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The street outside the empty embassy in Belgrave Square, London, was closed off as it filled with protestors and Islamic leaders chanting loudly and calling for America to be punished over Aleppo. The demonstration became an alternative to an official rally calling for an end to the bloodshed in Syria outside Downing Street. During the speeches which lasted almost an hour the crowd chanted Allahu Akbar 'God is the greatest' and cheered for those calling for a global caliphate.

YOUTUBE More than 1,000 Muslims took to the streets of London in protest

A poet invited to talk shouted: "We need a Caliph who will clean up these streets. Who will smack up armies and who will back beef [fighting]. "Backhand your missiles back to your land, that’s the plan. "World domination at hand. We can expand and take out these fools." The crowd largely segregated into men and women with many of the women wearing Islamic clothing.



According to website Breitbart one protester appeared to be waving a Taliban flag, while others were handed placards made by Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain, which calls for the reestablishment of a caliphate. It is unclear who organised the demonstration on Wednesday night.

Breitbart also reported that Haitham al-Hadad, a Saudi-trained Salafist Muslim, congratulated the crowd on amassing so quickly and in such large numbers saying: “This gathering today – in a matter of a few hours, hundreds of brothers and sisters coming together – is a sign of positivity and revival, and a sign of victory for Allah.” Most speakers kept to the message over foreign action in Syria.

YouTube The protest blocked lanes of traffic when it got underway in the capital

Asim Qureshi, director of the Muslim rights group CAGE, who once called Jihadi John 'beautiful', laid the blame for the situation in Aleppo at America’s door, saying: “Never forget who is the problem here. “When they say ‘look, America is the one who is going to come and help you in this’, then we have to remind them. Go back to the beginning of the war on terror when we were investigating cases of individuals being put on rendition flights to Syria where they had the soles of their feet beaten by the Syrian regime the moment they arrived in prison. “And who sent them there? The Americans, the CIA.” The protest blocked lanes of traffic when it got underway at around 9pm on Tuesday night.

YouTube The street outside the empty embassy was closed off for the demo

The US has been involved in airstrikes in Syria and been involved with providing equipment for rebel groups fighting ISIS. Motorists were forced to find alternative routes as the protest got underway at about 9pm, with a prayer session outside the Syrian embassy. The embassy was vacated in May 2012 when the Syrian ambassador to the UK was expelled by the British Government. The crowd, mostly drawn from mosques across London, was largely self-segregated with many of the women wearing Islamic clothing.



It soon grew to block off the entire road, with many in the crowd waving what looked to be the Taliban flag, while others were handed placards made by Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain, which calls for the reestablishment of a caliphate. It is not clear who organised the demonstration.