Two hospitalised after suspicious package sent to British Muslim MP
Two hospitalised after suspicious package sent to British Muslim MP
Two people were taken to hospital as a precaution on Monday after a "suspicious package" was sent to the office of Muslim Labour MP Mohammad Yasin.
2 min read
A "suspicious package" was sent to the office of Muslim Labour MP Mohammad Yasin. [Getty]
Two people were taken to hospital as a precaution on Monday after a "suspicious package" was sent to the office of Muslim Labour MP Mohammad Yasin.
"A man and a woman have been taken to a central London hospital as a precaution," a police spokesman said after the package was discovered at the Norman Shaw Buildings which house lawmakers' offices.
Specialist officers investigated the package and found it was not hazardous, a parliamentary spokeswoman later said.
A member of Mohammad Yasin's staff told The New Arab that "everybody was safe". Yasin was not in the room at the time and was unharmed.
London Ambulance Service said they had initially dispatched a hazardous area response team and took two people to hospital after assessing them at the scene.
The affected area was temporarily cordoned off but there was no evacuation of the Norman Shaw Buildings, which are situated between the Houses of Parliament and police headquarters, the parliamentary spokeswoman said.
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Police are concerned the suspect package is linked to a number of anti-Muslim hate letters being circulated across the country, notifying its recipients of a new scheme to "punish a Muslim".
The letter, which declares April 3 as "Punish a Muslim Day" details a point system for different ways to hurt Muslims, including throwing acid, ripping the hijab off a woman and "butchering" using "gun, knife, vehicle or otherwise" to score points accordingly.
Blowing up a Mosque was also on the points system, scoring 1,000 points.
Counter-terrorism officers are leading the investigation into the letters, which were sent to addresses in Bradford, Cardiff, the Midlands, and East London.
The vicious hate letters have caused "a lot of fear" within the British Muslim community, director of Tell Mama UK, an anti-Islamophobia group, Iman Atta said.
"I am deeply disturbed by these hate-filled letters, which seek to spread anxiety and division amongst our diverse and prospering communities," Imam Mustafa Field, Director of Faiths Forum, said in a statement.
Field praised the universal condemnation of the letters and support from all communities, saying that "only through coming together can we truly combat these dark and fragmented corners of society".
Qari Asim, a senior Imam at Leeds Makkah Mosque, said that while the hate letters had caused "alarm" it is reassuring to see the "excellent response from our authorities, and wider communities".
"These attempts to divide us represent the very worst of a deplorable anti-Muslim sentiment that has been rearing its head with increasing frequency over the past year," he added.
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