A mosque once identified by US and European investigators as a hub of Islamic extremism was last night embroiled in fresh controversy as a leading watchdog on anti-Semitism criticised the politics of its new, supposedly moderate, trustees.

Mike Whine, of the Jewish community's Security Trust and a director of the Jewish Board of Deputies, said he was concerned that five trustees who had taken over the management of the North London Central mosque in Finsbury Park were members of the Muslim Association of Britain, a group that had been vocal politically on issues such as the war in Iraq.