LONDON - Eight people were arrested as British far-right supporters were involved in clashes with opponents on Saturday.
Around 1,500 anti-fascist protesters gathered in Leeds, northern England, to demonstrate against a protest by several hundred supporters of the Islamophobic far-right English Defence League.
Police said officers on horseback and using police dogs had largely kept the rival groups apart and the day passed without serious problems but eight people were arrested for minor offences.
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Meanwhile, clashes had been feared at the planned Islam4UK demonstration in central London, but Anjem Choudary, leader of the Al-Muhajiroun, said the march was cancelled because of security concerns.
Al-Muhajiroun is a small insignificant group that has no place in mainstream Islam.
A number of counter-demonstrations planned in London did take place, but on a small scale.
The Islamic Society of Britain, which was planning to stage a "dignified, non-violent" counter-demonstration against Al-Muhajiroun, hailed the cancellation as a "great success".
A spokesman said: "Pressure from all sections of the community, including Muslims, has resulted in the Muhajiroun and the hot-heads rethinking their position."
But the English Defence League objects to the presence of all mainstream Muslims in Britain.
The far-right in Britain has been in the spotlight since Nick Griffin, the leader of the anti-immigrant British National Party (BNP), appeared on the country's leading political TV panel programme, "Question Time", this month.
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In September Communities Secretary John Denham compared those behind the anti-Muslim protest to the 1930s British Union of Fascists.
"If you look at the types of demonstrations they've organised... it looks pretty clear that it's a tactic designed to provoke and to get a response and hopefully create violence," he said.
They "have among them people who know what exactly they're doing.
"The tactic of trying to provoke a response in the hope of causing wider violence and mayhem is long established on the far-right and among extremist groups."
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