Sir Peter Fahy, lead on the Prevent counter-terrorism strategy for the Association of Chief Police Officers, warned that the video made the young men’s trip look like a “Boy Scout camp” when the reality was “very brutal, very callous”.
“The Government does have some funding and is putting material on the internet but really we need the whole of the community to counter this narrative,” he said.
“The trouble with this Isis video is it makes it look like a Boy Scout camp going out there, when in fact what they are calling for is Muslims to go out to kill fellow Muslims, often in cold blood, with summary executions of conscript soldiers and police officers.
“The trouble with that particular video is it makes it look very glamorous, that they are going on an adventure, when the reality is actually very brutal, very callous.”
The warnings about the impact of the video came as security experts in the UK declared that the repercussions of Syria and the rise of Islamic extremism at home will be felt for “many years” to come.
Richard Barrett, a former head of counter-terrorism at MI6, estimated that “possibly up to 300 people have come back to the UK” already, and warned that intelligence services faced an “impossible” task in trying to track them.
He said: “Clearly they’ll have to prioritise and they’ll have to choose those that they think are likely to pose the greatest risk.
“Beyond that I think they’ll have to rely very much on members of the community and other people expressing their concern and worry about the behaviour of perhaps their returned friend or family member.”
Several worshippers arriving for prayers in Cardiff today said they were “surprised” to hear of a connection between the men in the video and the Islamic centre.
One Libyan national, who did not want to be named, said: “I have been coming here for around nine months. Our teachings here are about tolerance. I think these boys must have been brainwashed from the internet.
“I think they are young and naive. They have a big idea about oppression and yet they grow up here in safety in the UK. Most people in places like Syria, Iraq or Libya want the fighting to stop, not for more of it.”
mfl