BEIJING, Aug. 5 -- Alarm has been expressed in Britain after an upturn in reports of religious hate crimes in the wake of the London bombings, as well as the axe murder of a black teenager in the north of England.

Armed police stand guard outside Westminster Underground station in London yesterday. [AFP]

    Crimes motivated by religious hatred in the British capital have soared by almost 600 per cent over the same period last year since the July 7 attacks, police said on Tuesday.

    Figures from London's Metropolitan Police revealed there were 269 incidents reported since the blasts compared to 40 over the same three-and-a-half week period in 2004.

    The statistics come at a time when Britain is grappling with one of its most sordid crimes in recent years.

    Anthony Walker, an 18-year-old, was left with an axe in his skull on Saturday night in the Huyton suburb of Liverpool, northern England, in what police are calling a race-related murder.

    Police investigating the racist killing of the black teenager arrested a third man on suspicion of murder yesterday, a spokeswoman said.

    Merseyside police arrested two men at Liverpool's John Lennon airport on suspicion of Walker's murder late on Wednesday. A 23-year-old man was also in custody yesterday.

    Four other men held over the attack have been released on bail.     

    Nasty combination

    Abdul Bari of the Muslim Council of Britain warned: "Racism and Islamophobia go hand in hand. The whole community, not only Muslims, are now feeling pressured, the way things are moving."

    "We need to look at the facts," added Anas al-Tikriti of the Muslim Association of Britain.

    "As a society we have a problem of extremism, whether if on the Muslim side or otherwise," he said.

    But fringe extremists are not the only ones in the firing line. The British Transport Police are mired in controversy for targeting ethnic minorities travelling around the capital in bag searches.

    Its chief Ian Johnston said his over-stretched officers would not "waste time searching old white ladies."

    For London's Metropolitan Police, the rise in tension between communities is disturbing as it risks provoking the Muslim community into retreat, just when the force needs its help the most in weeding out fanatics.

    "It can lead to these communities completely retreating and not engaging at a time when we want their engagement and support," said assistant commissioner Tarique Ghaffur.

    "There is no doubt that incidents impacting on the Muslim community have increased," he said.

    The crimes in London include criminal damage to property including mosques, physical and verbal attacks.

    The majority of incidents were minor assaults or low-level abuse but they had a great "emotional impact" on communities, Ghaffur added.

    A Muslim Council of Britain source said that Muslims "almost always seem to be guilty by association."

    On the axe murder, she said: "the act in Liverpool was horrific, but it was one incident."

    However, she added, "it was just barbaric and says something about the state of race relations in general."

    'Ditch hijab'

    Meanwhile, a leading moderate Muslim in Britain on Wednesday advised women against wearing the Islamic veil for safety reasons in the aftermath of the London bombings.

    "A woman wearing the hijab in the present circumstances could suffer aggression from irresponsible elements. Therefore, she ought not to wear it," said Zaki Badawi, chairman of the Council of Mosques and Imams and head of the Muslim College in London.

    The Egyptian-born leader made the call amid fears that Muslims could be targeted in a backlash over the July attacks.

    "In the present tense situation, with the rise of attacks on Muslims, we advise Muslim women who fear being attacked physically or verbally to remove their hijab so as not to be identified by those who are hostile to Muslims," said Badawi.

    The July 7 attacks were perpetrated by four British Muslims.

    They blew up themselves and 52 others in three blasts on the London Underground and one on a bus.

    A repeat attempt by another gang of four men failed when the bombs failed to detonate fully.

    (Source: China Daily)