LONDON, 11 June 2006 — Two Muslim brothers arrested in a huge anti-terrorist raid on their home in London were released without charge Friday in a blow for the police, whose operation outraged the Muslim community.

Mohammed Abdul Kahar, 23, who was shot and injured in the dawn swoop, and 20-year-old Abul Koyair had been held for questioning for a week as officers scoured their house, reportedly looking for some kind of chemical weapon.

The search, however, was completed without anything being found to confirm their suspicions, raising questions about the quality of police intelligence almost one year after the July 7 London bombings, experts said.

In addition, the raid — prompted by “specific intelligence” — fuelled anger and mistrust among London’s large Muslim community that they were being unfairly targeted by the authorities.

Kahar’s shooting, which is under investigation, also stirred memories of the mistaken shooting by police of a Brazilian man on the subway last July.

Police, who are in the difficult position of either acting on potentially flimsy intelligence or checking it out further and risking another attack, said the hunt continued for the suspected terrorist device.

A spokesman said: “The intelligence received by police continues to be developed and the MPS (Metropolitan Police Service) will continue to exhaust all lines of inquiry.”

Inayat Bunglawala of the Muslim Council of Britain said yesterday police needed to acknowledge they had made errors in the Forest Gate raid to prevent extremist groups exploiting resentment in the Muslim community.

“Some recognition that mistakes have been made would go some way toward the damage done,” he told Reuters.

“Even at the height of the IRA bombing campaign in the 1970s we didn’t see the police storming into innocent Irish people’s homes on this kind of scale.”

Attempting to ease tensions between the police and the Muslim community, Andy Hayman, assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said he would like to thank them for their tolerance.

“We have worked with the local community since the operation on Friday to keep them updated and have listened to their concerns,” Hayman said.

“As we look forward we will continue to engage with all communities and respond to issues that are raised.”

In a sign of the angry mood, however, more than 100 Muslims protested over the raid earlier Friday. They waved placards emblazoned with slogans, including: “Tony Blair terrorist” and “Blair: shoot first ask questions later.”

At the same time, the family of the two arrested brothers expressed their opposition to the demonstration and urged the community not to join in. Police said they would be in touch with the family to arrange for them to be returned home, adding that any damage caused by the raid would be repaired.

Leading Muslims welcomed the brothers’ release, but warned that much damage had been done by the police operation.

“This is another indictment of police and intelligence service anti-terrorist policy,” said Massoud Shadjareh, chairman of the Islamic Human Rights Commission.

“This policy is criminalizing and victimizing a community that is running out of patience. The only criteria for suspicion it appears is the suspicion that you might be or are a Muslim,” he said.