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| Britain |
| 7/7 bombers are a new generation of al-Qaeda |
| 2005-12-28 |
| The MI5, Scotland Yard and other intelligence and anti-terror units have identified the July 7 suicide bombers as forerunners of the next al-Qaeda generation. An expert said the UK-born and raised suicide bombers of 7/7 foreshadow the next mujahideen generation who will operate below the radar of local security services. The police feel that if the suicide bombers who killed 52 people in three tube trains and a double-decker bus had no one running them at all, " we really are in a mess". There is now way of knowing who of the young Muslims is being groomed to blow himself up and kill dozens in the process. The security agencies have learnt that most mosques, which until now were breeding and recruiting grounds for jihadis are now under the control of moderates. Extremist preachers are sending out talent scouts to find young Muslims who might be willing to become jihadis. The search concentrates on gymnasiums, study circles, universities and prisons, where the inmates are often persuaded to convert first. The radical preachers are identifiable but their scouts are mostly unknown. Mohammad Sidique Khan, the oldest of the four 7/7 suicide bombers had used youth centres and gyms to recruit the three others and then held bonding sessions on whitewater rafting trips. But how Khan was radicalised is as yet not known to the Intelligence, except that he went to Pakistan and almost certainly spent time al-Qaeda run camps. But who was or were the mentors is not known and that worries the MI5 and others. The agencies have now drawn up a new topology of what makes a young British Muslim want to become a martyr for jihad. They hope it will help them hunt down the radicalised. But they are unsure if there are already groups of sleepers. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |