Britain spying on 8,000 Al-Qaeda 'sympathisers': report
Turkish Press ^ | 7/2/2006
LONDON - Britain's internal intelligence agency M15 is spying on some 8,000 sympathisers of the Al-Qaeda terror network in a bid to identify future terrorists, The Independent newspaper reported Monday.
Operation "Rich Picture", also aims to recruit agents within the Islamist movement, the report said.
The nationwide investigation follows intelligence suggesting there is a very small, but significant number of British-born and Britain-based Muslims, who are prepared to carry out bombings and other terrorist attacks in this country.
"Undercover officers are gathering information from all over the country, including at colleges, mosques and internet websites where extremists may try to "groom" or radicalise those sympathetic to the aims of Al-Qaeda," the paper said.
Of the estimated 1.6 million Muslims living in Britain, counter-terrorist sources have disclosed that they believe up to 0.5 per cent - about 8,000 - support Al-Qaeda's aims, and have links to Islamist extremists.
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