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CNN Live Sunday

British Newspaper Uncovers Violent Terrorist Recruitment Videos

Aired January 27, 2002 - 22:48   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: From London tonight, disturbing images on violent videos that are circulating in local Muslim communities, being shown, it is believed, in an effort to recruit young people into radical Islam.

The videos surfaced as two more British citizens are identified among the suspected Taliban and al Qaeda fighters that are being held in Cuba. And CNN's Diana Muriel has more. And this report, which contains some graphic images, some viewers may find disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The British Foreign Office has confirmed the identities of two more Britons among the Taliban detainees being held at Guantanamo Bay. They are 20-year- old Asif Iqbal, and 24-year-old Hafiq Rasul, both from the same town in the West Midlands, both are believed to have left for Afghanistan following the September 11 attacks.

There was no reply to reporters' inquiries Sunday at either Iqbal's or Rasul's family homes. But Rasul's neighbors in the village of Tipton were astonished by the revelation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was a fine chap, you know, intelligent and well-kept and mannered and sportsman as well, so it was quite a surprise that he was actually over there in Cuba.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are all very shocked and we're worried about it, how did they get into this mess, because they are not that kind of people.

MURIEL: The news comes as "The Observer" newspaper reveals that violent terrorist videos promoting holy war have been circulating in British mosques.

(on camera): "The Observer" says that here, at the Finsbury Park Mosque in North London, their reporters were able to buy graphically violent videos portraying the slaughter of Northern Alliance soldiers by the Taliban, and an ambush and massacre of Algerian forces by Islamic fundamentalists.

The videos cost around $14 each. (voice-over): The Algerian ambush video, allegedly produced by the radical Islamic group Salafist (ph), was also found by the Spanish authorities in a series of raids on September the 26th, which netted six Algerians alleged to be members of Salafist (ph), a group with strong links to al Qaeda.

Algerian security sources have told CNN that videos like these have been in circulation for around five years, sold to raise funds for Islamic terrorist organizations, and used to recruit new members.

Jason Burke of "The Observer" newspaper says the videos have been screened to large audiences at prayer meetings, and believes they could have been targeted at vulnerable young Muslims as part of an al Qaeda-sponsored recruitment drive.

JASON BURKE, "THE OBSERVER": We don't have direct evidence that there is a direct link between this video and a particular person's recruitment to an extremist organization. What we do know is that this video has been circulated in some of the mosques in North London, in West London, elsewhere in the country, from where recruits have come to al Qaeda and the Taliban.

MURIEL: The British Home Office refused to confirm or deny that it knew of the existence of these videos within the British Muslim community. But an Algerian parliamentarian told CNN that the British authorities have known about the videos for some time, but, this parliamentarian says, they have not cooperated with the Algerian authorities in stopping distribution.

Diana Muriel, CNN, London.

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