Middle Eastern restaurants suffer
Middle Eastern restaurants in London have reported a fall-off in business since the American terrorist strikes, but most have not encountered any antagonism.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /?>
London's Edgware Road is one of the main areas for Middle Eastern cuisine, and one of the local businesses, Iran the Restaurant, said there had been a noticeable drop in custom since the New York attacks.
"Edgware Road is full of Lebanese and Iranian restaurants and a lot of Arabian people come here, but it has been quieter," said the restaurant's marketing assistant Bianca Daneshfar-Nia.
"I don't believe there have been any incidents around here or any hostility."
Camil Daou, assistant manager of Lebanese restaurant Noura in Hobart Place, said business had picked up after an initial 40% drop in the immediate aftermath of the attacks.
A spokeswoman for the Soraya restaurant in Gloucester Road admitted she had been nervous at the response to the terrorist outrage, especially as 75% of its clientele is European or American.
"There has been no hostility at all, which is good news," she added.