Weekend witch-hunts

In the Observer, with the assistance of such reliable informants as Irfan al-Alawi (of Stephen Schwartz’s Center for Islamic Pluralism), Haras Rafiq (formerly of the Sufi Muslim Council and now of the “counter-extremism consultancy” Centri) and Maajid Nawaz (co-director of the Quilliam Foundation), Jamie Doward reveals that the Islam Channel is “linked to al-Qaida cleric al-Awlaki”.

Meanwhile, over at the Sunday Express, Paul Goodman MP accuses Wakkas Khan, the former FOSIS president who is part of Communities Secretary John Denham’s panel of faith advisers, of having “links to hardline Islamist party Hizb ut-Tahrir”.

You might not have thought it possible, but it does seem that anti-Muslim witch-hunts are becoming even more stupid and baseless than before.