British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Monday he was appalled that an Islamic group planned to march through the town renowned for honouring British troops killed in Afghanistan.

He said any attempt to distress the families of dead soldiers would be "abhorrent and offensive".
 

IK Home Secretary Alan Johnson said the proposed procession through the Wiltshire town of Wootton Bassett filled him with "revulsion" and he would grant an order banning the march if police and the local authority sought one.
 

Anjem Choudary says his organisation Islam4UK intends to hold the demonstration to highlight the deaths of "innocent Muslim men, women and children" who had been killed in the conflict.
 

Choudary defended the protest in an open letter to families of the dead soldiers on Monday.
 

Wootton Bassett has become famous for holding public processions in memory of many of the 246 British soldiers who have been killed in Afghanistan since the invasion to oust the Taliban in 2001.

Act not provocative
In his letter, Choudary, who calls himself the UK head of al-Muhajiroun, said he wanted to explain to family and friends of dead soldiers that the proposed march was not "merely an act of incitement or provocation".
 

"The procession in Wootton Bassett is therefore an attempt to engage the British public's minds on the real reasons why their soldiers are returning home in body bags and the real cost of the war," the letter says.
 

"The parades, the speeches about soldiers doing their duty and the feeling of patriotism has obfuscated the reality of the conflict and the murderous crimes being committed by the occupiers and their agents."
 

The group's website gave no indication of when the march would take place. A protest by Choudary's supporters in Luton last March against soldiers returning from Iraq led to widespread condemnation.

Procession condemned
A Facebook page set up to condemn the planned procession has already attracted almost 180,000 supporters.
 

Brown said the nation should honour soldiers who died for their country.
 

"I am personally appalled by the prospect of a march in Wootton Bassett," he said.
 

"Any attempt to use this location to cause further distress and suffering to those who have lost loved ones would be abhorrent and offensive."
 

Johnson said the march was a "stunt" that only sought to incite hatred and discord.
 

"The idea that anyone would stage this kind of demonstration in Wootton Bassett fills me with revulsion," he said.
 

"If the Wiltshire police and local authority feel that a procession of this kind has the potential to cause public disorder and seek my consent to a banning order, then I would have no hesitation in supporting that request."
 

Source: Reuters