WASHINGTON, August 6 (IslamOnline.net) - A prominent US-Muslim civil rights and advocacy group said the arrest of two men on charges of supporting terrorism is a "deeply troubling" development which should not be used to associate all American Muslims with violence.

Yassin Aref, the imam of the Masjid As-Salam Mosque in Albany, New York, and Mohammed Hossain, the mosque's founder, were arrested overnight Thursday, August 5, on charges of money-laundering and providing support to terrorism after a sting operation.

In a statement, the Washington-based Council on American- Islamic Relations (CAIR) said it strongly support any legal effort to ensure the "safety and security of our nation".

CAIR, however, warned against using the incident by "those with political or religious agendas to smear Muslims and to demonize Islam."

"We should stick to the facts of the case and avoid generalizations and stereotypes that only serve to create societal divisions and promote anti-Muslim bigotry," the group said in a statement Thursday.

"The alleged actions of individuals should not be used to tar an entire community with the brush of terrorism."

The group said the government's allegations against the two men are deeply troubling to the US Muslim community.

"We strongly support any legal efforts to ensure the safety and security of our nation. As the investigation goes forward, we must all remember that every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

"All too often, these types of cases are used by those with political or religious agendas to smear Muslims and to demonize Islam."

The two Muslims in Albany were detained following what US Deputy Attorney General James Comey called a sting operation.

Comey said the case was not related to the Bush administration's decision earlier this week to raise the terror alert level in New York and Washington.

He stressed, however, the two men had not been engaged in a terrorist act, the BBC News Online said.

But, surprisingly, Comey claimed they were willing to assist someone who they believed to be involved in what he called "pretty bad stuff".

Spokesman for the Masjid As-Salam Mosque, makes a statement in front of the mosque

After the arrest, Faisal Ahmed, spokesman for the Masjid As-Salam Mosque, made a statement in front of the mosque in Albany, saying Muslims condemn terrorism and they stand in solidarity with those who were detained.

CAIR, which is one of America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, also called for all allegations of terrorist activity to be treated equally, "whatever the faith or ethnicity of the alleged perpetrators."

It noted that Federal agents today arrested a Chicago man for allegedly plotting to blow up a federal courthouse with a fertilizer truck bomb.

The Associated Press reported that Gale William Nettles, 66, was arrested with a pickup truck containing 1,500 pounds of fertilizer he allegedly thought was ammonium nitrate, the same substance used to blow up the Oklahoma City federal building in 1995.

Prosecutors say Nettles apparently had a grudge against the court system and did not belong to any political group.

This came as US Muslim leaders and organizations have launched a campaign to dispel misconceptions among Americans that actions of extremists represent Muslim beliefs. Such misconceptions have led to increasing rates of hate crimes against community members.

Islamic groups have tried to convey to the American public, through appearances in the media, that Muslims abhor the actions of terrorists.

Recent incidents in Florida and elsewhere include death threats, physical and verbal assaults, hate mails, arsons and vandalism of mosques, Islamic schools and cultural centers. Muslims have also faced a mounting backlash since the 9/11/2001 attacks.

The US Justice Department has investigated 549 "backlash" crimes since the attacks. But according to CAIR, there have been more than 1,000 incidents of harassment or hate crimes against Muslims last year, up from about 600 in 2002.

Observers said the US government also help entrench misconceptions on Muslims into the minds of Americans.

Press reports said this month that the FBI has launched a nationwide campaign to question Muslim and Arab Americans after intelligence warnings of possible terrorist attacks.