BBC apologizes to Queen over cleric leak
JournalismPakistan.com | Published: 26 September 2012
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The BBC has issued an apology to Queen Elizabeth following the disclosure of her private comments about radical cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri. This revelation raises concerns about the queen's expected political neutrality.Summary
LONDON: Britain's BBC apologised to Queen Elizabeth on Tuesday after a senior journalist reported her private views about one of the country's best known terrorism suspects, an embarrassing disclosure for a monarch who avoids public political statements. BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner broadcast details of a private conversation with the queen during which she supposedly told him she had complained to the last government about radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri. The queen was said to be upset that Britain had not arrested him after he preached fiery anti-Western sermons outside a mosque in London after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. That was awkward for a head of state who has no political or executive role and is expected to stay neutral in public. The queen has never given a media interview and typically avoids controversial topics in her speeches. The Egyptian-born cleric lost an appeal in the European courts on Monday and faces extradition from the country to the United States. Washington accuses him of supporting al Qaeda, aiding a kidnapping in Yemen and plotting to open a U.S. training camp for militants. - Reuters
KEY POINTS:
- BBC security correspondent revealed the queen's private comments.
- Queen voiced concerns about Abu Hamza al-Masri's lack of arrest.
- The disclosure contradicts her role as a neutral head of state.
- Abu Hamza faces extradition to the U.S. on terrorism charges.
- The queen has never participated in a media interview.
