UKIP's new interim leader has reiterated his claim that Islam is a 'death cult' in his first interview since taking on the temporary role.
Gerard Batten, an MEP for London and previously the party's Brexit spokesman, took over on Saturday after UKIP's previous leader Henry Bolton was removed at an emergency meeting of members.
Batten previously attracted controversy by labelling Islam a 'death cult' on his personal blog and calling for Muslims to sign a charter renouncing part of the Qur'an. He also suggested there should be a ban on new mosques being built in the UK. Speaking to Sky News after his election on Sunday he defended his stance.
'What I wrote there about Islam is factually and historically true, and anybody that cares to look at the history of Islam over the last 1,400 years will see that that is true,' he said.
'It was propagated by invasion, by violence and intimidation. And if you look at every continent in the world where you have this belief, then you have violence. It glorifies death. They believe in propagating their religion by killing other people and martyring themselves and going and getting their 72 virgins.'
He also doubled down on his call for British Muslims to sign a document formally renouncing elements of the Qur'an 'which allow people to justify violence and extremism'.
'I don't think it's unreasonable to think that people who come and live in our country should reject these dark-age ideologies, which many of them bring with them,' he said.
'They're the ones with the ideology, they're the ones with the problem, because it's their extremist ideology. Kill infidels wherever you find them, make war on infidels, strike terror into the hearts of infidels.'
Responding to his election Hope not Hate, a campaigning group focused on opposing the far-right, said UKIP members had sounded the death knell for their party in electing Batten.
'Gerard Batten is a known for his extreme anti-Muslim views and closeness to various figures in anti-Muslim networks across Europe,' said chief executive Nick Lowles.
A spokesman added Batten was 'an Islamophobe and conspiracy theorist' with links to other anti-Muslim activists.
'His extreme comments, while shocking, are not surprising. His obsessions with Islam go way beyond the pale and are both hugely offensive as well as potentially dangerous,' he said.
Since the UK's vote to leave the European Union, UKIP has struggled to find a new identity and under former leader Paul Nuttall it adopted a so-called integration agenda focusing on Muslims in the 2017 election and calling for a ban on the face veil in public.
