THE arrest of two Blackburn men by police officers investigating an alleged al Qaeda terror plot in Britain sent shockwaves through the town. Muslim leaders fear their religion is being unfairly tarnished by police operations. DANNY BRIERLEY reports.

IBRAHIM Master is the normally restrained chairman of the Lancashire Council of Mosques.

But he says he has been forced to speak out after reading letters in the Lancashire Evening Telegraph decrying "Muslim fanatics" who, according to one reader, had declared war on Britain.

Mr Master, who was also accused of "moaning" about the treatment of Muslims says he felt the time was right to speak out.

"Critics accuse me of moaning and advise me to criticise the Muslim community instead," he said. "I am afraid some people have jumped on the Islamaphobic bandwagon that has been created by some sections of the media since the September 11 terrorist attack in New York."

Apart from the 2001 terror strike, Mr Master believes high numbers of arrests have also helped foster a sense of mistrust, despite only a handful of Muslims from the estimated 600 arrested actually being charged.

Mr Master added: "The high volume of arrests and stop and searches created a false Islamaphobic impression in the hearts and minds of the Great British public by casting doubt upon their loyalty to the UK.

"The extremely low rate of conviction under the Terrorism Act categorically and absolutely fails to substantiate this false impression of the Muslim community.

"The raids are being carried out in a high profile manner despite extremely weak and poor intelligence, which in turn suggests that there may be a political agenda behind the high profile nature of the raids.

"To vindicate our suspicion one only has to refer to last week's arrests. Already four out of the 13 people arrested have been released and we await more.

"The overwhelming majority of Muslims in Lancashire are not a threat to the national security of Britain."

Referring to a terror raid at an Islamic school in Blackburn last year, Mr Master said: "The search at the Islamic Seminary in Blackburn was carried out with the full co-operation of the college. The search was part of a wider investigation and was just standard procedure.

"Osama Bin Laden studied in an Ivy League college in the USA, does this mean that the college is a breeding ground for extremism and terrorism?

"The visit to Blackburn of Abu Hamza, a radical Muslim cleric facing deportation to the US on terror charges, was also singled out by one reader.

But Mr Master said: "At the time I clearly stated that I had no prior knowledge of the visit and did not welcome him.