A British court found Muslim Abdul Muhid guilty of inciting murder during a demonstration last year against Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.
LONDON: A British court on Wednesday found Muslim Abdul Muhid guilty of inciting murder during a demonstration in London last year against Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.
Muhid, who was arrested about three months after a demonstration on February 3 last year, was convicted by a jury at the Central Criminal Court, the Old Bailey, in London of two counts of soliciting to murder.
The march to the Danish Embassy in London was one of many protests worldwide, some of them violent, over cartoons that were first published in a Danish newspaper in September 2005 and reprinted in other European newspapers.
The 24-year-old showed no emotion as the verdicts were read out on the second day of deliberation by the jury.
During his trial, Muhid had told the jury the demonstration was meant to show the "hurt and distress" felt by Muslims over the the drawings, including one portraying the prophet with a bomb in his turban.
The court heard that Muhid led a crowd chanting "Bomb, bomb the UK" and produced placards with slogans such as "Annihilate those who insult Islam."
Another placard read "Fantastic four are on their way," a reference to the four men who killed themselves and 52 other people on three London Underground trains and a bus on July 7, 2005 in Europe's first Islamist suicide bombings.
Another read "3/11 is on its way," referring to the March 11, 2004 train bombings in Madrid that killed 191 people.
Prosecutor David Perry told the court that the real purpose of the protest in London was to encourage terrorism.
Muhid, who was a meat inspector to ensure the animal had been slaughtered the Muslim halal way, saw himself as a "soldier" fighting those he believed had insulted Islam, and exhorted people to commit "terrorist killing," he said.
He was wearing a jacket bearing the slogan "Soldier of Allah" during the march.
The jury was also told that Muhid was responsible for, or participated in, the burning of a Danish flag soaked in a combustible mixture.
Police refrained from making arrests during the demonstration to avert any violent response and instead used video recording equipment to gather evidence.
Two other men were found guilty of similar charges in February and January this year. All three were remanded in custody until sentencing next month.
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