UK Police anti-terror unit to target school age children

Naturally they would have to be careful how they go about it - but it is perfectly right to listen out for worrying signs - such as in the Fort Hood case the guy was allowed to say anything - if the kid comes school - openly condemning western society - women and so on - the police should have a look into what the parents might be up to. It is pretty clear the kid didn't pick this up on Nickelodeon.

BRIT children as young as FOUR are being monitored by terror cops over fears they could be brainwashed by Islamist extremists, it was revealed today.

West Midlands counter-terrorism police emailed local community groups suggesting that the nursery-age kids could be targets for terrorist recruiters.

The officer wrote: "I do hope that you will tell me about persons, of whatever age, you think may have been radicalised or be vulnerable to radicalisation... Evidence suggests that radicalisation can take place from the age of four."

Police also confirmed that officers specially trained in identifying children vulnerable to radicalism have visited nursery schools.

'Clumsy'

The policy was slammed last night with Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne branding it an "absurd waste of police time".

Sir Norman Bettison, the Association of Chief Police Officers' spokesman for Prevent, the Government's anti-terror strategy, said the email was a "clumsy" explanation of the project.

The Chief Constable of West Yorkshire added: "There is absolutely no example, nationally, of the police engaging with nursery-age kids specifically on this issue. That is the age for learning about 'Stranger Danger' and 'The Tufty Club'."

Meanwhile the Home Office confirmed that a SEVEN-YEAR-OLD was one of 228 people involved in a Prevent operation to tackle grooming by extremists.

They added 90 per cent of those identified by the project were aged between 15 and 24 and most were Muslim.

The project — funded from the £3.5billion per year security budget — is proving unpopular with many claiming it encourages Muslims to spy on each other.

The email from the West Midlands sergeant had been trying to ease Muslim community concerns, but has instead inflamed the situation.

Arun Kundnani, of the Institute of Race Relations, who contacted the officer, said: "He did seem to think (police visiting nursery schools) was standard. He said it wasn't just him or his unit that was doing it.

"He said the indicators were they (children) might draw pictures of bombs and say things like 'all Christians are bad' or that they believe in an Islamic state.

"It seems that nursery teachers in the West Midlands area are being asked to look out for radicalisation.

"He felt that it was necessary to cover nurseries as well as primary and secondary schools."

There have been worries about radicalisation in the Birmingham area since a terrorist was caught trying to radicalise his five-year-old son.

Evil Parviz Khan, who was jailed for plotting to kidnap and behead a British soldier, was heard threatening to beat his child if he did not say he loved Osama Bin Laden.

The West Midlands counter-terrorism unit confirmed that its officer had visited a nursery school attached to a primary school and had spoken to staff.

A spokesman said: "We have been trying to bring counter-terrorism work out of the shadows.

"It can cause consternation at first when a police officer introduces himself as a counter-terrorism officer.

"But we are actually trying to get over the accusation that Prevent is about spying by being more open and we are reaping the benefits now with better engagement."

The Sun