Peers and MPs have branded BBC 'mad' and claimed it has 'lost its sense'

Language: Tarik Kafala, who runs BBC Arabic, said the term 'terrorist' was too 'loaded' and 'value-laden' to describe Charlie Hebdo killers Said and Cherif Kouachi and their accomplice Amedy Coulibaly

The BBC was branded ‘mad’ yesterday after a top executive said the Charlie Hebdo killers should not be described as ‘terrorists’.

Tarik Kafala, head of BBC Arabic, said the term terrorist was too ‘loaded’ and ‘value-laden’ to describe the fanatics who murdered 12 people at the French satirical magazine.

The BBC backed his comments but faced a storm of criticism.

Lord Tebbit said the only things ‘loaded’ were the killers’ weapons.

‘I think the BBC would be well advised to look at the Oxford English Dictionary or any other good dictionary’s definition of terrorism,’ he said.

The Tory peer, whose wife was left paralysed by the IRA’s Brighton bomb 31 years ago, added: ‘I find it strange that the BBC should be trying to hide the nature of these people ... They are as mad as rats, aren’t they?’

BBC coverage of the atrocities in Paris, and the Taliban school massacre in Peshawar, Pakistan, last month, studiously avoided using the word ‘terrorist’, except when quoting other people, in line with its editorial guidelines.

Instead TV, radio and online reports described the murderers who carried out the attacks as ‘militants’ or ‘gunmen’.

Mr Kafala, whose licence-fee-funded TV, radio and online news services reach 36million worldwide every week, told The Independent: ‘We try to avoid describing anyone as a terrorist or an act as being terrorist.

'What we try to do is to say that “two men killed 12 people in an attack on the office of a satirical magazine”. That’s enough, we know what that means and what it is.

‘Terrorism is such a loaded word. We know what murder, bombings and shootings are, and we describe them.

'That’s much more revealing, we believe, than using a word like terrorist which people will see as value-laden.’

Last night Tory MP Peter Bone said: ‘I’ve heard of political correctness but even by the BBC’s standards that’s outrageous.

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Killers: The Kouachi brothers, Cherif, left, and Said, right, shot dead 12 at the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris two weeks ago before being killed themselves after going on the run

Terrorist: Amedy Coulibaly killed four at a Kosher deli after shooting dead a policewoman and was a member of the same terror cell

'It gives succour to terrorists, to give any credence to the idea that there is any justification whatsoever. The BBC has completely lost its sense.’

Fellow Conservative MP Conor Burns, who sits on the culture, media and sport select committee, added: ‘It is yet another example of Orwellian “1984” use of language by the BBC which serves to mask rather than illuminate.’

Professor Anthony Glees, director of the Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies at the University of Buckingham, said: ‘Pulling this particular punch over terrorism is so serious that this man needs to consider his position.

'And the BBC needs to ask itself whether this view inspires confidence in its reporting or does the opposite.’

Lord Tebbit (left) said the only things ‘loaded’ were the killers’ weapons and said the BBC 'would be well advised to look at the Oxford English Dictionary.' Tory MP Peter Bone (right) also said it was 'outrageous'

BBC reporters are not banned from using words they deem appropriate but are asked to use their judgment. Editorial guidelines say the word ‘terrorist’ should be avoided unless quoting someone else.

The guidelines also state: ‘We recognise the existence and the reality of terrorism ...

‘We have learnt from the experience of covering such events in Northern Ireland as much as in Israel, Spain, Russia, Southern Africa or the many other places where violence divides communities, and where we seek to be seen as objective by all sides, that labels applied to groups can sometimes hinder rather than help.’

A BBC spokesman said: ‘There is no BBC ban on the word “terrorist”, as can be seen from our reporting of the terrorist attack in Paris, though we prefer a more precise description if possible.

‘The head of BBC Arabic was simply reflecting BBC editorial guidelines and making a general point about the nuances of broadcasting internationally.’