Here’s a piece at Radio Free Europe on the network of Islamic terrorists and silent supporters that has put down deep roots in Europe and Britain: Europe: Al-Qaeda Recruitment Efforts Hard To Root Out.

Francis Gregory, a terrorism specialist at the University of Southampton, says there is no doubt such groups are active in Britain and other European countries.

“I know the U.K. authorities have been concerned for some time that there has been recruitment going on in the U.K. for people to go out to Iraq,“ Gregory said. ”The actual connections of the recruiting process to Al-Qaeda directly, I think, are more problematic, but no doubt there are some linkages.”

Gregory says the security services have now adopted a strategy that attempts to catch any such activities at an early stage, as soon as there is enough evidence for an arrest warrant.

“As you would imagine, [the groups are most active] in the larger European Union countries with considerable number of Muslim communities within their territory,“ Gregory added. ”Obviously, within France, Germany, Italy, and of course, the United Kingdom.”