Paper: Zarqawi has network in Britain
UPI ^ | October 17, 2005
 

LONDON, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- British officials say as many as 70 young Muslim men have left the country for Iraq to fight in the insurgency against the U.S.-led occupation.

The London Sunday Times cited unnamed British counterterrorism officials whom it did not quote directly, except to describe the movement of young fanatics to Iraq in the past two years as "a steady trickle."

The paper said Iraqi insurgent leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had set up a network in Britain "to recruit and train would-be suicide bombers and gunmen."

It said the group was called Ansar al-Fath, or Partisans of Victory. And that it was linked Ansar al-Islam, one of the organizations that the British government wants to ban under proposed anti-terror legislation it published last week.

It said Ansar al-Fath gave "logistical support to foreign fighters in Iraq and uses the internet to find new recruits for Zarqawi."

It added officials were warning that some jihadists had returned to the country "and may be planning attacks."