X Factor security stepped up after radical Muslim issues fatwa

LONDON - Radical Muslim preacher Omar Bakri has issued a fatwa against ITV1's hit talent show 'The X Factor', deeming that Muslims must not watch it because of its support for the charity Help for Heroes.

Bakri, a cleric now based in Lebanon after being kicked out of the UK, has made his comments because the current crop of 'X Factor' hopefuls have recorded a single for , thecharity that supports British troops wounded in current conflicts such as those in Iraq and Afghanistan.

According to a report in The Sun, Bakri has said that Muslims who wear or give out wristbands created to support charity are committing a kind of hatred against Muslims. Ominously, he said that the support of 'The X Factor' for the charity had "dangerous implications".

He then went on to say: "Some people may find excuses for those people -- ignorance and so on. If after three days, they continue, you are barred from these people and their deeds.

"Even watching the show, those people are committing a form a type of muadaat. And that action is a form of kufr (non-belief)."

The newspaper reports that security is being stepped up for the next show, when the Help for Heroes single will be performed. The judges on the show, Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh, Dannii Minogue and Cheryl Cole, already have bodyguards.

Bakri is known for his extreme views, having said he was "very happy" on the day of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

He has also called for anyone offending a prophet to be tried and executed if found guilty in the wake of the outcry over Danish cartoons depicting Mohammed. However, he did add that Muslims should not kill anyone "by their own personal, individual initiative".

Bakri was born in Syria and now lives in Lebanon. He is banned from entering Britain because of his views and is a popular target for the tabloid press.

The Sun recently revealed that his daughter, Yasmin Fostok, was earning a living as topless dancer. She has since left her house in London. Bakri has claimed that the woman in the press is actually an impostor and not his daughter.

Help for Heroes was launched in September 2007 and founded by Bryn Parry, a cartoonist and former member of The Royal Green Jackets.

It is supported by a number of high profile trustees and patrons including James Blunt, 'Top Gear's' Jeremy Clarkson, writer and former member of the SAS Andy McNab and Anneka Rice.

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