Are British universities Islamic extremist hotbeds?

LONDON: British universities are coming under the spotlight in the country's fight against terrorism, with critics calling them a hotbed of extremism while lecturers say any clampdown threatens their freedom of speech. 

Prime Minister Gordon Brown last week highlighted universities as one of the key areas where the authorities needed to 'act against extremist influences'.

However, a row is brewing over how officials can clamp down on radical groups recruiting students for militant causes without infringing on genuine academic debate.   

The issue of campus extremism came to the fore in the aftermath of the London suicide bombings by four young British Islamists which left 52 people dead in 2005.   

That was followed by a report by Professor Anthony Glees, director of Brunel University's Centre for Intelligence and Security Studies, which suggested campuses were a breeding ground for extremists.   

Glees caused a stir across the academic community by estimating that dozens of British universities had been infiltrated by fundamentalists, based on historical terrorism cases which had involved students or former students.   

He now says the situation is even worse.   

"What we have seen since 2005 has been an increase in the number of students and former students involved in terrorist crimes," he said.

"And we are even more entitled today to speak about there being a significant number being involved in Islamist terrorism. The evidence is even stronger and more compelling today than it was in 2005."

In the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, British security services estimated there were a few hundred potential Islamist militants in the country.   

Now they say they are tracking around 2,000 suspects spread between some 200 networks, while the growing number of plots police say they have foiled indicates the country is at the centre of Islamist activities in the West.