|PIC1|The UK is not in danger of an Islamic takeover, according to Steve Bell, the National Director of Interserve, an expert on Muslim issues.

Speaking at this year's Keswick Convention, Bell pointed out that, "Muslim fertility rates are dropping noticeably in Europe, and dramatically in the Middle East and North Africa.

"Fundamentalism thrives in communities with large extended families and poverty and this pattern is diminishing among Europe's Muslim communities.

A sub-replacement birthrate was one of the causes of the decline of Christianity in Europe and it looks set to do the same for Islam in Europe."

Not only is an Islamic takeover in this country unlikely, but Bell also believes that the UK is providing a safe place in which Islam can change: "Muslims in the West are finding they can practice Islam without pressure from Islamic governments. So here in the UK both dangerous Islamists and freethinking reformers are emerging.

"The West is now the crucible in which Islam is being openly debated and modified for the
21st century. I suggest the outcome of the debate in this country that is going on between Muslims could well affect the outcome for the future of Islam worldwide.

"A reforming process is already painfully underway within the house of Islam ... God is at work in these days and it is exciting that He should choose Britain to be the crucible of that debate.

"The presence of two million British Muslims (accounting for the illegals) cannot be a mistake or God is not sovereign. It is God who is steering human history to His appointed end."