Imams in Bradford have been invited to a special meeting of the Muslim Council of Britain in London in the aftermath of last weekend's terrorist attacks.

The meeting was announced by Dr Muhammed Adbul Bari, secretary general of the MCB, in London yesterday as he condemned those behind the attacks.

Dr Bari said: "The events of the past few days have been very disturbing and challenging ones for all of us.

"At the very outset we would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to all the police officers and security experts who were tasked with removing the threat from the explosive devices in London and Glasgow.

"It looks, sadly, as if the terror threat currently facing our country will be with us for some time to come. So let us be absolutely clear about this - those who seek to deliberately kill or maim innocent people are the enemies of all of us.

"There is no cause whatsoever that could possibly justify such barbarity. Those who engage in such murderous actions and those that provide support for them are the enemies of all, Muslims and non-Muslims, and they stand against our shared values in the UK.

"The police and security services have the enormous responsibility for trying to ensure the safety of all Britons. As such, they deserve the fullest support and co-operation from each and every sector of our society, including all Muslims."

Ishtiaq Ahmed, of Bradford Council of Mosques, said its representatives would attend the London meeting this weekend and there will also be a meeting of mosques' leaders in Bradford on Sunday.

He said: "We are very much supporting and working with the MCB and will be attending the meeting. But it is also important we take stock of the situation locally here in Bradford and Yorkshire as a whole.

"We will be issuing invitations to representatives of all 80 mosques in the area to attend the meeting at the Council for Mosques on Sunday."

Meanwhile, Bradford Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust reassured people that it carried out rigorous vetting procedures when recruiting staff after it emerged that eight people arrested in connection with last weekend's attacks had all worked in the NHS, at least five of them as doctors.

A trust spokesman said: "The foundation trust follows robust nationally-set guidelines when it comes to employing its staff.

"All staff are subject to an identification check and a right to work in the UK' check. We also check qualifications and references. All staff who routinely come into contact with patients are given Criminal Records Bureau checks. We also make checks with the General Medical Council and other regulatory bodies."

e-mail: paddy.mcguffin @bradford.newsquest.co.uk