Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has appealed for calm on the streets of Bradford following yesterday’s sensational revelation that al Qaida figurehead Osama Bin Laden had been killed.

And he stressed that the War on Terror was never a conflict with the Muslim world.

Mr Clegg was appearing in Bradford before an audience of Telegraph & Argus readers in a “town hall” style question-and-answer session.

He later told the T&A that there should be no knee-jerk reactions and there must be “calm responses” in Bradford and other areas with large Asian populations.

He said: “It is really important to remember that there was no conflict with the Muslim world – it was Osama Bin Laden who was at war with the Muslim world.”

He said that the al Qaida boss was responsible for peddling “a doctrine of hate” and said he had been awoken in the early hours of yesterday to be told about Bin Laden’s death in Pakistan.

Mr Clegg said he felt “relief” and added: “This was a man who sowed so much hatred, violence and division around the world. He is no longer able to do that himself.”

But he called for “vigilance” in the event of al Qaida or its supporters “seeking to make their presence felt”.

Mr Clegg appeared at the Kala Sangam headquarters at St Peter’s House, near Bradford Cathedral, and during the Q&A session – attended by readers of the T&A who had been asked to apply for places – he took a question from a young Muslim woman named Romaria who asked what the Coalition Government was doing about Islamophobia.

He said: “Any form of prejudice is unacceptable. I am liberal to my fingertips and we must be uncompromising. Whoever incites violence or hatred must be dealt with firmly.

He reiterated his view that “today more than any other day” that the war against Islamic extremists following the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York a decade ago was not aimed at Muslims in general.

Mr Clegg added: “I am not in any doubt that the world in the long run will be a safer place without the very malign influence of Osama Bin Laden.

“In the short term we need to redouble our vigilance as this could lead to a reaction, a backlash, and we don’t know what form that could take.

“It was Osama Bin Laden who declared war on Pakistan, the place where he was finally located.”