British Muslim kids learn how to hack off hands

London: Children as young as six in Britain are being taught brutal Sharia law punishments, including how to hack off a criminal's hand or foot, a media report said on Monday.

The pupils in the so-called "weekend schools" for Muslim children were asked to list the "reprehensible" qualities of Jews, Daily Mail reported, citing a BBC probe.

Around 5,000 children attend a network of 40 schools that teach penalty for gay sex is execution and that "Zionists" are plotting to take over the world for the Jews.

One set textbook challenges youngsters to list the "reprehensible" qualities of Jews.

Another for six-year-olds asks them to answer what happens to someone who dies who is not a believer in Islam. The answer being looked for is "hellfire".

The schools - which offer the hardline Saudi National Curriculum - are run under the umbrella of "Saudi Students Clubs and Schools in the UK and Ireland".

They are not state-funded, and do not use government buildings.

Experts at the Policy Exchange think-tank warned that similar extremists could seek to exploit the government's policy of giving greater freedoms from state control to free schools and academies.

They call for the establishment of a due diligence unit to check whether those applying to open the schools have an extremist background.

Current checks are largely limited to fraud, criminal convictions and funding.

Education Secretary Michael Gove said he would not tolerate anti-Semitism and homophobia in English schools.

A book for 15-year-olds being used in the classes says: "For thieves their hands will be cut off for a first offence, and their foot for a subsequent offence."

There are diagrams showing children where cuts must be made. One passage says: "The specified punishment of the thief is cutting off his right hand at the wrist. Then it is cauterised to prevent him from bleeding to death."

Gove told the programme: "I have no desire or wish to intervene in the decisions that the Saudi government makes in its own education system.

"But I'm clear that we cannot have anti-Semitic material of any kind being used in English schools. (Government department) Ofsted (Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills) are doing some work in this area."