London, England, Jun 4, 2008 / 17:24 pm
British police said they will not apologize to two Christian preachers who were threatened with arrest by a Muslim police officer for preaching Christianity in Muslim communities in the city of Birmingham.
According to the Telegraph, the incident occurred last February when Christian ministers Arthur Cunningham and Joseph Abraham were handing out leaflets and speaking with four Muslim youths about Christianity in Birmingham. Naeem Naguthney, a Muslim police community support officer told them to cease-and-desist from preaching to Muslims and threatened to charge them with a “hate crime.”
"He said we were in a Muslim area and were not allowed to spread our Christian message," Cunningham told the Telegraph. "He said we were committing a hate crime by telling the youths to leave Islam and said that he was going to take us to the police station."
Abraham, an Egyptian-born Muslim who converted to Christianity, told the Telegraph his experience confirms Anglican Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali's controversial statement that parts of Britain have become "no-go" areas.