‘——————————————-

Islamic Human Rights Commission

——————————————-

PRESS REALEASE

Embargoed until 1800, December 17, 2005

Winners of the Islamophobia Awards 2005

The Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) announces with sadness the
winners 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. (Winners embargoed until 1800,
December 17, shortlist without embargo).

Based purely on their (lack of) popularity the shortlist and winners
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)

Winner: Sir Ian Blair

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)

Joint winners: Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi & US and British Special Forces in
Iraq

Australasia & Asia

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

Winner: John Howard

Europe & Russia

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

Winner: Vladimir Putin

Americas:

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

Winner: George W. Bush

Special Award, Islamophobe of the Year: Tony Blair (British Prime
Minister)

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]