Muslims complain to Ofcom over 24's hostile portrayal

Iqbal Sacranie, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said: "We will be referring the series to Ofcom for investigation, as we believe that the episodes we have already seen are in clear infringement of the ITC Programme Code about the representation of minorities,"

Last week, a delegation from the MCB met with senior executives from Sky Television and attacked Sky's decision to broadcast the fourth series of the hit US drama '24', which began its run last night on Sky One.

The new series centres on a new Islamic terror attack by a sleeper cell Islamic Turkish family, the mother of which ruthlessly kills her son's non-Muslim white girlfriend.

While the mother is a ruthless killer, the father comes off no better. He is shown as an extremist set to strike at the heart of America. Breakfast in this family's house is no laughing matter as the father tells his family: "What we will accomplish today will change the world. We are fortunate that our family has been chosen to do this."

The MCB says that there is not a single positive portrayal of a Muslim character in the show.

According to Sacranie: "We are greatly concerned by the unremittingly hostile and unbalanced portrayal of Muslims in this series of '24' based upon a preview of the first five episodes that we have seen. There is not a single positive Muslim character in the storyline to date."

The MCB says that at a time when negative stereotypes of Muslims are on the increase, Sky has a responsibility to challenge these views instead of reinforcing them. It wants Sky to push sister channel Fox, which makes the show in the US, to introduce more positive portrayals.

The old ITC programming rules says that "consideration should be given to the treatment of vulnerable minorities bearing in mind the likely effects of both misrepresentation and under-representation".

The rules go on to says that "no programme should be transmitted, which is intended to stir up racial hatred, or taking into account the circumstances, is likely to do so".

The MCB said it had received assurances from Sky that it would undertake a pro-active review of the '24' episodes as and when they receive them from Fox, with a view to ensuring that its broadcast of the '24' series complies with domestic broadcasting regulations, which may entail editorial changes.

In the US, Islamic groups have raised similar issues, forcing the Rupert Murdoch-owned Fox to give them free advertising spots.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations complained to the network about the Muslim family and, particularly, the killer Muslim mother.

The Assembly of Turkish Americans Association has raised fears that Turks and other Muslims could find themselves the target of racial abuse.

However, the show's creator and executive producer, Joel Surnow, is unrepentant about the portrayal of Muslims.

"This is what we fear, Islamic terrorism. This is what we are fighting," he said.

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