January 11, 2002	Friday	Shawwal 26, 1422

LONDON, Jan 10: Over 100 terrorism suspects and activists belonging to organizations connected with Osama bin Laden are based in Britain, the Guardian reported on Thursday.

“Among the groups under scrutiny by anti-terrorist officers are Al Qaeda, Egyptian Islamic Jihad, the Armed Islamic Group based in Algeria, and groups seeking independence from India in Kashmir, the paper said, quoting police sources.

The report says the police had drawn up plans to arrest and question any citizens returning to Britain who had fought in Afghanistan alongside the Taliban.

“The anti-terrorist branch and MI6 and MI5 are compiling information on Islamic extremists recruited in Britain by members of the Al Qaeda network. There are about a dozen British prisoners being held in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but other supporters of the Taliban and Mr (Osama) bin Laden are expected to try to return to the UK in the next few weeks.”

The paper says a new “international counter-terrorism task force”, which would include specialist officers from the 15 countries that make up Europol, the European police organization, and the FBI, has been set up. “Under the proposals suspected terrorists could be prosecuted and investigations made by officers from several different countries.”