London: British universities have become hotbeds for breeding radicals and recruiting grounds for terror network like al-Qaeda, an academician has claimed.
Professor Anthony Glees, Director of security studies at Buckingham University, has said the varsities are failing to properly monitor students who could become terrorists, the 'Sunday Express' reported.
"Campuses are seen as safe spaces for radicalisers.
There is long history of students and recent graduates who turn to terror," he was quoted as saying.
Prof Glees said MI5 had identified 39 campuses as "vulnerable to violent extremism". Birmingham City and East London are the only ones to be named so far.
All universities were told they may seek 10,000 pounds grant to help counter the threat but 14 have not bothered to apply. The Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, a unit of MI5, is concerned by the response of some academics to the warnings.
Last month, 12-year-old Roshonara Choudhry, a former student at King's College, London, was jailed for life for attempting to kill former Labour minister Stephen Timms in May over his support for the Iraq invasion.
Former King's College students Asif Hanif and Omar Khan Sharif carried out a suicide bomb attack in Tel Aviv in 2003.
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