A former imam, or mosque leader, has warned that extremists are aiming to establish Muslim Sharia law in the UK - and that Britain has become the world "number one target" for Islamic strategists.
Persecution watchdog Release International said that "Sharia law - strict Islamic law - is gaining ground in many nations, resulting in a challenge to basic human freedoms."
A statement released by the organisation explains: "In Pakistan a bill that would impose the death penalty on any Muslim man who changes his faith has passed its first reading. A Muslim woman who converted to another faith would face life imprisonment."
Sam Solomon, a former imam and Islamic lawyer now living in the West, has raised concerns of "creeping" Islamisation in the UK. He has written a special report on Islam in the latest edition of Witness magazine, published by Release International.
He writes: "The UK is the number one target of Islamic strategies in the West (because) the former British Empire controlled some of the largest Muslim communities. Immigrants from these countries... have taken full advantage of Britain's liberal politics."
The news has come as British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Wednesday his Government would consult on new counter-terrorism measures to ensure suspects are successfully prosecuted.
"The home secretary plans to consult -- and we are seeking an all party consensus on new measures to ensure successful prosecutions against terrorist suspects," Brown told Parliament, without giving further details.
He said he would also consider the case for an extension of the 28-day limit on pre-charge detention for terrorism suspects and on the use of intercept evidence in court.
Ex-imam Sam Solomon, however, has raised concerns that the militants' aim is to establish Sharia law in the UK, applying first to Muslim communities, then extending to the entire population.
"It would be a huge mistake to say that Islam is just another religion like Judaism or Christianity," he writes.
"Islam is a whole system: a social, political, religious, economical, educational, legislative, judicial and military system... with regulations that govern every aspect of the lives of its adherents."
Release said that "where Sharia law has been applied in Pakistan, Christians have been accused of blasphemy and girls and women face abduction and forced conversion". In Nigeria, meanwhile, extremists have burnt churches and targeted and killed Christians, the organisation said.
