UK terror threat of 100 British Muslims fighting in Iraq war

By JASON LEWIS

Last updated at 21:22 06 January 2007


A secret list of young Britons who have left to join the Iraqi terrorists' cause has been drawn up by MI5.

Now the security service is preparing for a 'backwash' of highly trained guerrilla fighters returning to Britain.

It fears the group will form a new hardcore of terrorist recruiters similar to jailed cleric Abu Hamza, who came back from fighting in Afghanistan to preach hatred at the Finsbury Park mosque.

Whitehall sources say MI5 has a 'working figure' of 50 known British recruits involved in Iraqi terror attacks against coalition forces - but the true figure is likely to be double that number because of the difficulty in tracking movements in and out of Iraq.

"Immigration officials in Britain and across Europe are being warned to be on the lookout for returning fighters,' the source said.

"These people have knowledge of weapons and are prepared to use them. They are also potential recruiters for a new generation of terrorists."

Most watched News videos

{"status":"error","code":"499","payload":"Asset id not found: readcomments comments with assetId=426938, assetTypeId=1"}