Leading Muslim groups held an emergency meeting with ministers Monday saying a partnership was needed in tackling extremism rather than the government putting the onus on the Muslim community.
There was no immediate reaction from the government about the meeting with the Al-Khoei Foundation, Muslim Council of Britain, the Union of Muslim Organizations of the UK and Ireland (UMO) and other groups following last week latest alleged terror plot.
Yousif Al-Khoei, of the Al-Khoei Foundation, said that they had discussed the new Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board and 'how we could channel some of the frustrations of the youth into peaceful channels'.
"The main message for me is that nobody is taking the problems lightly and the time for talking is over. We need to have a coordinated attempt to tackle the problems, if we don't, we may regret this," Al-Khoei said.
Syed Aziz Pasha, secretary general of the UMO, said that Muslims were willing to cooperate in the fight against terrorism but that 'there should be a partnership'.
"They should understand our problems, then we will understand their problems," Pasha was quoted saying by the online version of the Guardian newspaper.
The meeting was called after leading British Muslims urged Prime Minister Tony Blair on Saturday not to ignore the effects of his foreign policies in endangering the lives of civilians in the UK and abroad.
"The debacle of Iraq and now the failure to do more to secure an immediate end to attacks on civilians in the Middle East not only increases the risk to ordinary people in that region," they said in an open letter to Blair.
Pasha said Kelly agreed at the meeting to 'look sympathetically at all the suggestions' that had been made and said she agreed there should be a 'partnership approach'.
Inayat Bunglawala, spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain, described the meeting as 'very positive' and the government appeared to listen to concerns about whether its policies had 'helped or hindered' the fight against extremism.
