The two men released this morning after being held in Birmingham on terror charges claim that police told them nothing about any alleged plot to kidnap or behead a British Muslim soldier.

The men, who were among nine arrested last Wednesday in a series of raids by West Midlands Police, said they left custody today "without any better understanding of why they were there than when they first arrived".

In a statement issued through their solicitor, Gareth Peirce, they added that they are "convinced" that the other seven men being held by police are innocent and should be released straight away.

"They have left the police station without any better understanding of why they were there than when they first arrived seven days ago," Ms Peirce said.

"Not a word was ever mentioned to either of them about a plot to kidnap or the grisly suggestion of a beheading or even of a soldier at all.

"Both have been met with a consistent refusal over seven days for any explanation for their arrest.

"They are convinced that others in the police station must be as innocent as they and urge that they also be swiftly released."

Detectives were granted a further 72 hours yesterday to question the seven other suspects over an alleged plot which, according to security sources, involved a plan to abduct and behead a Muslim British soldier live on the internet.

As the men were released this morning, there was further anger from Muslim community leaders who claim the saga has left morale "in tatters".

Speaking to Radio 4's Today programme Dr Jafer Qureshi, a spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain, also criticised David Cameron, the Conservative Party leader, who compared Islamic extremists to the far-right British National Party in a speech last month.

"The community feels very angry and victimised. The question we are asking is who will be next?" he said.

"If there are criminal elements they should be charged, but the whole hype and coverage of this event has left the community divided in this town and we have a lot of work to do to recover.

"The attitude of the politicians in this town at the very time these raids were happening was really to malign and to cast doubt on the community rather than to help us heal the process.

"Comparing to the BNP and others has left the community in tatters."

A spokesman for West Midlands Police said it would not comment on Ms Peirce's statement about the police questioning process.

But he said: "In all such operations people may be released without charge at this stage, while others may remain in custody for further investigation.

"This is normal and to be expected in large, complex criminal inquiries where a number of arrests have taken place."

The spokesman added: "We still have a large amount of evidence seized during the searches to examine and our inquiries continue with those that remain in custody.

"Our priority today remains the same as it was at the start of this investigation and that is to ensure that we balance the safety of the public against the rights of the men we have in custody."

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