Muslim politician: Prejudice up in Britain

LONDON, July 4 (UPI) -- The first Muslim to serve as a government minister in Britain warns that prejudice has made many British Muslims feel like "aliens in their own country."

Shahid Malik, who serves as a minister in the Department for International Development, said one of his cars had been firebombed and someone once tried to run him down, The Daily Telegraph reported.

"I think most people would agree that if you ask Muslims today what do they feel like, they feel like the Jews of Europe," he said. "I don't mean to equate that with the Holocaust but in the way that it was legitimate almost -- and still is in some parts -- to target Jews, many Muslims would say that we feel the exact same way."

Malik was interviewed for a television program to be broadcast Monday on Channel 4.

A poll done for the program found a growing polarization between Muslims living in Britain and others in the country. More than half, 51 percent of those surveyed, believe Muslims in general are responsible to some degree for the 2005 London Transport bombings, while one-quarter of Muslims said the values of their religion and British values are not compatible.

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