THE chairman of the Lancashire Council of Mosques today said that the arrests left him feeling "cynical and suspicious" and claimed they would damage race relations in Blackburn.

Ibrahim Master said: "Most of the people who have been arrested in the past have been released without charge. Few people have been convicted in this country of a terrorist link.

"So with that in mind I am beginning to view these high-profile arrests of Muslims with cynicism and suspicion.

"This creates a false impression in the hearts and minds of the British public.

"I don't believe the British Muslim population is a threat to the national security of the country. I believe they are, in general, law-abiding citizens who are proud to be British.

"Our concern is that this draws a divide between the two communities. Lancashire police and the Lancashire Council of Mosques have done a lot of work to improve relations."

The chairman of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, Massoud Shadjareh, said: "We are extremely concerned about the timing of this, especially coming immediately after the increased need to heighten the security alert in the US because of the election and also the day before the Parliamentary Human Rights Group publishes their report, which is critical of the Terrorism Act and the treatment of Belmarsh prisoners."