Al-Qaeda 'recruited Britons'

2005-07-10 13:51

London - A government-prepared dossier says that al-Qaeda is targeting middle-class Britons to join its ranks, a newspaper reported on Sunday.

According to The Sunday Times, the reports by the British home office and foreign office detailed how extremist recruiters were looking to Britain.

The reports were drawn up in the aftermath of the March 2004 train bombings in Madrid, Spain.

Citing a copy of the secret briefing document, the paper reported that Britain could be harbouring thousands of extremists, including homegrown residents who may be linked to Thursday's bombings that killed 49 people and injured 700 more.

"Extremists are known to target schools and colleges where young people may be very inquisitive but less challenging and more susceptible to extremist reason/arguments," the report says, according to the newspaper.

The report goes on to say that the likely targets come in two categories: "well-educated undergraduates with degrees or professional qualifications in engineering or IT (information technology); or underachievers with few or no qualifications and often a criminal background."

The paper reported that the briefing document also said that most British-based terrorists range from foreign nationals who have become naturalised citizens, mostly from northern Africa or the Middle East, to second- and third-generation Britons whose parents and grandparents emigrated from Pakistan or Kashmir.

The document also says that recruiters are using Britain's role in the US-led invasion of Iraq as a way to turn likely recruits toward terrorism.

- SAPA