Wars no excuse for terror, sats Sturgeon
THE ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are no excuse for terrorism, Scotland’s deputy first minister told a 1,500-strong crowd in Glasgow yesterday.
Nicola Sturgeon was addressing the inter-faith rally, a week after the attack on the city’s airport.
Glasgow also played host to more than 10,000 Orangemen who marched through the city to Bellahouston Park for their biggest parade of the year.
Sturgeon was applauded by the crowd when she told them: “Islam is a religion of peace. Muslims in Scotland, like so many of the rest of us in Scotland, have grave concerns about what is happening in our world today.
“But we, all of us, believe that the way to effect change is through peaceful, democratic process. That is what we are here to say today.”
Sturgeon made reference to statistics released by Strathclyde Police following the airport attack which showed a significant rise in the number of reported racial incidents.
She said that anyone convicted of such an offence would face the “full wrath of the law”.
The deputy First Minister also praised the members of the public who stepped in to help police in the aftermath of the incident.
Osama Saeed, of the Muslim Community of Scotland, denied fellow Muslims were “turning a blind eye” to terrorism.
He said: “Let us be clear, no one wants to beat these terrorists more than the Muslim community.”
He added that “hard facts and hard research” were needed to learn what was behind the attacks.
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