AN AFGHANISTAN asylum seeker whose refugee status was believed to be in limbo has been found hanged in a Blackburn terrace house.

The body of Faizullah Ahmedi, 19, was discovered by a housemate in the hall of a house on Edmundson Street in the Johnston Street area, late on Sunday evening.

His friends today expressed shock at his death and said that, although it is believed Mr Ahmedi took his own life, they were unsure why.

Police said Mr Ahmedi's status as an asylum seeker in the UK was not believed to be in jeopardy and there were no suspicious circumstances.

But friends said the Home Office had yet to tell him their decision on his status.

Mr Ahmedi arrived in the UK at Dover on April 18, 2002.

He declared his presence to the authorities at the port and was interviewed by the Home Office in August 2002.

Mr Ahmedi was often seen by neighbours and shop-keepers on a bike in the Johnston Street area.

He was not married and did not have any children. His relatives are all in Afghanistan and do not yet know about his death. Police were today trying to trace them.

Mr Ahmedi's housemate, had been to London over the weekend and returned to find the body.

The Afghan man, who did not want to be identified, said: "I found him on Sunday.

"He had been interrogated by the Home Office. He hadn't been told to leave or stay.

"He just hadn't heard anything from them. He was unhappy.

"Maybe he had some problem in Afghanistan, I don't know. He wanted to live in the UK and not to return to Afghanistan."

Enayatullah Akbari, another friend of Mr Ahmedi, was granted asylum from Afghanistan last year after he fled persecution from elements of the Taliban.

He said: "Sometimes he was unhappy. He was a person who didn't speak too much.

"He was interrogated by the Home Office but we still don't know why it happened."

Inspector Graham Keyte, of Blackburn police, said: "We understand it would have been unlikely that he would have been deported.

"We cannot offer any explanation as to why this happened."

A Home Office spokesman said they were assisting police in informing next of kin but said they could not comment on an individual's asylum status.

Asylum support workers in East Lancashire today said Afghanistan asylum seekers were "terrified" at being forcibly returned home after the government deemed the country safe following the fall of the Taliban regime.

Rev Sally Thomas works to help asylum seekers in East Lancashire with the Building Bridges project.

She said: "I have found the Afghanistan asylum community is very vulnerable at the moment.

"People are absolutely terrified of being forcibly returned.

"This is, of course, an individual case, but it is a life which has ended tragically and it shouldn't have . It's awful."

An inquest into the death of Mr Ahmedi was due to open today..