COMMUNITY leader Ahad Ali has made an appeal for tolerance after a friend and fellow Bangladeshi suffered an alleged racial attack.

Mr Ali, of Bourne Road, Moredon, is vice president of Swindon's Bangladeshi Youth and Community Centre in Cricklade Road.

And following the attack in Faringdon last month he is spreading the word that the Swindon area's estimated 500 Bangladeshi people are friends and not foes.

Father-of-four Mr Ali, 47, said: "Bangladeshi people are not from Afghanistan, and they are not from Iraq. We are not terrorists and we are not troublemakers. Instead of violence, we want people to be our friends."

His call came after a 34-year-old Bangladeshi friend who lives in Faringdon suffered an alleged racially-motivated attack there late last month.

The unnamed man said he was approached by a group of men after using a cash machine, and that one called him an Afghan and racially abused him before the group beat him.

He was left with stab wounds to the head and neck and is recovering at Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital.

Mr Ali, who moved from Bangladesh to Swindon in 1969, says 95 per cent of Indian restaurant workers in Swindon are Bangladeshi.

Having worked in several Swindon curry restaurants over the years, he is currently manager of the Azad Tandoori and Balti in Coxwell Street, Faringdon, and for the past five years has helped organise activities at the Bangladeshi Youth and Community Centre.

He said: "With the current political climate I am fearful of similar attacks in Swindon. Bangladeshis are innocent people living in this community to earn a good living.

"We are not troublemakers and we want a peaceful life. We are not against the United Nations and we are not backing Iraq. We want to leave it to the UN to decide what to do and the UN to govern the world.

"If Saddam is wrong they have to sort him out. We would prefer there not to be a war war will be bad for the whole world because it will mean a big recession for everyone."

He said that his restaurant viewed people who ate there as special, and added: "They are not only our customers, they are good friends."

Inspector Bob Markham, of Swindon police, said that in Swindon between last April and this month there had been 148 recorded racially or religiously aggravated crimes.

As well as these, there were 39 recorded incidents such as racial name-calling, and 29 recorded homophobic crimes.

He said: "It is very similar to the year before. We have not seen a rise of such incidents. It is vital, even more so at times such as these, that people report such matters to us so we can treat them professionally, fairly and according to their needs.

"Though world events would seem to provide a background where more crimes such as these may happen, when there is an element of targeting local people the impact of that is many times greater."