Brits Heighten Scrutiny Of Scottish Muslims

Wonderful. But why are they announcing it to the world?

Scotland on Sunday can also reveal that concern at the terror threat is now so great that up to 1,000 Scottish Asians will be placed under surveillance in coming months because they associate with known radicals.

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A senior source told Scotland on Sunday their investigation had uncovered around 200 "hardcore" individuals in Scotland. Of these, some 20 are of "significant interest", meaning they have been in contact - either through websites or face-to-face meetings - with known radicals abroad.

The 20 are under round-the-clock surveillance and their e-mails and mobile and landline calls are being monitored by GCHQ. Provided they do not pose an immediate risk, security officers are unlikely to make arrests until more evidence is gathered and associations with others are fully examined.

These kinds of articles are good drinking games. Everytime you see the words 'human rights,' 'racial profiling,' and 'backlash,' do a shot.

Security sources deny targeting the Asian community and say the move is essential to prevent terrorist outrages and curb the growth of extremism. But community leaders and civil rights experts last night warned it could cause a backlash and reduce cooperation.

Meh. We've heard this threat for several years and it has lost its punch. Workaday Muslim moderates seem to vastly prefer ratting out the jihadists to becoming jihadists themselves. That's the kind of backlash we like.

Of course the British security forces are brilliant and have their own reasons for announcing how they're expanding their focus. Betcha that among the marginal characters who support the hardliners there must be a lot of fretting and sweating going on right about now.

posted by Laura. at 12:15 PM

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