Muslim discontent awaits Rice in northern England

LONDON, Mar 30 (Reuters) US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will face Muslim resentment over the war in Iraq when she travels to northern England this week to meet her British opposite number Jack Straw.

Rice will travel to Liverpool, a city steeped in left wing radicalism, and Straw's home town of Blackburn, where 20 percent of the population is Muslim.

She will speak on US foreign policy in the somewhat incongruous setting of Blackburn Rovers' soccer stadium, and had been due to visit a mosque in the city until the invitation was withdrawn yesterday.

No one at the Masjid al Hidayah mosque was available for comment but the Foreign Office confirmed the cancellation, saying it was a pity.

The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), the largest lobby group for the country's 1.6 million Muslims, said there was widespread opposition to US foreign policy and Rice's visit.

''This particular US administration has upset many Muslims in the UK and around the world ... so it is not particularly surprising that the visit to a Blackburn mosque has had to be cancelled,'' MCB spokesman Inayat Bunglawala said.

''The US government needs to demonstrate that it is prepared to be more even-handed in its relations with Muslims and Muslim countries.'' Her visit follows Straw's trip to Rice's home state of Alabama last October when the pair engaged in round of high profile photo opportunities.

Rice was due to arrive in Britain late today from Paris and, before that, Berlin, where she was due to discuss the next steps in dealing with Iran's nuclear programme with officials from Germany, France, Britain, Russia and China.

The talks come a day after the UN Security Council issued a ''presidential statement'' urging Iran to freeze its uranium enrichment programme, which can produce fuel for atom bombs.

HISTORIC LINKS The Stop The War coalition, which plans to demonstrate against the war in Iraq everywhere Rice goes, said the governing committee of the mosque had had a change of heart.

''This decision is evidence that the bulk of the community, Muslim and otherwise, are strongly against the visit,'' Stop The War spokesman Alex Martindale said in a statement.

In Liverpool, Rice will attend a concert and visit the city's maritime museum, steeped in the history of travel and trade between Britain and the United States.

Both countries have made much of the historic links between the southern United States and northern England during the industrial revolution, when American cotton was imported through Liverpool to Blackburn, where it was woven into cloth.

At the height of the trade, there were 140 cotton mills in Blackburn, which, like most towns and cities in northern England, has since been blighted by post-industrial malaise.

The two-day visit will also give Rice a chance to indulge her passion for The Beatles.

Not only will she visit the band's home city, she will also see the town which inspired one of their more curious lyrics.

''I heard the news today, oh boy. 4,000 holes in Blackburn, Lancashire,'' run the words from the song ''A Day in the Life''.

John Lennon wrote the words after seeing a newspaper headline about the poor state of roads in Blackburn.

''I never understood that Beatles song,'' Rice said earlier this month when asked about her forthcoming trip. ''Perhaps now I'll get the chance.'' Reuters SB BD1911