A LONDON council has refused to remove extremist Islamic books from its libraries.

Three libraries in the London borough of Tower Hamlets were found to stock books promoting antisemitism, violent jihad (holy war) and sexism.

Some of these were by convicted race-hate preachers including Abu Hamza al-Masri, whose convictions include stirring up racial hatred and soliciting to murder, and who is serving a seven-year prison sentence for incitement. There were also works by Sheikh Abdullah al-Faisal, who was jailed in 2003 for repeatedly calling for the murder of non-Muslims. Al-Faisal was released and deported earlier this year. One of the 7/7 London bombers, Jermaine Lindsay, had attended some of his sermons. The books, paid for by taxpayers' money, form part of the libraries' "Islamic literature" collections.

Despite the content of the books, Tower Hamlets Council has refused to remove them, on the grounds that the books themselves were not illegal.
"We have purchased a wider range of Islamic books to reflect the broad range of views within the Islamic world."