Doha • Former Islamist Ed Husain felt the denial of a visa by the United Kingdom to Dr Yusuf Al Qaradawi, the well-known Islamic scholar based in Doha, was absolutely justified. Speaking to The Peninsula at the Four Seasons Hotel yesterday, Husain said: "He is a man who speaks two languages. There should be no exceptions in condemning the deaths of innocent people. When it comes to Jews, he thinks it is favourable to kill. It was right to refuse him a visa to the UK because his views have an audience there."

Husain, along with Maajid Nawaz, has just launched the Quilliam Foundation. It is named after Sheikh William Henry Abdullah Quilliam, an English solicitor and convert to Islam who founded the UK's first mosque in Liverpool in the 19th century.

The aim of the Foundation is to present Islam's moderate viewpoint as opposed to the venom spewed out by radical elements. "On Muslim-related issues, it is jihadists and Islamists who dominate the airwaves (in the UK). We will give these a counter-balance," said Husain. This could be done by use of the scriptures, which presents the true meanings and beliefs.

"Call them jihadists, Islamists, but I wouldn't call them Muslim. Being Muslim is not enough for them. They make politics seems religious. They have political aims like destroying Arab governments and the Palestinian issue as a means of justifying more jihad," he said.

He attributed extremism taking root in the UK to that country's inability to get into the global mainstream and reconciling itself to it no longer being a colonial power. "Britain has not come to terms with the breaking up of the Empire. Now there are children of immigrants who don't find a strong voice. Mainstream Britain does not know how to handle what we bring," said Husain, who is of Bengali parentage.