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UK Eyes Youth Terror Threats

Outreach program IDs 200 kids in danger of turning to Islamic extremism

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Mar 28, 2009 4:05 AM CDT

(Newser) – A counterterrorism project in Britain has intervened with at least 200 children as young as 13 believed to be in danger of turning to Islamic extremism, the Independent reports. Police have been working with educators and Muslim communities to identify children vulnerable to being radicalized, and are stepping in where necessary to address the child’s grievances.

England's senior terror prevention officer stressed that the program is not intended to target the Muslim community, but to help the community offer guidance to children leaning towards extreme views. He offered as example one of the suicide bombers who struck the London Underground in 2005, who had been a model student and citizen but whose school workbooks were later found to contain comments praising al-Qaeda.

[Images (2)]

[Quotes (1)]

A police officer speaks to a commuter outside Piccadilly Circus underground train station in London, Friday June 29, 2007 after a suspected car bomb was defused. (AP Photo/Simon Dawson)

A man walks with a young boy in the alleyways in the British suburb where two of the London bombers lived, July 6, 2006. (Getty Images)

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We are targeting criminals and would-be terrorists who happen to be cloaking themselves in Islamic rhetoric. That is not the same as targeting the Muslim community.
- Sir Norman Bettison, the chief constable of West Yorkshire Police

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UK Eyes Youth Terror Threats