The head of Scotland Yard visited mosques across Greater London today to appeal to the city's million strong Muslim community to actively join the fight against terrorism.

A week after four British Muslims blew themselves up on the London Underground and a double-decker bus, Sir Ian Blair warned that Muslims had been in denial about the "lunatic fringe" in their midst for too long.

The bombing of London by British-born Muslims had been the worst nightmare for Britain's settled Muslim community. In their aftermath, Muslims could no longer ignore the dangerous elements in their midst, said Sir Ian.

"Now it is your problem," he told Islamic leaders in a speech at the Minhaj-ul-Quran mosque in Romford.

He suggested that a third-person reporting method was set up where Muslims could pass on their concerns about individuals. He appealed for the whole community to help identify terrorists, saying: "I need you. We've got nearly a million Muslims in London, 1.6 million Muslims in the UK. I've only got 300 Muslim police officers in London and that's not enough. I need your mothers and your fathers, your brothers and your sisters."

The Metropolitan Police commissioner welcomed how Islamic leaders joined forces to condemn last week's attacks and he said that except for one single day, the number of race hate incidents in London had actually fallen since the bombing.

"Nothing is showing that London is blaming one community rather than another. We say that no community should be targeted or shamed for this, you do not need to apologies, these are not your people, but you have to help us find them," Sir Ian said.

"It is not the police, it is not the intelligence services, that will defeat terrorism. It is communities that will defeat terrorism. We must seize this moment. We have to seize a moment in which the Muslim community changes from your state of shock and disbelief into active engagement in counter-terrorism.

"Now, it is your problem."

It emerged today that three of the bombers - Shehzad Tanweer, Hasib Mir Hussain and Mohammad Sidique - had been banned from their three local mosques in Leeds, although the reasons for their exclusions remained unclear.

Sir Ian drew an analogy with a successful campaign against Jamaican Yardie gangs that relied on the co-operation of the Afro-Caribbean community as he called for Muslims help in fingering the "preachers of hate" who are the recruiting sergeants of terror.

No longer, he said, could Muslims dismiss figures such as Abu Hamza, the radical Finsbury Park preacher, as lunatics who are not important. "The problem is that if they appeal to only half a dozen, they are important," he said.

Meanwhile, the Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Britain today visited community leaders in Leeds where he broadly agreed with Sir Ian's concerns.

Sir Iqbal Sacranie told a meeting of Islamic and community group leaders in the city: "We are all responsible for it in a way. We have been talking about the fact there are elements within the community who perhaps are carrying out the rhetoric and message of hate and very little has been done.

"The community across the country condemns such activities but beyond that, what have we been doing?"

Sir Iqbal said he had spoken to a number of groups in the city: "They are all in a state of shock, as we all are."

Sir Iqbal listened as representatives of a range of Muslim and other groups gave their views at the Baab-ul-Ilm Centre, in Shadwell. He told the meeting to expect a statement later today from Islamic scholars from across Britain at the London Central Mosque which was "so powerful and so strong" it would leave no-one in any doubt about the Muslim communities attitudes to atrocities such as the London bombings.

He said: "That statement is going to re-define the position about what Islam has to say about acts of atrocity, acts of murder and criminality."

But Sir Iqbal criticised West Yorkshire police for failing to reach out to the Muslim community during the crisis. He said: "As much as I’ve heard tremendous news of how they’ve been able to support communities in other parts of the country - in London for example it’s been extremely positive - when I came here I found that in some cases it has not been good.

"In the Beeston area people are extremely disturbed. In a time of crisis the community should have been told, ’We’re here'. Yes, certain raids have to take place, certain information is needed to carry out our inquiries, but it has to be carried out sensitively’.

"Innocent people should not become victims of this crime. We need to build the confidence of the police in the community. The police have to have responsibility and engage itself with the community so that it can support it and try to overcome the evil that we’re facing."

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