Race relations: A Muslim man has been beaten to death outside a corner shop by a gang of youths who shouted anti-Islamic abuse at him, it has emerged.
The killing comes amid fears of a backlash against British Muslims following the bombings.
Kamal Raza Butt (48), from Pakistan, was visiting Britain to see friends and family.
On Sunday afternoon he went to a shop in Nottingham, to buy cigarettes and was first called "Taliban" by the youths and then set upon. Nottinghamshire police described the incident as racially aggravated, not as Islamophobic, angering Muslim groups and surprising some senior officers.
They say it was not connected to a backlash against Muslims following the London bombings, which has seen mosques firebombed and Muslims attacked in the street.
On Monday the case was discussed at the Muslim Safety Forum, where senior police officers and Muslim community representatives meet.
Senior sources who were at the meeting last night said it was the view of all present that the killing was a hate crime triggered by his faith.
Muslim leaders last night said the killing would heighten anxiety in their communities, which was already high before the London bombings and which has deepened with every report of attacks.
Nine youths, some of them juveniles, have been arrested by police, who are appealing for witnesses. According to several sources, the man had gone to a shop in the The Leadows area of the city around 4.30pm on Sunday to buy cigarettes when the youths asked him to hand them over. When he refused they shouted that he was Taliban. The man was punched and fell to the ground and later died in hospital.
Police have yet to officially announce the results of a postmortem examination.
Planning for the aftermath of a terrorist attack on Britain has included extensive work on limiting any backlash and assuring Muslims, already distrustful of the police, that they could expect protection from any reprisals.
Guidelines from the UK's Association of Chief Police Officers say that forces should identify religious hate crimes and be open about it, because that may help their investigations.
Supt Dave Colbeck, of Nottinghamshire police, said: "It is a localised incident and we are not looking at it as anything other than an isolated incident."