Britons being converted to terrorism: Govt

A large number of white Britons have been lured into joining Islamic terrorism, a government report said.

The converts and British Muslims are being signed up by extremists at universities and religious groups, according to a warning issued by officials from MI5 and the Home and Foreign Offices on Sunday.

It follows calls by al-Qaeda for white converts to be suicide bombers ''as it is easier for them to travel and evade detection before attacks.'' The reports says, ''Converts include white British nationals.'' Authors of the joint report warn 16,000 British Muslims ''support'' Islamic terrorist atrocities at home and abroad.

Up to 13 per cent ''...or 208,000 of Britain's 1.6 million Muslims defend the September 11 attacks against the US. And 416,000 Muslims in UK have admitted they feel no loyalty to Britain,'' the report said.

''Osama bin Laden has encouraged white people to become suicide bombers,'' Tory spokesman for homeland security Patrick Mercer said.