UK Archbishop faces calls to go over sharia remark

By Adrian Croft

LONDON (Reuters) - Rowan Williams, spiritual leader of the world's 77 million Anglicans, faced calls to resign on Saturday for suggesting that the introduction in Britain of some aspects of Islamic law was unavoidable.

The Archbishop of Canterbury tried to quell the storm by denying he had called for Islamic law, known as sharia, to be introduced alongside British law.

In a BBC interview on Thursday, he referred to the use of sharia in some personal or domestic issues, much like orthodox Jews already have their own courts for some matters.

Asked if sharia needed to be applied in some cases for community cohesion, Williams said: "It seems unavoidable."

Williams faced a torrent of critical headlines for a second day on Saturday and the mass circulation Sun newspaper launched a campaign to remove him from office.

The Sun printed a form so readers could make a "complaint of misconduct" against Williams who it said had destroyed his credibility and "given heart to Muslim terrorists".

Some bishops criticised Williams' remarks and several members of the Church of England's governing body, the general synod, called for his resignation.

"I don't think he is the right man for the job any longer ... At best it was politically inept and at worst it was sheer foolishness," general synod member Alison Ruoff told Sky News.