LONDON, Feb. 19 (Xinhuanet) -- A survey revealed on Sunday that some 40 percent British Muslims want sharia law, the Islamic law, introduced into Muslim predominant areas in the country.

    The Islamic law is used in large parts of the Middle East, including Iran and Saudi Arabia, and is enforced by religious police. Special courts can hand down harsh punishments which can include stoning and amputation.

    The ICM opinion poll published by Sunday Telegraph indicates that a fifth show sympathy for the "feelings and motives" of the suicide bombers who killed 52 innocent people in their attacks in London last July, although 99 percent thought the bombers were wrong to carry out the atrocity.

    The findings, said the newspaper, depict a Muslim community becoming more radical and feeling more alienated from mainstream society, even though 91 percent still say they feel loyal to Britain.

    The poll was published as thousands of Muslims staged a fresh demonstration in London on Saturday against the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

    Sadiq Khan, a Labor member of parliament involved with the official task force set up after the July attacks, said on Saturday that the findings were "alarming", whereas Iqbal Sacranie,secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, noted that the poll confirms the "widespread opposition among British Muslims to the so-called war on terror".

    Nearly two-thirds thought the video images shown last week of British troops beating Iraqi youths were symptomatic of a wider problem in Iraq. Half did not think the soldiers would be "appropriately punished".

    Half of the 500 people surveyed said relations between white Britons and Muslims were getting worse. Only just over half thought the conviction of the cleric Abu Hamza for incitement to murder and race hatred was fair.

    "It is critically important to ensure that Muslims, and all faiths, feel part of modern British society. Today's survey indicates we still have a long way to go.. [but] we are committed to working with all faiths to ensure we achieve that end," said a spokesman for British Home Secretary Charles Clarke. Enditem