The BBC has partially accepted to not refer to the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) as "Islamic State" following calls by British Members of the Parliament and criticism by British Prime Minister David Cameron regarding the use of the term to refer to the terrorist organization.
British Broadcasting Corporation, the national broadcaster of the United Kingdom is now referring to ISIS as
"so-called Islamic State," after a letter was sent by Conservative MP for Gillingham and Rainham, Rehman Chishti following Prime Minister David Cameroon's criticism of the BBC on the Today program on Monday. Cameron said Muslim listeners would "recoil every time they hear the words Islamic State" to refer to its "appalling, barbarous regime," The Guardian reported.
Thee general director of BBC, Tony Hall had rejected the demands saying that the adoption of Daesh would not serve the broadcaster's impartiality because it puts the organization at risk of being perceived as supportive of the group's opponents, the Times reported.
In his response to the letter, Tony Hall said: "...the BBC would use terms such as the 'Islamic State group' to distinguish it from an actual, recognized state... We will also continue to use other qualifiers when appropriate, [example] extremists, militants, fighters etc. To avoid overuse we will also usually revert to IS after one mention of the Islamic State group."
Prime Minister Cameron said he preferred the terms "so-called" or "ISIL".
"I wish the BBC would stop calling it 'Islamic State' because it is not an Islamic state," said Cameron in an interview, three days after the Tunisia attack.
At least 30 people out of the 38 killed at a popular resort in the Tunisian city of Sousse last Friday were British citizens, British media reports said Monday.
"What it is is an appalling barbarous regime that is a perversion of the religion of Islam and many Muslims will recoil every time they hear the words," said the British prime minister.
Cameron said "so-called" could be used or "ISIL" (for Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant).
In his remarks, stressing importance of fighting Daesh in every sense, Cameron said: "The fight against the barbaric terrorist organization [is] the struggle of our generation."
