A senior British Muslim leader has called on Muslims to support Jews in the fight against prejudice while on a multifaith visit to Auschwitz.

More than 150 Christian, Muslim and Jewish dignitaries from around the world, including Jordan, Turkey and Iraq went on the visit, organised to follow last week’s international Holocaust Memorial Day. Prayers were read in both Arabic and English.

Adverts urging the government to act in lifting Israel’s blockade of Gaza have been published in several national newspapers.

One appeared in today’s Times asking the government to call an emergency international conference following Israel’s actions in the Gaza flotilla incident.

The advert was published by six pro-Palestinian organisations including Oxfam and Medical Aid for Palestinians.
It states: “With the eyes of the world on Gaza, the government has its first opportunity to make a difference on the international stage ".

The Justice Secretary, Jack Straw, has denied that pressure from Muslim leaders is to blame for his lack of action on war crimes legislation.

Mr Straw has faced allegations that legislation needed to prevent magistrates issuing arrest warrants for Israeli politicians travelling to Britain, has been delayed because of pressure from the Muslim Council of Britain and from the sizeable Muslim population of Mr Straw’s Blackburn constituency.

A spokesman for Mr Straw said: "Suggestions have been made in media reports that Jack has been lobbied on this issue by Muslim leaders.

The Muslim Council of Britain voted to send a junior representative to the Holocaust Memorial Day commemoration this week.

After attending for the first time in 2008, the MCB resumed its boycott of the event last year.

The secretary general of the MCB, Dr Mohamed Abdul Bari could not attend, due to a previous engagement at the World Economic Forum summit in Davos, Switzerland.

Nor was his controversial deputy Dr Daoud Abdullah or any of the three assistant secretary generals available.

The Muslim Council of Britain has voted to send a junior representative to the Holocaust Memorial Day commemoration on Wednesday.

After attending for the first time in 2008, the MCB resumed its boycott of the event last year.

The Secretary General of the MCB, Dr Mohamed Abdul Bari will not be attending due, according to the organization, to a diary clash. He is at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

Nor will his controversial deputy Duad Abdullah or any of the organisation's Assistant Secretary Generals.

Senior Jewish leaders have attacked the decision to restore relations between the government and the Muslim Council of Britain.

In a strongly-worded letter to John Denham, the Communities Secretary, the Board of Deputies and the Jewish Leadership Council expressed their “deep regret” at his announcement last Friday bringing the MCB in from the cold after asking and receiving assurances of its opposition to all forms of racism, including antisemitism.

The government has announced that it is lifting its ban on official contact with the Muslim Council of Britain, imposed after the group’s Deputy Secretary General, Daud Abdullah, was revealed to have been a signatory to the Istanbul Declaration, which called for violence against Israel and was widely interpreted as condoning attacks on British troops.

There is speculation that the lifting of the ban is a quid pro quo for next week’s announcement that legislation will be introduced on universal jurisdiction for war crimes.

The government is preparing to give a peerage to the head of the Muslim Council of Britain, even though government links with the organisation are officially suspended.

Ministers are keen to find a prominent Muslim to enter the House of Lords as a way of balancing the peerage given to Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks earlier this year.

It is understood that the name of Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, was proposed at a meeting in Downing Street earlier this week to discuss relations with the Muslim community.