LONDON: A secret report has blown apart the stereotype of what makes up a terrorist. Internal research carried out by Britains MI5 reveals it is not possible to draw up a typical profile of a terrorist arguing that there is no single pathway to violent extremism.
The report is based on in-depth case studies of "several hundred individuals known to be involved with or closely associated with violent extremist activity" ranging from fundraising to planning suicide bombings in Britain.
The classified report suggests that terrorists are mostly British nationals or in the country legally, not illegal immigrants. Around half were born in the UK with others migrating here in later life. They are ethnically diverse coming from Pakistani, South Asian and white backgrounds.
Britains top secret service says assumptions cannot be made about suspects based on skin colour, ethnic heritage or nationality. This significant finding will give ammunition to civil rights groups who complain that police use stop-and-search laws mostly against British Asians presuming they are more likely to be terrorists.
Another myth trashed by the research is that of religious zealousness leading to terrorism. The findings suggest a large number of those involved in terrorism do not practice their faith regularly. They lack religious literacy and can be regarded as religious novices. Very few have been brought up in a strictly religious home and many are new converts who have been involved in drug-taking, drinking alcohol and visiting prostitutes.
In fact the MI5 report goes so far to say that a "well-established religious identity actually protects against violent radicalisation".
The typical profile that is drawn up of a British terrorist is of a male, generally in his 20s, employed in low-grade jobs and can be of any ethnicity. MI5 also challenges the simplistic idea that terrorists are young men driven by sexual frustration and lured to martyrdom by the promise of beautiful virgins waiting for them in paradise. "Far from being lone individuals with no ties, a majority of those over 30 have steady relationships and most have children," says the report.
The importance of radical extremist clerics in influencing British terrorists has also been downplayed.
