works out of England's cricketers should
have been in Harare today playing their
opening World Cup match against involve
way and
Video 3
involved three days cool from Kingsbury
three to Vega morning good money to see
a thousand I heard about your work about
12 years ago from somebody who come from
the state and I've been praying
fervently since then that we have more
people like you now a hundred my
question to you is ever since the speech
on the axis of evil it's feeling more
and more like a crusade visibly
Christianity versus Islam do you
perceive this modern conflict in the
Middle East as a clash of civilizations
or is it a clash of religious belief I
would call it a crash of civilizations I
think it's absolutely the absence of
civilization that leads to to these type
of conflicts in terms of a crusade I
think that there's no doubt that there
there are certain elements in the u.s.
that have a crusader mentality and we
see this in in the fundamentalist
Christian branch and and and there are
people within the the administration
that definitely cater to do that to that
element I think that America by and
large is as a country and certainly the
government is not opposed to a
secularized Islam that is an Islam that
does really not impinge on the society
at large but I think when we talk about
in Islam for instance that prohibits
usery interest a lot of modern banking
schemes an Islam that also permits
people to defend their homelands and
things like this against aggression yeah
I think that there is definitely a
feeling in the government that they do
not want to see this type of a song
because it's antithetical to their
interests in the region
and I think at root for most of these
people I don't think they're they're
ideologically committed to the Christian
religion to to put it in those terms I
think it's much more simply about power
politics and a kind of Machiavellian
attempt at
having their hegemonic concerns in the
region fulfilled Blair and bush' both
said they to share a very similar
platform of Christianity you've spent a
bit of time at least with President Bush
do you believe that Christianity lies
somewhere within his kind of remit and
purpose
I think definitely he's got a Christian
some type of adherence to the Christian
religion no doubt it helped him through
his alcoholism but again I think that
the people around Bush by and large I
think our power politicians and and I
think that religion probably plays less
of a role in their minds than political
concern do you believe my good buddies
very wrong about that but that's that's
my gut feel okay
deeply that President Bush's at all
credible to a Muslim audience no I I
think that by and large that America has
lost all credibility in the Muslim world
I think that many many Muslims actually
look towards America certainly during
the 50s and 60s as being a force that
might help them get out of the yoke of
despotic regimes but America ended up
not only supporting but actively
supporting many of these regimes
certainly Saddam Hussein is a creation
by and large of of the United States and
I think that's where unfortunately the
hypocrisy is much more evident to to
most of the Muslims and I think it's
tragic in a sense because I think the
ideals that America was founded upon our
powerful ideals and and and they're
rooted also in in the Islamic tradition
as well the ideals of self-determination
and and the right for people to pursue
happiness and which of the bits say that
really don't fit where between American
culture and society now well I've never
coached yeah I think that probably some
of the most distasteful aspects
of of Western culture generally are not
just distasteful to Muslims I think many
just good people in in the West find the
the pornographic element the the the
immorality that has kind of permeated
our culture I mean I've got children I
don't like my children to look at
billboards and and see and it's not that
I think that bodies are disgusting and I
don't but but I think that there's
there's a time and a place for
everything and I certainly don't feel
that that type of sexuality should be
publicly displayed those aspects and I
think that the by and large Muslims
share those with a lot of people in the
West does tiny bear have a credibility
to a Muslim audience I think that that
Blair I mean Michael Moore said that you
know when you see Tony Blair and George
Bush standing side by side he said you
see one intelligent man and you wonder
what he's doing with the other one I
mean that might be a little unfair but I
do think that it's very sad that labor
has completely capitulated and I did
remark that it troubles me that the
great the the great line of Great
Britain has become a feather in the tail
of the American Eagle I mean I think
that that Great Britain should play an
extraordinary role of being a moral
voice in the West and I think that that
Great Britain can be that voice that
reminds America that not only is the
path that it's pursuing a dangerous one
but it's the one that Great Britain
herself has been down and that's the
path of empire and ultimately it leads
to failure and and I think that the the
British people are acutely aware of that
because they saw it in their own history
and joins us from Glasgow morning in
hello yes good wine I'd like to know how
I define empire because at the height of
the Ottoman Empire in the 20th century I
don't know if your listeners are aware
of this or not the worst atrocities
committed in the history of mankind
prior to the first and second world wars
was committed by the turkey Muslims
against the Armenians you know 1 million
to one and a half million Christians
killed because they were not of the
faith of the Muslim that's
I just also please may I speak because
we do have freedom of speech in this
country in certain Islamic countries I
would not be able to express myself as I
am just now and there with you if I was
in certain Islamic countries hmm
could I just also say to you that um it
seems extraordinary that we have a
situation just now where everything
seems to be down to the the the satanic
west where in fact if you consider the
history of the Islamic faith you do seem
to be based you-you-you tenets on heat
another moderation that you have a
problem I think with the moderate
Muslims should be challenging the
authority of the extremists the mullahs
in the Imams if you don't have that
situation then I'm afraid that the rest
of the world the rest of the major
religions of the world I'm going to
perceive the Islamic faith as based on
fear and injustice which particular
states and regimes are you talking about
well in Egypt for example you do have
what you would call a moderate Muslim
country where I believe 20% of the the
population in Egypt is not of the Muslim
faith but you have you have Islamic
extremists in that country where if they
were to take over the mainstream people
in Egypt is now they would reduce the
the Muslim the non-muslims to zero in
Saudi Arabia for example you only have
one religion permitted there which is
based on a hideous regime where all
sorts of atrocious the sentences are
passed on individuals because they dare
challenge the authority of that well
let's just let's just try to tackle that
shake hands would you admit and that
that does need to be more
forward-thinking a wider appreciation of
freedoms that the West have embraced in
some parts of the Muslim world
absolutely I mean I don't first address
the the idea that the the Ottomans that
this the worst atrocity ever in the
history of I mean that's blatantly false
it's well known the the Armenian tragedy
that did happen happened but by most
historians there there was a recognized
exaggeration of numbers because of anti
Russian propaganda at the time but a
rather anti Turkish propaganda at the
time based on Britain's interests there
but but the point about the the Ottomans
at that point was already a secularized
government in fact the Armenians were
well known to be one at one of the few
communities in in that region that had
reached very very high levels within the
Ottoman government itself ministerial
levels and things like that and I think
the Ottomans actually by and large with
their atrocities because like any
empires they did have their atrocities
but by and large they were known to be
one of the most tolerant civilizations
in the pre-modern world certainly right
in the modern world in the modern world
we've got a real serious problem in the
Muslim world there's no doubt and I
think that the suffering that goes on
again is is I mean I lived in the Muslim
world and I certainly many of the things
that I saw I think the the the the abuse
of women in in in many of the the
countries that has to do with just
ignorant I really feel that and and it
wasn't that long I mean we forget that
women didn't inherit in this country in
the 19th century I mean we kind of pride
ourselves on these leaps and bounds that
we've made in the last few decades but
the reality of it is I mean if we look
at our own history I mean the it took
quite a considerable amount of time to
achieve certain things that we've
achieved in the West and I think that in
the different surely is that they're
mean the suffragette movement in this
country was one where women were
prepared to lose their own lives in the
name of freedom whereas if you're a
woman living in Jordan or Saudi Arabia
the moment you are more likely to lose
your life at the hands of the state if
you try and pursue ultimate freedom than
at your own hands and that surely is
wrong and you can you know you can say I
can adjourn you have to look forward
exactly and I'm not going to what I'm
saying is that change
does take time I mean we forget the
revolutions that we've had we forget all
the blood that's been spilt in in in
Western civilization that we can speak
freely you know many of us would have
been plebeians in another age we
wouldn't even have the right to be
discussing government policy that was
the the right of the Lord's and and and
the aristocracy
well people fought and died in order for
us to have these and and people just
kind of forget that they think that we
we just it's always been like this is it
hasn't always been like this and I think
it's going to take a lot of time say for
other parts of the world to achieve
certain levels of liberty and freedom
and I would like to see it done without
the type of bloodshed that has occurred
and I think that it's it's very easy for
us to point our fingers at other
societies and civilizations I'm not
defending the Muslim world per se I I'm
I grew up in California I was raised by
a woman who was very active my mother
was very active in the civil rights III
grew up in a liberal progressive
tradition I'm not going to to defend
despotism I'm not going to defend the
the atrocious human rights records in in
many parts not just of the Muslim world
but around the world but I'm certainly
also very aware of how easy it is to
attack that world without really
understanding it at a much deeper level
I mean if you take a book by the
brilliant British historian David Franck
and a piece to end all peace I mean he
shows you that it was in fact Britain
and France that set up a type of
scenario in the Middle East would that
would ensure that the that the countries
in that area would remain in this type
of morass isn't the real danger in
taking all those lessons from history
that the place that we find ourselves in
at the moment which is slightly kind of
fists up between two massive cultures
will actually lead to both suffering
there will not be the time this is
progression thank you I mean I that is
exactly how I feel and I think that if
we don't listen to each other and it's
going to be very difficult but it's
going to take
real intelligence and and and reason and
and I think that's what human beings
unfortunately are not very adept at when
they're when they're just constantly in
the turmoil and agitation of crises
management it's been wonderful having
you here thank you very much indeed for
coming in so huge they can see you so
thank you for all the calls and I know
that we didn't manage to put very many
honor but we do appreciate the fact that
you're listening and wanting to get
involved here's Anna with the travel in
sterling the a 875 remains closed while
Stan accidents recovered between Balfron
and the a8 double one junction at kamek
hill
you