Manchester attack: Head of Muslim anti-extremism charity spat on and told 'you killed children'

The head of a Muslim organisation that opposes extremism and promotes peace and understanding said he was spat on and verbally abused the day after the Manchester bombing.

Mohammed Shafiq, chief executive of the Manchester-based Ramadhan Foundation, told The Independent he was in Brighton for a conference when the reported assault took place.

“I was walking down West Street in Brighton and a guy, who was probably about 35, elbowed me to grab my attention,” he said. “I turned round and looked at him, and he spat in my face and said: ‘You are killing children’”

“In a normal situation, I’d have a conversation with him. But you don’t know if they’ve got a knife or whatever, so I ignored it and walked on. He was babbling away as I walked, looking for a reaction, saying: ‘F**k off back to your own country’”.

“I often read about these things and meet people who have been abused, but it’s never happened to me before. It’s happened to me on Twitter, but never in person, so I was quite shaken by it,” he added.

The 38-year-old made a number of public statements yesterday, condemning the attack at Manchester Arena that killed 22 people and wounded 59 as the “darkest day” in the city’s history.

“I’m somebody who has been at the forefront of the campaign against terrorism and extremism. I was threatened by Al-Qaeda in 2013 in a video and had to have police protection,” he said.

“It’s particularly saddening, as it’s hard to get the message out there that terrorism is evil, and then you have some people who just insult you and spit at you."

The father of four added: “I’d normally say: ‘let’s talk about what you just said’ and have a dialogue. But yesterday, feelings were running high and I just thought it’s best not to.”

It comes after a 14-year-old girl wearing a headscarf was verbally abused on her way to school in south west Manchester.

A stranger shouted: “When are you going to stop bombing people?” at the pupil, who attends Manchester Islamic High School for Girls.

The school’s head teacher Mona Mohamed said the girl was “upset and hurt” by the incident but had not responded.

“We asked our pupils to stay calm, to have empathy. The feelings are raw; people are shocked, upset and angry,” she told the BBC.

A Manchester mosque was also attacked by arsonists in what is suspected to be a revenge attack.

The door of the Jamia Qasmia Zahidia Islamic Centre in Oldham, Greater Manchester, was set alight and badly damaged.

The imam, Mohammad Saddiq, said a member of the public called the fire brigade and nobody was inside the building at the time.

“We have no idea why somebody would target us. We are a religious and educational centre. I've been involved her for three years and never dealt with anything like this,” he said.

Among those seriously injured in the explosion at a concert by US singer Ariana Grande were 12 children under the age of 16.

Salman Abedi, a 22-year-old Mancunian of Libyan descent, was named by police as the lone bomber.

The leader of the mosque attended by Abedi has condemned the “horrific atrocity”, with Fawzi Haffar of Didsbury Mosque saying: “This has no place in our religion”.

Abedi returned from a visit to Libya just days before carrying out the Manchester attack and may have travelled to terrorist strongholds in Syria.

His potential links to Isis militants and recruiters around the world are being probed by investigators attempting to find out how he was able to transport a nail bomb into the arena.