The head of Wales' race equality body has quit following an internal investigation into his conduct.

But Dr Mashuq Ally has denied his resignation has anything to do with allegations of professional misconduct toward his colleagues or claims of favourtism in business projects.

The commission was set up in 1976

The Commission for Racial Equality confirmed on Thursday evening that it had accepted his resignation from the �40,000-a-year post as director of CRE Wales.

He is the second senior CRE executive to quit in two days after the body's UK chairman, Gurbux Singh, resigned on Wednesday after admitting he had threatened police officers at Lords cricket ground.

Dr Ally's suspension was announced in April and an internal inquiry into the allegations against him was concluded in June.

An internal hearing into the charges, believed to relate to alleged incidents of professional misconduct and inappropriate behaviour towards colleagues, had been expected.

A spokeswoman for the CRE said: "Dr Mashuq Ally had told the Commission of his intention to resign before any disciplinary hearing had taken place ..... so the inquiry has not been able to come to a formal conclusion."

"Time to move on"

Dr Ally told the BBC he had resigned on 11 July.

He said he had parted company with CRE after a "disagreement".

He said no disciplinary action had been taken against him and that complaints made against him had not been taken further.

"I felt that it was time to move on," he said.

"The CRE is facing some difficulties at the moment.

"I spent two years with them and developed the office in Wales and it's now time to move on.

"I think I proved my worth and there's not much more I feel I could do."

I'm saddened to see a very able and competent person resign from work he was committed to doing

Former CRE commissioner for Wales Ray Singh

An expert in Islamic affairs, Dr Ally had previously been an academic at Lampeter University.

He was appointed to the job of running the commission's newly-revamped body in Wales two years ago. He was suspended on February 28 this year.

In April, when his suspension was announced, his union, the First Division Association, the UK's leading civil service union, called for a speedy inquiry into the claims.

There had been tensions in previous months among organisations representing ethnic minorities in Wales.

But his union was adamant an earlier CRE investigation, into allegations from the All Wales Ethnic Minority Association about grant applications, had ruled out the question of any wrong-doing on Dr Ally's part.

However, one critic of Dr Ally said the race equality agenda in Wales had been put back by years during his period in the director's post.

"Divided communities"

Naz Malik, of the All Wales Ethnic Minorities Association, said: "I think it has been very damaging, because it has divided communities there were previously not so divided."

But Ray Singh, a former CRE commissioner for Wales and the current chairman of the CRE's investigation into the prison service, said: "I'm saddened to see a very able and competent person resign from work he was committed to doing."

Helen Mary Jones AM, a member of the assembly's equal opportunities committee, said Dr Ally's resignation would create "short-term difficulties".

"What we have to do as a National Assembly is support the CRE in Wales, to ensure the very important front line services - advising employers, giving individuals advice about their rights does not suffer whilst the CRE re-organises."