PRESS REALEASE
Embargoed until
2300GMT, December 16, 2005

Shortlist of the Nominees for Islamophobia Awards 2005

The Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) announces with sadness the shortlist of this year’s Islamophobia Awards. The spoof awards are the result of ordinary people world-wide nominating and then voting for a list of people by region whom they believe to be the worst perpetrators of Islamophobia in the previous year.

Based purely on their (lack of) popularity the shortlist for each category are:

UK
Charles Clarke (British Home Secretary); Sir Ian Blair (Commissioner, Metropolitan Police Service); Professor Colin Bundy (Principal, SOAS); Jon Ware (BBC Panorama reporter)

Middle East & Africa
Natan Sharansky (former Israeli Minister); South African Board of Deputies; Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi; US & British Special Forces in Iraq; Hosni Mubarak (Egyptian President)

Australasia & Asia
Islam Karimov (Uzbek President); Thaksin Shinawatra (Prime Minister, Thailand); Sophie Panopoulos (Liberal MP, Australia); John Howard (Australian Prime Minister)

Europe & Russia
Vladimir Putin (Russian President); Nicolas Sarkozy (French Interior Minister); Kaj Vilhelmsen (Danish Radio Commentator); The Northern League (Italian political party)

Americas:
George W. Bush (President, USA); Oprah Winfrey (Chat Show Host); Front Page Magazine (website); Daniel Pipes (journalist)

Special Award, Islamophobe of the Year: ‘Winner’ to be announced with rest of ‘winners’ 1800 GMT, December 17, 2005.

For more information or a full press pack, outlining the reasons for the nominations and the background to the awards, call the Press Officer on (44) 20 8904 4222 or (44) 7958 607475[ENDS]