Britain is hub of Violent Islamism Worldwide, Says Centre for Social Cohesion's New Report

    LONDON, July 5, 2010 /PRNewswire/ --

    "Islamist Terrorism: The British Connections will become the
    indispensable reference for any future inquiry into British neo-Jihadi
    terrorism."

                          - Marc Sageman, M.D., Ph.D., author of Leaderless
                            Jihad

The CIA believes that the most likely source of a terrorist attack on the US will involve British citizens. Islamist Terrorism: The British Connections, a seminal new report by the Centre for Social Cohesion, presents the only comprehensive overview of the UK's connections to violent Islamism worldwide. It shows that terrorist activity in Britain is central to the security threat facing western democracies from al-Qaeda.

Islamist Terrorism profiles 127 Islamism-inspired terrorist convictions and attacks in the UK, spanning the decade 1999 to 2009. It outlines the links the individuals had to terrorist groups; their nationality and ethnic origin; their age, hometown, occupation and education; which other terrorists they were connected to; the legislation used to convict them; and more. This data is analysed to show the trends among those involved in Islamism-inspired terrorism.

The report also shows how Britain's links to violent Islamism are almost two decades old - profiling almost 100 other offences committed abroad since 1993 connected to Britain, including terrorist convictions, terrorist training, suicide attacks, and extraditions.

KEY TRENDS

Between 1999 and 2009, 124 individuals were convicted for Islamism-related terrorism offences or committed suicide attacks in the UK. Analysis of the combined total of 127 convictions or attacks - collectively referred to as Islamism related offences (IROs) - shows:

    BACKGROUND

    - 'Home-grown' threat - 69% of IROs were perpetrated by
      British nationals.

    - South-central Asia - Almost half (46%) of IROs were
      perpetrated by individuals of a South-central Asian origin of ancestry.

    - 68% of IROs committed by those aged below 30 - many of the
      remaining third were convicted of offences related to their roles as
      facilitators and/or ideologues.

    - Studied at university - a minimum of 31% of those who
      committed IROs had at some point attended university or a higher
      education institute.

    - The most common occupational status was unemployed (35%) -
      However, a total of 42% of IROs were perpetrated by individuals either
     in employment (32%, n=41) or full-time further or higher education (10%,
     n=13) at the date of charge or attack.

Executive summary: http://www.socialcohesion.co.uk/uploads/1278089320islamist_terrorism_preview. pdf (Due to the length of this URL, it may be necessary to copy and paste this hyperlink into your Internet browser's URL address field. Remove the space if one exists.)

Notes

1. South-central Asia region includes Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Iran according to the UN world region classification.

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SOURCE The Centre For Social Cohesion