UK Prisons...

Prisons are becoming a huge recruting ground for radical muslims...

Rival groups of Muslim inmates have created a potentially explosive situation over the interpretation of the Koran in Britain’s biggest jail, prison watchdogs said yesterday.

Deep divisions among Muslims in Wandsworth jail developed after the appointment of an imam with particular views of the Koran’s teachings.

Some Muslim inmates at the jail in southwest London are also pressurising fellow Muslim prisoners to adopt more militant beliefs and lifestyle.

The disclosures will fuel fears that attempts are being made to radicalise young Muslims held in jails in England and Wales.

A report published yesterday said that the row over the interpretation of the Koran had inflamed emotions among inmates. David Jamieson, chairman of the jail’s independent monitoring board, said: “The situation is volatile. It is being resolved. It concerns the way the Koran is interpreted within the Sunni Muslim sect. It is not a row between Sunni and Shia Muslims.”

He said that a full-time imam had been appointed in September and that work involving the Prison Service’s Muslim adviser had been undertaken to resolve the problem.

The rising number of Muslim inmates in the jail means that the existing mosque is too small, but measures to deal with the problem have been criticised.

Plans to erect screens to conceal religious symbols are not considered by some prisoners to provide the exclusivity that they want.

The report also discloses that inherent tensions among Muslims are exacerbated because they have to walk through the Christian chapel to reach their place of worship.

I'm sure it's just a matter of time before they build a dedicated mosque for the prisoners...