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Young Muslims in Wales say they fear a backlash after the barbaric killing of Drummer Lee Rigby in London.

Charity Faith Matters said it is looking at claims a young woman was spat at in an incident in the Cardiff area and said it was dealing with a significant rise in the number of anti-Muslim incidents in Britain as a result of the attack in Woolwich.

Meanwhile, hateful messages have been posted on social media websites. The Welsh Defence League’s Facebook page boasted a picture of the aftermath of the shocking murder with the message: “Still believe Islam is the religion of peace? How many more have to die to disprove the lie?”

It comes after bacon was left outside a Cardiff mosque the day after Drummer Rigby was hacked to death.

Other incidents across the UK have seen a mosque in Kent attacked, while in Essex a man walked into a temple brandishing a knife and a burning bottle was hurled at an Islamic centre in Bletchley.

Young Muslims in Wales have now told how they fear a rising tide of hostility will engulf them following 25-year-old Drumer Rigby’s murder.

Swansea solicitor Mamuna Farooq condemned Wednesday’s attack and said the incident has left her scared to go out alone.

Miss Farooq, 27, said: “I consider myself to be not just a British Muslim, I would class myself as a Welsh muslim.

“I was born and bred in Wales and would always say my nationality is Welsh, but the religion I follow is Islam.

“I was born and bred in Swansea, have lived in Swansea, studied in Swansea and I’m a solicitor in Swansea. So all my life I’ve been in South Wales.

“I’ve been very fortunate that I’ve never experienced any problems.”

But Miss Farooq, who specialises in Muslim wills at solicitors Douglas-Jones Mercer, added: “I have to admit that I do feel very conscious and won’t in the near future be going out on my own.

“I believe there are certain individuals who have been very upset at the incident that took place in Woolwich and they may want to vent their frustrations on a Muslim.”

Miss Farooq, who wears Islamic headdress, says she feels more vulnerable because her clothing singles her out as an easy target.

The solicitor added: “I try my best to fit in to Welsh society as much as I possibly can, but obviously your religious identity is one that when you are wearing a head scarf can’t be concealed.

“Also I want to maintain my identity at the same time just the same as any other young Welsh person.”

Cardiff University psychology student Ola Ashi, 21, said she feels so vulnerable in the wake of the murder she’s taking up kick-boxing so she’s better able to defend herself.

Miss Ashi said: “I’m someone who if there’s a threat likes to go out and openly face that threat.

“But I’ve actually been quite scared and quite worried, which is different from my nature.

“Cardiff is quite small and the mosque that was attacked is right in the city centre.

“I’m staring kick-boxing lessons on Wednesday purely for the fact that if anything does happen I want to be able to protect myself.

“It kind of shows the deeper problems we have in the UK – in that there is extreme racism. You scratch at the surface and it’s there.

“I thought it was just a minority, but from what I’ve seen on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube it’s really scary.”

Miss Ashi, who also wears Muslim headdress, believes for several years leading up to the Woolwich murder race relations in the Welsh capital had improved.

But before this improvement she had experienced racism at first hand in Cardiff.

She said: “I’ve been followed in my car. When I’ve been jogging in the street I used to get really bad racist slurs.

“When I used to go to the gym women would make comments to me. One time I was coming out my house and a car drove past and they were shouting ‘BNP’.

“On another occasion I had my windows down and people tried to spit at me through my windows.

“In the past two years it has been a lot better and I can count the amount of times it’s happened on my hand.”

Fiyaz Mughal, of interfaith charity Faith Matters, said the organisation had seen a growing number of anti-Muslim incidents since Wednesday.

“We have also picked up a case just outside of Cardiff of a young woman who was spat at,” he said.

“She sent in a report and we are still trying to verify her details. She was coming back from school and about to get on a bus when some guy on a push bike went past and spat at her.”

The victim is understood to have contacted the organisation on Friday.

He added: “There is a whole load of stuff sent to people in Wales on Twitter because they look like they might be Muslim,” Mr Mughal said.

He advised anyone who is attacked to remain “level headed” and report the matter to police and his organisation.

“Don’t leave it because perpetrators keep doing it,” he said.

He said he feared far right groups’ membership would rise because of the Woolwich killing.

The Welsh Defence League’s Facebook page contains postings of anti-Islamic abuse, including one user who uses the phrase “Muslim scum”.

One Facebook user showed a picture of a bungee jumper with the words: “Experience bungee jumping. Only £35 a jump. Muslims go for free. No strings attached. Allah sucks.”

Another, asking when the Welsh Defence League – an offshoot of the English Defence League – would protest in Holyhead, wrote: “They’ve killed one of our boys in Woolwich, SE London. Kick the b******s out now!”

Mr Mughal also told the BBC Faith Matters had received 162 calls since Wednesday, up from a daily average of six.

On Friday nearly 100 senior British imams signed a letter condemning the Woolwich attack.

They offered their condolences to the family of the murdered soldier and called for communities to “remain calm and vigilant”.

The charity Help For Heroes was swamped with donations, leading to its website crashing after Drummer Rigby was murdered while wearing one of its tops.

Shortly after his killing, 28-year-old Michael Adebolajo was filmed by a passer-by saying he had carried out the attack because British soldiers killed Muslims every day.

Mr Adebolajo and a second suspect, Michael Adebowale, 22, were arrested at the scene and remain in hospital.

Meanwhile among the criticisms levelled at the Muslim community in the wake of the Woolwich killing is that it hasn’t done enough to control radicals plotting mayhem.

In February last year Gurukanth Desai, 30, Abdul Miah, 25, and Omar Latif, 28, all from Cardiff, were jailed for their part in a plot to blow up the London Stock Exchange and build a terrorist training camp.

Desai was sentenced to 12 years, Miah 16 years and 10 months and Latif 10 years and 4 months.

And in October 2011 two Cardiff teenagers were arrested by anti-terror police in Kenya.

But Abdul-Azim Ahmed, 25, believes there is plenty of evidence to show moderate Muslims have worked hard to root out extremists.

Every mosque in Cardiff banned one group, Supporters of Tawheed, from handing out leaflets or holding meetings.

That group says its core belief is the “domination of the world by Islam” and rejects democracy and freedom as “false deities”.

Also at the time South Wales Police said though they were concerned about the activities of “a very small number of people”, they were able to take action with the support of the Muslim community.

Mr Ahmed, a PhD student from Cardiff and a member of the Muslim Council of Wales, said: “Wherever there’s been a presence of extremism the Welsh Muslim community has been very vocal against it.

“It’s important to remember that from every study of radicalisation it doesn’t happen in mosques - it happens on the street.”

Mr Ahmed, who says his 25-year-old wife Laura also fears being targeted after the Woolwich murder, said: “They operate like street gangs. It’s a very tight niche and a collective identity which doesn’t exist in the mosques.

“The things that take place in mosques are scout groups, classes and charity dinners. That’s the regular day-to-day life of a mosque.”