Muslim anger as British police raid mosque

British police were tonight questioning seven men over suspected terrorism offences following a controversial raid on a London mosque.

Six north Africans, aged 23 to 48, and a 22-year-old eastern European were being held as detectives analysed computers and documents taken from the North London Central Mosque in Finsbury Park.

Scores of officers in body armour used battering rams to enter the building at 2am. They met no resistance.

Senior officers said they were looking for specific individuals and the raid was linked to the discovery of the deadly poison ricin at a flat in nearby Wood Green on January 5. No chemical substances were found at the mosque.

The radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza, who is based at the mosque, condemned the raid and accused the police and the British government of adopting “Rambo-style” tactics.

He claimed the operation, involving armed police, was in retaliation for the murder of Detective Constable Stephen Oake in Manchester last week and that it was part of a British government-backed “war” on Islam.

Egyptian-born Hamza, 45, who claims he lost both hands and an eye fighting Soviet forces in Afghanistan, said: “You cannot find a reason for this kind of Rambo-like way of attacking the mosque – we heard there were 150 police and two helicopters. This was a residential community.

“I was anticipating the raid, it serves a multiple purpose, it serves Mr Blair and the police.

“This is the heartland of Algerian people in London and it is Blair giving out a message to America.

“What can people have in a mosque? I think it was a provocative act. It was silly and illogical.

“When did you last hear of a church being raided when someone has been arrested? These people do not have principles.”

Hamza claimed the seven men arrested were security guards who looked out for people dropping litter outside the mosque.

But the operation – codenamed Mermant – was given “complete support” by British Home Secretary David Blunkett.

And Prime Minister Tony Blair’s official spokesman said: “The police have the full support of the British government in taking whatever action they feel they need to take in pursuit of their investigations.

“By definition, it is sensitive and I think they have underlined the sensitivity with which they have approached the religious areas of the mosque.”

Speaking more generally, the spokesman said: “The war on terror is not about Islam. The overwhelming majority of Muslims in this country are law-abiding and make a huge contribution to our society.

“The Islamic religion has been hijacked by a small group of fanatics who seek to distort it and twist it for their own terrorist ends.”

But Dr Mohammed Sekkoum, of the Algerian Refugee Council, who stopped attending the mosque because he objected to Abu Hamza’s methods, said it was a “mistake” to trespass in a Muslim place of worship.

“Of course, they have to search the mosque, but they could have brought the people out first and then been taken inside themselves,” he said.

Anjem Choudary, UK leader of Al-Muhajiroun, which has close links to the mosque, said the raid was a “gross violation” of the Islamic faith.

“The irony is that if you are indeed a member of al-Qaida or linked to al-Qaida or the Taliban, you are not going to be going in and out of a mosque which is being monitored with cameras and the special branch and the police and the constabulary. I mean, this is nonsense,” he said.

“These raids, not only Finsbury Park mosque but also Wood Green and Manchester, come at a time when the British Government wants to bump up support for the campaign in Iraq.”

The mosque has attracted various extremists in the past including shoe-bomber Richard Reid, from London, who faces life imprisonment next week when he is sentenced for trying to blow up a Miami-bound jet, and Frenchman Zacharias Moussaoui, the alleged 20th hijacker on September 11.

Scotland Yard defended the manner of the raid.

A spokesman said: “Evidence gathered during recent counter-terrorist investigations in London and elsewhere has uncovered links between the premises and suspected terrorist activity.

“Such evidence has made this operation absolutely necessary at this time. The operation was not against the mosque itself or the many people who go there on a regular basis to pray.

“It was aimed specifically at individuals who have been supporting or engaging in suspected terrorist activity from within the building.

“We believe that these premises have played a role in the recruitment of suspected terrorists and in supporting their activity both here and abroad.”

Although they had not removed their shoes, police did wear covers over them.

Senior officers indicated there may be further raids elsewhere and that there was no hiding place for suspects, not even in a place of worship.

Scotland Yard Deputy Assistant Commissioner Andy Trotter vowed to track down terrorist suspects “wherever they may be”.

He said: “This was a very carefully planned operation. We briefed our officers on the sensitivity needed.

“We had Muslim police officers giving advice about the appropriateness of our actions inside but public safety is our number one priority.

“We have no quarrel with the regular attendees at the mosque.”

Asked if any weapons were found at the mosque Mr Trotter said he could not comment further on what was found.

Mr Trotter said Abu Hamza had ‘nothing to do with this particular raid’.

The Charity Commission is currently attempting to expel the controversial cleric as an agent at the mosque because of his extremist views during prayer meetings.