Islamic extremism in Pakistan

BBC News:

Suspicions that at least one of the alleged London suicide bombers may have been radicalised while in Pakistan raises questions once again about religious extremism there.

Most analysts agree that the London bombers - three of whom police say were Britons of Pakistani descent - were probably trained by "minders" far more experienced in the use of explosives.

UK investigators will be keen to know if the London bombers had been trained at any time in Pakistan or neighbouring Afghanistan.

The family of one of the suspected bombers has confirmed that he studied religion in Pakistan, although it is not clear that he went to one of the Islamic schools which have been accused of fostering extremism.

The path to Pakistan is one that has been taken by many high-profile extremists.

British-born Omar Sheikh is currently languishing in a Pakistani jail after being found guilty of the kidnapping and murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl in Karachi.

Before that Omar Sheikh had fought in Bosnia and Indian-administered Kashmir.

Recent evidence indicates he was also the mastermind behind assassination attempts against Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.

UK national Richard Reid was sentenced to life in prison in the United States in 2003 after being found guilty of trying to blow up an airliner with explosives hidden in his shoes.

Investigators believed he received training in Pakistan and Afghanistan in the late 1990s.

Then there is Saajid Badat, raised in Gloucester in the west of England. He was found guilty by a UK court this year of conspiring with Reid to blow up the airliner.

"I have a sincere desire to sell my soul to Allah in return for paradise," he said in a letter to his family, believed to have been sent from Afghanistan.

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