ON THE heels of the police searches in Wycombe last week - following a News of the World story alleging bogus charity collecting by Muslim extremists - a prominent Muslim figure has told of his shock at the reports.

And he has appealed for people to wait until more facts are known before jumping to conclusions.

Tasawar Iqbal Zafar is chairman of the Wycombe Islamic Mission, which oversees mosques in Totteridge Road, Jubilee Road and Rutland Avenue.

He said: "The report in the News of The World has shocked a lot of people in High Wycombe - not only the Muslim community, but the non-Muslim community as well.

"We condemn terrorism - I can assure the community that we do not support any kind of terrorism."

Mr Zafar also noted that the News of the World article described a mosque located above the Muslim Education Centre, which it said was based in Totteridge Road. He pointed out there is just a prayer room above the Education Centre, which is actually located in Totteridge Drive.

Mr Zafar also said he hoped the police action would be based only on hard facts.

"If they make arrests they must have concrete evidence, and we will support them as long as they have merit. But we do not want a situation where they make the arrests and we find out the story is not true. They need to find out it is 100 per cent true before any arrests are made." He added that the mosques do not accept charities without the correct credentials. He said: "Any organisation who comes to make collections, we will try to make sure they are registered in the UK."

The News of the World article alleged that bogus fundraisers had used the registered charity number of a genuine aid organisation called the Thara Welfare Trust. Based in High Wycombe, and registered in 2006, Thara provides relief to deprived people in areas such as Kashmir, and has worked in partnership with several other relief organisations.

Arman Alam, a trustee, said: "We can assure you there is no connection whatsoever. This charity is totally open and accountable, and what we do is very clear on our website. We read the article - it did concern us but we don't have any further infor-mation. We're not involved in any allegations."

He said that people giving to charity should always check the credentials of the fundraisers.

"We think people should be vigilant, and with any call they get they should make sure whoever is collecting money is legitimate."

Mr Zafar added that it was important people understood that nothing suspicious was taking place in Wycombe's mosques.

He said: "People think the mosque is teaching these kinds of activities, and the mosque does not support any kind of terrorism. People do not need to be scared. We are very loving people. Islam is a religion of peace and harmony."

District councillor Arif Hussain, chairman of Wycombe charity Five Pillars, expressed concern at what this could mean for Wycombe after the terror raids of 2006.

Cllr Hussain said: "Unfortunately I thought in Wycombe we had come out of the problems of the last year, but now we are back to square one again. From Wycombe's point of view it's extremely unfortunate."

He added that there had been lots of talk in the town about the searches. He said: "As a community we try and work together to calm things. I think the community doesn't know enough about it.

"There are a lot of different things being said, but these are rumours. People who are sensible are waiting to see what happens when the police finish the investigation. They are waiting for the police to come back to them."