In Britain, Muslims Worry a Delicate Balance May Tip

Down the street, a group of Muslim women and children edged nervously past a muscle-bound white youth who was shouting into his cellphone, "Yeah, mate, where I am, everyone looks like an Al Qaeda terrorist!"

Thursday's attacks at the Liverpool Street Station and three other sites touched off fear in London's down-at-the-heels eastern districts, where the city's most recent and poorest immigrants have always settled. With suspicion in the attacks quickly focused on Al Qaeda, Muslims in the area were bracing for a backlash -- and trying to prevent one.

"We hope we can withstand that. I cannot guarantee it, but in our community we are hopeful," said Abdul Bari, director of the East London Muslim Center.

A sign taped to the center's door read, "Bomb Blasts: anyone affected by the blasts or helping those affected please come in." Bari's mobile phone rang continually with offers of help or requests for coordinating responses to the crisis.

"The community should be vigilant so that anyone wanting to cause pain and loss from any community should be marginalized," said Bari, a tall, slim man with a graying beard. "With calm, dignity and a little bit of wisdom, we can find a way."

More than 2 million Muslims live in Britain, making up nearly 4% of the population. London has long welcomed migrants from the Arab world -- be they Persian Gulf Arabs who come temporarily to escape the summer heat of the Middle East in the upscale Edgware Road district, or asylum seekers who have resettled here permanently and engaged in moderate to militant activism against authoritarian governments in their native lands.

Many in the Islamic community here pride themselves on being more integrated into British life than immigrants in other European countries. The Muslim Council of Britain, an umbrella movement of hundreds of smaller organizations, has spoken out in favor of cooperation with police against terrorism.

Since late 2001 though, ambivalence has crept into the relationship.

Muslim leaders who were persuaded by Prime Minister Tony Blair to endorse the American-led attack on Afghanistan found they lost credibility on the street. Muslim activists have recently taken the government to task on a number of issues -- including female clothing and its policy on Kashmir and Chechnya, where Islamic groups are fighting for independence.