Barclays Capital's head of Islamic products left the company in January, as the British bank refocuses its attention to core businesses, two sources familiar with the matter said.

Harris Irfan, who joined the company in July 2009, headed global Islamic finance operations for Barclays Capital, Barclays Wealth and Barclays corporate divisions.   

"The focus of the organization has changed back to its core operations and Islamic finance wasn't seen as part of its core business," said one source familiar with the matter.   

"Barclays will carry on providing the Islamic finance services but in a different way without a global figurehead with expertise in Islamic finance."     

A spokesman for Barclays declined to confirm Irfan's departure or comment on the matter. Irfan also declined to comment, referring the matter to the company.   

The role of Islamic finance in conventional banking has increasingly come under scrutiny in recent days. Qatar's central bank stunned the industry last week when it asked conventional lenders to close down their Islamic operations amid worries that mixing Islamic and conventional banking could lead to difficulties in financial reporting. - Reuters