LONDON, July 12: A Pakistani man was killed in a suspected racial attack in the central English city of Nottingham, police said on Tuesday, amid fears that such assaults could increase in the wake of last week’s bombings in London.

Kamal Raza Butt died on Sunday, three days after the London bombings, and the attack was “being investigated as a racially-aggravated incident,” a police spokesman said, adding that six youths arrested on Monday were in custody and being questioned.

Inayat Bunglawala, a spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain, linked Butt’s death to Thursday’s attacks on three London subway trains and a double-decker bus which killed at least 52 and left hundreds injured.

Prime Minister Tony Blair has associated the bombings with Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda terror network — the group behind the September 11 attacks in the United States in 2001.

Several mosques in Britain have had windows smashed or have been targeted by suspected arsonists since Thursday.

“There does appear to be a backlash taking place,” said Bunglawala.

“Up until the weekend no-one had been seriously injured but the weekend’s murder in Nottingham makes it far more serious.”

“We are in touch with the police over this,” he added. “They suspect it was racially motivated but they are not confirming whether it was anything to do with last week’s attacks.”

Mr Butt, 48, who was born in Pakistan, had been staying in Nottingham with a friend for around six weeks, police said. He was apparently assaulted shortly after he left a neighbourhood shop. The man collapsed unconscious and was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital.

“Unless something comes along that links the events in London and this event, then we will treat it as an isolated incident,” said Nottinghamshire Police superintendent Dave Colbeck.—AFP