Leaders of Britain's Muslim community have begun their task of soul-searching to find out if there is anything they could have done to prevent the London bomb attacks, and can now do to forestall future outrages.

The two million-strong community is in the unenviable position of having to look both outwards and inwards - inwards to those elements within radical Islam that might have colluded in the terrorist operation, and outwards towards a society where there will be a depressingly inevitable increase in Islamophobia and attacks on innocent Muslims.

One of the strongest early statements came from the Muslim Council of Britain, a body that has itself been attacked by extremists, who disrupted a pre-election meeting accusing the council of being hand-in-glove with Tony Blair's Government.

After a hurriedly-convened emergency meeting when it became apparent last night that home-grown Muslim suicide bombers were responsible, Secretary-General Sir Iqbal Sacranie said: "We have received terrible news from the police with anguish, shock and horror.

"While the police investigation continues, we reiterate our absolute commitment and resolve to helping the police bring to justice all involved in this crime of mass murder.

"Nothing in Islam can ever justify the evil actions of the bombers. We are determined to work together with all concerned to prevent such an atrocity ever happening again. We now look to our shared values and common humanity to face the traumas and the challenge ahead."

Later, in a joint statement with the leading ecumenical Christian body, Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, the Muslim Council urged people of all faiths to stand side-by-side at public gatherings across the country at midday tomorrow to observe the two minutes' silence.

The Muslim Council continued: "No good purpose can be achieved by such an indiscriminate and cruel use of terror. These attacks strengthen our determination to live together in peace, and to grow together in mutual understanding.

"The scriptures and the traditions of both the Muslim and Christian communities repudiate the use of such violence. Religious precepts cannot be used to justify such crimes, which are completely contrary to our teaching and practice."

The Muslim Association of Britain, clearly shaken by the developments, warned of the possibility of more attacks. Spokesman Harris Bokhari said that all communities, including Muslims, must cooperate with the police and other security forces to prevent any further such attacks and where possible lend a helping hand.

"We cannot rule out the possibility of a conspiracy to carry out more attacks in the future, whether near or distant. An urgent measure would be to lend the police a helping hand in their investigations and their efforts to stem the threat altogether," said Mr Bokhari.

"There will be those who, by virtue of their racist and xenophobic tendencies, will endeavour to blame the Muslims or Islam for the heinous crime committed by a few misguided individuals. Such attitudes must be confronted and any hate crimes should be severely dealt with.

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