I WRITE in response to the front page article on August 18 "Boy, 7, Held As Terror Suspect."

The article makes a point that the boy was only seven, and that he therefore could not be a terrorist at such a young age.

Reality dictates otherwise, and there is in fact a long tradition of child suicide bombers being used by militant Islamist organisations - for example Islamic Jihad and the Taliban.

With groups such as Al Qaeda continuously searching for new ways to evade our security measures, is it such a stretch of the imagination that they could attempt to use children in attacks on airports?

Certainly such a ploy would dupe many readers of this newspaper.

It is unfortunate that the family were stopped three times and for so long, which appears to be the real failure of the system.

However, I cannot see any basis in the argument being put forward, that children cannot be terrorists.

Furthermore, the idea put forward by the secretary of the Lancashire Council of Mosques, that security checks are somehow an affront to the Islamic Community and a hindrance to inter-faith relations is both unhelpful and completely ridiculous.

DAVID HARRIS (via email