London chemical bomb suspects freed

British police say they have freed without charge two brothers who were arrested in an anti-terrorist raid in east London last week, in which one of them was shot.

Mohammed Abdul Kahar, 23, who is recovering from a gun-shot wound, and Abul Koyair, 20, were released on Friday after being held for questioning at a high security prison since police swooped on their house at dawn a week ago.

The house in the ethnically mixed area of Forest Gate in east London that police suspected of being used for making a chemical bomb was raided by more than 250 officers.

Police said both suspects were freed on Friday evening after they had found no bomb in a search of their house, but added in a statement that detectives were looking at the intelligence they had received and would “continue to exhaust all lines of inquiry”.

Lawyers for the men have said they deny any involvement in terrorism.

Protest

Andy Hayman, London police assistant commissioner, apologised for the disruption caused by the raid on Thursday but said the police had “no choice” but to act on “very specific intelligence”.

Earlier on Friday, a small group of Islamists demonstrated outside Forest Gate police station against the raid.

They also distributed a statement saying Muslims were being treated as second-class citizens, presumed guilty until proven innocent.

The demonstration was peaceful and there were no arrests.

Agencies