Channel 4 poaches BBC Muslim editor

In the UK, Channel 4 is attempting to give the 3% Islamic population a voice to their religious beliefs by poaching the highest profile Muslim in British broadcasting.

Poached from the BBC, Aaqil Ahmed has been appointed as the new editor of Channel 4's religious output, part of the specialist factual team headed by Janice Hadlow. He takes up his new role in April.

{It's Channel 4's task to bring diversity and different voices to the screen, especially at a time when understanding of religious beliefs is fundamental to our knowledge of current events,{ said Hadlow.

Ahmed joins Channel 4 from the BBC where he was deputy editor of general documentaries, within the Religious & Ethics department. He was the executive producer of the BBC's Islam season and worked as exec producer across much of BBC2's religious output.

Recent religious output on C4 includes the award-winning coverage of the the Kumbh Mela; Abused & Catholic; the Witness strand and Testing God. Last week the channel reported daily from the Hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, with ratings peaking at 1.9m viewers.