British police Thursday arrested three men - two of them teenagers - in connection with the death of three Asian men who were hit by a car "deliberately driven" at them during the riots, police said, according to dpa. Detectives have launched a murder inquiry, saying the men were killed as they were protecting shops from looters during widespread rioting in the city in the early hours of Wednesday. The suspects were aged 16, 17 and 26. Meanwhile, a 32-year-old man arrested after a car chase in the city after the incident had been released on bail pending further inquiries, police said. The deaths of 21-year-old Haroon Jahan, and brothers Shazad and Abdul Musavir, who were 30 and 31 years old respectively, has shocked the Asian community in Britain's second largest city. An emotional televised appeal for calm by Haroon's father, Tariq, late Wednesday, was seen by the authorities as having played a major role in stopping angry and grieving mourners from taking to the streets following a candle-lit vigil for the victims. "Today we stand here to plead with all youth to remain calm, for our communities to stand united. This is not a race issue. Blacks, Asian whites - we all live in the same community...calm down, and go home, please," pleaded the grieving father. Prime Minister David Cameron has expressed his condolences to the families of the victims and Jahan's courage and dignity in making the appeal has been praised by politicians and police chiefs alike. It has been reported that the young people in the car involved in the incident were of Afro-Caribbean origin. dpa at mat -- SPA
