Free Republic

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...

THE head of Al-Qaeda in Iraq has established a new terror network in Britain which is recruiting young Muslim fanatics to fight coalition troops. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has recently set up the group to recruit and train would-be suicide bombers and gunmen, counter-terrorism officials have said. The new group, Ansar al-Fath — Partisans of Victory — is an offshoot of Ansar al-Islam, an organisation that is to be banned under new anti-terror rules announced by Charles Clarke, the home secretary, last week. Ansar al-Fath provides logistical support to foreign fighters in Iraq and uses the internet to find new recruits...