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His links to extreme Islamic organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir were revealed by bloggers, including and, last week after Aslam wrote a July 13 article about the suicide bombers in the Guardian, which also ran in both the LA Times and Australian Age.

The piece suggested that the UK should not have been shocked by the 7/7 suicide bombings as that would "suggest that the bombings happened through no responsibility of our own". He went on to refer to the suicide bombers "as sassy".

"Second- and third-generation Muslims are without the don't-rock-the-boat attitude ... We're much sassier with our opinions, not caring if the boat gets rocked."

The Washington Times condemned the Guardian piece as an "apology for terrorism" and named the paper, along with the BBC for its axing the use of the word terrorist, as its Knaves of the week.

The party that Aslam is linked to, Hizb ut-Tahrir, is banned in many countries around the world, and has been described by the BBC as one that calls on Muslims to kill Jews.

The Guardian has confirmed that Aslam is a member of Hizb Ut Tahrir. As well as his controversial piece on the bombings, he has also reported on the story from three of the bombers' home town of Leeds.

"Dilpazier Aslam is a member of Hizb ut-Tahrir, an organisation which is legal in this country. We are keeping the matter under review," the paper said in a statement.

Two years ago, a Muslim leader warned BBC Newsnight that if its activities went unchecked, the UK would face terrorist attacks.

"I believe that if Hizb ut-Tahrir are not stopped at this stage, and we continue to let them politicise and pollute the youngsters minds and other gullible people's minds, then what will happen, in effect, is that these terrorism acts and these suicide bombings that we hear going on around in foreign countries, we will actually start seeing these incidents happening outside our doorsteps," said an "anonymous Muslim leader" quoted from a Newsnight transcript.

Prior to joining the Guardian, Aslam wrote for the Hizb ut-Tahrir magazine khilafah.com, which calls for the establishing of a global Islamic state or caliphate, and part of which calls for the "destruction of institutions and government systems".

Although the magazine stresses this would be non-violent, the group was recently involved in threatening the life of anti-war MP George Galloway.

The Respect MP was at a meeting interrupted by Hizb ut-Tahrir members who told him that he was a "false prophet" and that a "sentence of death" had been served on him.

Burgess has since written to the Guardian comment editor Seumas Milne asking whether Guardian newspapers was aware of Aslam's affiliations before he was hired.

"If so, one wonders whether it is standard Guardian policy to employ members of extremist organisations like Hizb ut-Tahrir (which was described in a Guardian article of November 11, 2004 as "Britain's most radical Islamic group").

"The question is raised as to whether you would hire, and provide a forum for, a known member of an international group of right-wing extremists who expressed similar views.

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