Abdul Ahmadi is suffering twice over as a result of the brutal regime that is being ousted in Afghanistan.

He fears his pregnant wife and his daughter may have been killed by the Taliban as he has not heard from them since July.

Mr Ahmadi, who runs a business in Brighton, is also frightened that people will take revenge on him for the atrocities on September 11 in New York and Washington.

Most people realise the conflict in Afghanistan is not a war against its people or Islam but an attack on terrorism.

But there is an ugly and ignorant minority in this country which regards the conflict as an excuse to attack and abuse innocent and peace-loving people from other countries and with different ways of life.

It is also worrying that a 55-year-old Iranian woman will be permanently scarred as the result of an attack after getting out of a car outside her home in Worthing.

She was slashed and stabbed by a man and police are treating it as a racist incident.

Britain is tolerant and Sussex is a tolerant county. We should be ashamed of the racist bigots who have committed this crime and make Mr Ahmadi live in fear.

This country should not be a haven for economic migrants but should welcome people escaping from persecution and terror of the type practised by the Taliban.