Muslim leaders in Britain warned politicians to avoid a "general assault" on the Muslim community following the arrests in connection with the alleged plot to attack US-bound aircraft.
Mohammed Abdul Bari, Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), said that Britain's 1.7 million Muslims were "fully behind" efforts to prevent terrorist attacks. But he warned that failed previous police raids, and the rise in "Islamophobic attacks" since the London train and bus bombings a year ago, had "created a distance" between Muslims and institutions of the state.
Muslim leaders made clear that they feared a "backlash" over the publication in the British media of the names of 19 of the 24 people arrested in connection with the latest anti-terrorist swoop.
In the east London district of Walthamstow, where two houses were raided in connection with the terrorist plot, the local Imam urged the community to "stay calm" and help the police with their investigations. Standing on the steps of the local mosque, the Imam said, "Despite what is said in the media, it has to be remembered that those arrested remain innocent until proven guilty."
Newspaper reports said that a young science student, an airport worker and a heavily-pregnant woman were among those arrested in the terror swoops. Police have remained tight-lipped about what they have discovered in the searches in London, Birmingham and High Wycombe, south-west of the British capital.
Abdurahman Jafar, the vice-chairman of the council's legal affairs committee, said that the Muslim community was holding its breath as events unfolded. "Whether the result is successful or not does not matter.
Muslims will be stigmatised and kids will come back from school with more vitriol thrown at them." "Muslims today feel another layer of deep despair as they know what tomorrow's headlines will say," he told he Times.
Meanwhile, Britain's Home Secretary John Reid was at pains to reach out to the Muslim community. Urging people of all communities and religions in Britain to join together to overcome "those who wish to harm us," Reid said, "Now more than ever, Britain needs to rely on the solidarity, tolerance and resilience of all its people - our most precious asset."
However, Fahad Ansari, from the Islamic Human Rights Commission, said "a lot more thinking" needed to be done by the government and the police before the lack of trust could be overcome. Muslims had been "harassed and demonised," he told the BBC. "We've seen very few terrorists being captured but a lot of innocent people destroyed.
Ansari said that many Muslims would be sceptical about the police statements in connection with the latest terror plot. Intelligence had become a "joke word," since it had become clear that the Iraq war had been based on flawed intelligence, he said.
Ansari accused Prime Minister Tony Blair of being in a persistent state of denial" on the impact that British foreign policy from Afghanistan and Iraq to the Middle East was having on Muslims in Britain. "He has to realise that there was a relationship between 7/7 and British foreign policy," said Ansari.
Anita Rani, of the BBC's Asia Network, said that many callers had questioned the timing of the latest terrorist plot revelations and believed they were a "colossal over-reaction" by the government. While those sceptical of the government and police were in a minority, the trend was nonetheless "worrying," said Rani.
"The issue of Lebanon has pushed many further in that direction," she said.
-DPA