COMMUNITY leaders worked hard to discourage disaffected youngsters from getting involved in trouble in Whitechapel after the anti-fascist march in the East End. About 200 to 300 young men and teenagers hung about outside the mosque and there were report

COMMUNITY leaders worked hard to discourage disaffected youngsters from getting involved in trouble in Whitechapel after the anti-fascist march in the East End.

About 200 to 300 young men and teenagers hung about outside the mosque and there were reports of two incidents - an assault near Kings Arms Court and a stand-off near the Whitechapel Idea Store.

Some 50 stewards from the mosque worked to calm the situation and encourage the youths to disperse peacefully.

Dilowar Khan, the executive director of the East London Mosque said: "Community leaders came to take them into the mosque and kept them there for about 30 or 40 minutes."

The iman Abdul-Qayyum told them not to take the law into their own hands or get into conflict with the police and to avoid causing inconvenience to passers-by. He said huge groups gathering outside the mosque could attract some trouble-makers.