Released without charge

The two brothers arrested last week in an anti-terror raid on a house in east London, in which one was shot, were released without charge last night after police failed to find any link to an alleged biological terror plot.

Mohammed Abdul Kahar, 23 and Abul Koyair, 20, maintained their innocence throughout their detention. They were released from Paddington Green high security police station shortly before 8:30pm after an extensive search of their house.

More than 250 police officers, some of them armed and wearing biochemical suits, burst into the house at 4am last Friday after receiving intelligence claiming that a chemical or biological weapon could be inside.

During the operation, Mr Kahar was shot in the shoulder by a police gun. The shooting of Mr Kahar will be investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission, which could take months to produce a report.

Azad Ali chair of the Muslim Safety Forum, which tries to improve relations between the Muslim community and the police, said officers should explain fully to the family what happened and apologise for the trauma they caused.

"The police have clearly made errors and they have to learn lessons," he said.

In light of the situation, the brothers' family sent a statement to at least 20 mosques on Thursday evening which was read to worshippers during prayers on Friday afternoon, urging them to disassociate themselves from the event.

Mr Koyair and Mr Kahar's sister, Humeya Kalam, said the police raid represented "barbaric and horrific actions" but an extremist protest would "only give another opportunity for our community to be portrayed in a negative light".