Church head faces call to quit over sharia remark

Facing a barrage of criticism and call to quit, the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams hastily backtracked, claiming he had never called for a parallel jurisdiction of sharia for Muslims.

But the Archbishop’s moral authority, already undermined by the dispute over homosexuality, looked further in jeopardy as prelates from overseas provinces of the Anglican Communion joined in the criticism from members of the General Synod of the Church of England.

Williams in an interview said: “It seems inevitable that elements of the Muslim law, such as divorce proceedings, would be incorporated into British legislation.”

While Prince Charles, Britain’s foremost champion of good relations with Islam has distanced himself from the Archbishop’s views, privately, he is concerned that the speech is in danger of being taken out of context.