Insurgents trawl Europe for recruits

Peter Beaumont, foreign affairs editor
Sunday June 19, 2005
The Observer

Islamic militant networks are on a recruiting drive across Europe for potential suicide bombers in Iraq, according to US and European police and security sources.

The claim comes amid evidence that the high number of recent attacks is forcing terrorist leaders into a drive for new volunteers.

Analysis of recent patterns of activity, based on tracing the identities of suicide bombers killed in Iraq, indicates that Europe is experiencing the sharpest growth in the recruitment of suicide bombers in comparison with North Africa, the Middle East and Asia, although those areas still supply the largest numbers of jihadis.