Convicted terrorist 'deeply offended' by pub sign sues boozer because it 'scares him'
Khalid Baqa is suing The Saracen’s Head Inn in Amersham, Buckingham
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A convicted terrorist is suing a pub after he was allegedly “deeply offended” by a sign that “scared him”.
Khalid Baqa, 60, who has spent four years in prison for creating Jihadi propaganda, said that the “depiction of a bearded Arab/Turk” on the boozer's sign “incites violence”.
He is now suing The Saracen’s Head Inn in Amersham, Buckinghamshire for almost £2,000, stating that the figure on the sign - which depicts a brown-skinned man of Arab or Turkish descent - is racist.
If successful, the 60-year-old plans to take on 30 other pubs with the same name.
Khalid Baqa is suing The Saracen’s Head Inn in Amersham, BuckinghamGoogle Street ViewHowever, the landlord of the inn is fighting back against the lawsuit which he branded a “complete joke”.
Speaking to The Sun, Robbie Hayes said: “This has been called The Saracen's Head for 500 years.
“He's just chancing his hand. Of course it worries me - you never know with people like this.”
“We won’t be pushed around and change hundreds of years of history just because some loudmouth wants to cause trouble.”
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Baqa claimed that he was 'deeply offended' by the name of the Amersham pub, owned by landlord Robbie HayesGB News / PAHe said that the sign and the name were “simply historic” rather than racist, and insisted that his pubgoers were all tolerant individuals.
When Baqa filed the claim to a county court, he said that the sign “instilled worry and fear in me since it was clearly xenophobic, racist and inciting violence to certain people”.
He said that he visited the pub in person to voice his concerns, though staff at the inn say they have no record.
Saracen is a term used since at least the 5th century to refer to Arabs, and later linked to Muslims. The pub name Saracen’s Head is said to be linked to the Crusades.
It is one of the most popular names for a pub in the UK, alongside The Red Lion
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It is one of the most popular names for a pub in the UK, alongside The Red Lion and The Royal Oak.
The 60-year-old told the publication that he has always been offended by names like the Amersham pubs, though has only just discovered ways to challenge them.
“I’ve stopped all the terrorism stuff now,” he added.
In 2018, Baqa was jailed for four years and eight months after admitting five counts of dissemination of Terrorist publications.
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