Imtiaz Qadir might have known the three Hussain brothers since they were babies, but he can barely recognise the three men whose characters he hears described on the news.
The Hussain brothers - Umair, Tanvir and Nabeel - along with Waheed Arafat Khan and his brother, Assan Abdullah, whom Mr Qadir had known for about six years, were familiar faces at the mosque in Waltham Forest in Walthamstow.
They are among nine people from this part of east London arrested this week on suspicion of plotting to blow up passenger aircraft en route to the US.
"I know all these young men, and I know that the nature of these men is totally different to what's being portrayed. I was very shocked."
Mr Qadir sits in the empty hall of the Islamic community centre, silent but for the occasional thump of dumb-bells hitting the floor of the gym upstairs.
Earlier yesterday, uniformed police officers had stood at the door of the mosque on Queen's Road, providing a clear path for the dozens of worshippers arriving for Friday prayers. One Muslim, on seeing an Asian police officer at the mosque gate, yelled: "You are a Muslim. You should be ashamed of yourself. You are a bad Muslim."
The men Mr Qadir knew, all of them of Pakistani origin, were good Muslims who were well-regarded in the area.
"They're practising young men - they're students in colleges around the area. They don't wear the western dress too much, although they're born and bred in this country. And they're very good-natured, kind-hearted young men. They kept themselves to themselves, got on with their studies."
He had spoken yesterday to two of the men's families. They are devastated, he says.
Until the fog of confusion lifts, Mr Qadir will not believe that there is any truth in the allegations.
"I find it hard to believe that anything is going to come of this. I honestly don't think there will be charges, unless there's a set-up or something like that. I'm quite confident of that."
A Muslim taxi-driver based on the Lea Bridge Road is more apprehensive. "The young people, they have minds that you can mould. I don't know what to say, but we are at a critical point in this country, I think."