UK groups hold rally for peace

LONDON: Community groups yesterday held a peace rally in England's second-largest city against the hit-and-run attack that claimed three lives during rioting in Birmingham. Scores of people gathered in the neighbourhood where three men - Haroon Jahan, 20, and brothers Shazad Ali, 30, and Abdul Musavir, 31 - were mowed down on Wednesday by a speeding car. The trio had been with a larger group guarding a row of Pakistani-owned shops from looters.

The killings had threatened to ignite clashes between the area's South Asian and black gangs, but appeals for calm and unity from Jahan's father have so far been heeded.

The father, Tariq Jahan, yesterday joined other victims' family members in addressing the crowds in Winson Green from a stage bearing the banner "One City, One Voice for Peace."

Wearing a T-shirt bearing the names of the three victims, Jahan told the crowd that seeing the community come together gave him strength to believe the three men did not die in vain.

Abdul Qudoos, the elder brother of Shazad and Musavir, broke down as he thanked the audience for support and urged the community to remain united.

"Please do not divide, be together," he said in an emotional address. "Let people know that we are all good."

Two men have been charged in the case. Joshua Donald, 26, and a 17-year-old boy whose name was withheld because of his age, were yesterday arraigned at Birmingham Magistrates Court on three counts each of murder. Both were remanded in custody.

The magistrates court is normally closed on Sundays, but like many other British courts, has worked unprecedented hours and stayed open through the weekend to help process the scores of defendants charged in connection with the riots.

The Justice Ministry said that 1,156 suspects had appeared in court as of late Saturday.

Justice Minister Jonathan Djanogly acknowledged the "difficult work" facing courts, prisons, probation, youth and emergency services, saying he had met with court staff and judges who had worked 30 hours straight.

Thousands of people have been arrested countrywide, with more than 800 charged in London alone.

Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday pledged a "zero tolerance" crackdown on street gangs, fuelling a row with police over plans for the US "supercop" behind the tough strategy.

Police chiefs criticised Cameron's decision to hire former New York police supremo Bill Bratton in a bid to prevent a repeat of the violence, saying a home-grown policy would be better.

"We haven't talked the language of zero tolerance enough, but the message is getting through," Cameron told The Sunday Telegraph newspaper.

Interior minister Theresa May backed Cameron, saying the public wanted "tough action".

Bratton himself, however, said zero tolerance is "a phrase I hate". "I would not advocate attempting zero tolerance in any country. It's not achievable. It implies you can eliminate a problem and that's not reality," Bratton wrote in the Mail on Sunday newspaper.

In a phone call with Cameron, US President Barack Obama commended the "steadiness" shown by politicians and the police in their handling of the riots.