Islamic leaders argue on Britons joining Taliban

War on terrorism: Recruitment

Britain's Muslims were at odds over the accuracy of reports from Afghan-istan claiming young British volunteers were joining Taliban forces. Stories from captured Taliban soldiers suggest British Muslims have been seen in Taliban training camps preparing for battle.

Angry Islamic leaders in London expressed deep scepticism that a significant number of young Britons would be prepared, or find it possible, to help in fighting in Afghanistan.

Tayab Ali, a spokesman for the Regent's Park mosque, north London, said Muslims had not been seeking religious guidance on whether they should join the war. He was concerned that the reports could damage the reputation of Muslims in Britain.

He said: "We have not had a single call asking about going to fight or joining forces with the Taliban. Here, we receive calls on all sorts of subjects, asking for guidance on whether they should go. We had them before on Bosnia, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip. But not a single call on this."

Mr Ali said any young Muslims who did attempt to go out and fight in Afghanistan were likely to find themselves being closely watched by Western intelligence agencies. He said: "They will be tracked and they will be known."

Mr Ali accepted that young British Muslims had fought alongside locals in Kashmir, where India and Pakistan have a long-standing territorial dispute. But he said many British Muslims had family ties with Kashmir and felt a sense of personal involvement in the situation. Mr Ali said there were no such allegiances with the conflict in Afghanistan. But supporters of the extremist Al-Muhajiroun organisation, which supports the founding of an Islamist state in Britain, took a different view.

Al-Muhajiroun, which has been banned from British university campuses and is being closely monitored by police for statements that might incite violence, now directs press callers to its offices in Pakistan.

Abdullah Mohammed, who used to live in Britain but now works out of Islamabad and Karachi, said British Muslims were coming out to fight for the Taliban. He said: "We see this as an oppression against Islam. The Taliban have no real means to actually defend themselves. We, as Muslim people, feel that giving their lives is the highest level they can achieve in Islam."

The British leader of Al-Muhajiroun, Omar Bakri Mohammed, has previously spoken in support of young British Muslims who travel abroad to join in military action on behalf of Islamic causes. Abdullah Mohammed said he had met Britons crossing through Pakistan trying to join the Taliban. In a strong English accent he said: "There's always routes. People always find ways. They don't really need our efforts, the Muslims from Britain find their own means. We have seen British Muslims coming across."

Captured Pakistani Taliban fighters have said British fighters were the centre of attention in training camps because they had travelled such a distance to take part in the conflict. Leaders of the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan are said to believe there may be as many as 200 Britons training and fighting alongside the international "Afghan Arab" force that supports the Taliban.

But there has been little evidence to back such claims, except for the capture earlier this year of Taliban fighter Anwar Khan, of Burnley, Lancashire who joined the training camps after his family sent him to Pakistan to recover from a drug problem.