The lawyer for three men arrested in anti-terror raids said they were targeted as they fit the "terrorist" stereotype.

Solicitor Amjad Malik told BBC's Asian Network that the men felt discriminated against because they are Muslims and he says they are innocent.

He said: "Anybody who has a beard and goes to prayer cannot be considered a threat to national security."

The men held in Liverpool, Manchester and Clitheroe were not charged.

Of the 12 men arrested in the raids, 11 were Pakistani nationals, with 10 holding student visas. One was from Great Britain.

I have been asked to provide more proof that the Sufi Muslim Council is funded by the Karimov government and the CIA. Well, to some extent you have to take my word that as British Ambassador in Uzbekistan I had my informers and sources. But let me give you some strong supporting evidence.

The average mosque in England and Wales attracts 400 attendees at Friday prayer meetings, while providing a range of community services, a survey has found.

The survey of 255 mosques also revealed that on average they had an estimated annual income of £233,452.

Most - 83% - had been established more than 10 years ago, it found.

Many of the mosques were providing education for children, charity fundraising and leisure activities, the Charity Commission study said.

The independent survey was prepared by BMG Research and commissioned by the Charity Commission's faith and social cohesion unit to provide information on mosques which has not been previously gathered.

Dame Suzi Leather, chair of the Charity Commission, said the research revealed the important contribution mosques were making to communities.

She said: "I'm really interested to see the wide range of services that mosques provide, from healthy living activities to legal advice services and from fundraising for those in financial hardship to sport and leisure.

"The Charity Commission has an essential part to play in supporting all faith-based charities so that they can maximise the contribution they make to society."

Seyyed Ferjani, chair of the Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board welcomed the research, saying it was a useful starting point.

He said: "I hope it will also be a useful resource for Muslim communities throughout England and Wales. The helpful advice and information provided by the faith and social cohesion unit is clearly of benefit to those mosques which responded to the survey. "

One of the arrested men is reported to be a guard at the synagogue.

"What a coincidence, the gang leader is a metropolitan police officer who for the last four years was the personal bodyguard of the synagogue's rabbi," Chavez said in an interview Sunday with the Venevision TV station, Reuters reported.

Chavez broke diplomatic ties with Israel on Jan. 6, while the Gaza operation was ongoing, expelling its ambassador and staff.

The alleged vandals were arrested during weekend raids and are scheduled to be arraigned Monday.

"We thank the authorities for the quick detention of the suspects," Elias Farache, president of Venezuela's Jewish Association, told the Associated Press.

Three months before she was thrust into the national political spotlight, Gov. Sarah Palin was asked to handle a much smaller task: addressing the graduating class of commission students at her one-time church, Wasilla Assembly of God.

Her speech in June provides as much insight into her policy leanings as anything uncovered since she was asked to be John McCain's running mate.

Speaking before the Pentecostal church, Palin painted the current war in Iraq as a messianic affair in which the United States could act out the will of the Lord.

"Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God," she exhorted the congregants. "That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God's plan."