Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari was today elected as the Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), succeeding Sir Iqbal Sacranie. Dr Abdul Bari is a former assistant secretary general and deputy secretary general of the MCB. He is an educationalist with a PhD and PGCE from King's College London and a Management degree from the Open University. He has worked as an Air Force Officer, researcher in physics, science teacher and SEN specialist in London.

He is former president of Islamic Forum Europe and is chair of the East London Mosque Trust. He is a member of the Inner Cities Religious Council and Pan-London Advisory Group on Faith. He is a board member of The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games Ltd. He is an author of several books on parenting, and issues of youth and identity. These include:'Building Muslim Families', 'A Guide to Parenting', and 'Race, Religion & Muslim identity in Britain'

The assembled delegates at the ninth Annual General Meeting of the Muslim Council of Britain, which was held at the London Muslim Centre, Whitechapel, on Sunday 4th June, also elected a central working committee (CWC) of 37. In a second round of elections, the CWC elected three office bearers for the 2006-2008 term: Dr Bari as Secretary General, Dr Daud Abdullah as Deputy Secretary General, and Mrs Uniaiza Malik as Treasurer. The CWC comprises the 37 elected members, direct nominees for the MCB's national and regional affiliates and a number of co-optees. Only elected members are eligible to stand for election for the posts of Secretary General, Deputy Secretary General and Treasurer.

Dr Abdul Bari is a former assistant secretary general and deputy secretary general of the MCB; both Dr Daud Abdullah and Mrs Unaiza Malki have previously served as assistant secretary generals.

Dr Daud Abdullah Daud Abdullah was born in Grenada where he received his early education. He obtained his first degree from the University of Guyana in 1981 and was awarded a scholarship to study Arabic language at King Saud University in Saudi Arabia. In 1984 he joined the University of Khartoum to pursue postgraduate studies and was awarded his doctorate in 1989. He then lectured in history at the University of Maiduguri in Nigeria. Since moving to the United Kingdom with his family in the mid 1990s Dr Abdullah has been senior researcher at the Palestinian Return Centre, London. He has been a regular contributor to Impact International and the Palestine Times. He is editor of The Israeli Law of Return & its Impact on the Struggle in Palestine. His most recent book is 'A History of Palestinian Resistance'. Dr Abdullah regularly comments on Palestinian affairs in the British and Arab media.

He chaired the European and international Affairs Committee during the period 2004-06 and represented the MCB in several delegations abroad. He has been a spokesperson for the MCB both in the British and international media.

Dr Abdullah lectures in Islamic Studies at Birkbeck College, University of London. He is chairman and khateeb of Masjid Annoor in Acton, west London and has been a guest lecturer on Islamic and Palestinian affairs at many universities in the UK including Queen’s University in Belfast.

Mrs Unaiza Malik took her BSc (Hons) in Economics at the University of Karachi, Pakistan. Moving to England in 1976 with her pilot husband and young family, she returned to education and obtained a number of professional qualifications in computer science. She worked in the IT industry for about 30 years, her last post as director of software development with an international telecommunications company. From 1993 to 1997 at the invitation of the Department of Education she served as an Executive Director of the National Council for Education and Technology. From 1999 to 2002 Mrs Malik was President of the Muslim Women's Association, the oldest women's Muslim charity in Britain.

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