British Muslims are afraid of a “backlash” if their brothers in Iraq saw off the head of British hostage Ken Bigley, and the British government is mobilizing to protect them: Muslims fear backlash.

The government’s crisis command unit, Cobra, is monitoring tension levels around Britain to guard against extremists using the plight of the British hostage Ken Bigley as an excuse to attack Muslims.

As the hostage crisis entered its ninth day, efforts in Britain and Iraq intensified to secure the release of Mr Bigley, 62, who is being threatened with being beheaded by one of the most ruthless groups in Iraq, led by the Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Cobra, which sits in the Cabinet Office and is made up of ministers, civil servants and law enforcement officials, fears that if the Iraqi extremists carry out their threat, Muslims in Britain could face a backlash.

The moderate Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) said it had received 2,000 threatening emails, and the Association of Chief Police Officers yesterday gathered information from forces about tension levels and threats in their areas.

Once again we see the mainstream media making excuses for Islam, stating blatant falsehoods as fact:

British Muslims were last night scheduled to fly to Baghdad to plead for Mr Bigley’s life, in a mission organised by the MCB. It said the mission was partly designed to show that British Muslims were as appalled by Mr Bigley’s plight as anyone, and to reiterate the belief among British Muslims that Islam forbids the taking of civilians as hostages, let alone their killing.

That last assertion is simply not true, in any sense of the word. There are numerous passages in the Koran that are used by terrorists as justification for the rape and murder of hostages. Yet the Guardian, and mainstream media in general, seem to believe that if they bury their heads in the sand and keep repeating the “Religion of Peace” mantra, it will magically come true.