London, feb.9 : A Christian teacher claimed yesterday that he was hounded out of his job for trying to stop Muslim children praising the 9/11 hijackers and saying in class they hated Jews.

The Daily Express quoted Nicholas Kafouris, 40, as saying that children as young as eight talked of killing Jews and Christians.

He said youngsters at the predominantly Muslim school, where he taught for 12 years, openly praised Islamic extremists, hailed the 9/11 terrorists as "martyrs" and branded Jews their enemies.

The teacher is suing his former school, the head teacher and the assistant head for racial discrimination, claiming they failed to take action over the pupils' comments.

In a statement to the Central London Employment Tribunal, Kafouris alleged Jill Hankey, head of Bigland Green primary school in Whitechapel, East London, was "upholding racism and
­religious hatred".

Kafouris was signed off in February 2007, suffering from stress. He claimed that it was brought on by the lack of support as he was made out to be anti-Islamic.

He was dismissed from his 30,000 pounds a year post in April 2009. He is also suing Tower Hamlets council. The hearing is due to last 11 days.