Mosque: raided amid terror claims

Downing Street has defended the police following claims that officers mounted a heavy handed raid on a north London mosque in the early hours of Monday morning.

Speaking after 150 officers raided the Finsbury Park mosque, Number 10 insisted the heavy police presence was justified.

A spokesman for the prime minister stressed that Scotland Yard officers had handled the raid with "sensitivity".

"They would not obviously have entered these premises unless they felt they had good reason to," said Downing Street.

The government emphasised that the police were targeting specific individuals who were engaged in activities linked to terrorism - not Muslims in general.

"The war on terror is not about Islam. The overwhelming majority of Muslims in this country are law abiding, who make a huge contribution to our society."

"The Islamic religion has been hijacked by a small group of fanatics who seek to distort and it twist it for their own perverted terrorist ends," said Number 10.

The government also sought to calm a row over an alleged link between terrorism and asylum seekers.

A spokesman said it was "important to ensure that we don't inflame the situation in respect of terrorism".

"We have something like 80,000 people seeking asylum in this country every year," said Number 10.

"We have around 90 million people who come through our ports of entry. It's not possible or desirable to turn Britain into a fortress with all the damage that would do to our economy."

Monday's raid, which was connected to the recent discovery of ricin, also in north London, follows months of speculation about the role of Islamic extremists in the area.

Seven people were arrested, although radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza Al Masri was not among them.

Computers and documents were seized and have been removed for further investigation.

The government said that the scale of the police presence reflected the intelligence available to officers.

Police say the investigation, which is not focussing on parts of the building reserved for worship, could take up to a week.

Muslim groups have attacked the raid. Abu Hamza accused ministers of pursuing a government-backed war on Islam.

"This is just propaganda. They have been invited so many times to the mosque, but they basically want to make a political issue out of it," he said.

"They want to scare the public - saying you have to believe Tony Blair and his war on terrorism because it is here next door to you."