'Extremist preachers radicalising young Muslims in private homes'

Extremist preachers are now using private homes to radicalise young Muslims into becoming terrorists, a top British security adviser has said.

"There has been a trend towards much greater use of private venues, simply because for obvious reasons they feel that they are much more secure," The Telegraph quoted K Office for Security and Counter Terrorism Director General Charles Farr, as saying.

He added that third world charities are being set up to fund terrorism.

Farr added that it was "possible to talk of the demise of parts of Al Qaeda" because the revolutions in the Middle East had weakened support for them.

"Al-Qaeda is no longer the organisation it was. It is at its weakest state since 9/11, and it is possible to talk of the demise of parts of Al-Qaeda in a way that we could not have done if we had been having this conversation even a year ago," he added.

His comments came in the wake of the debate over the European Court of Human Rights' refusal to allow Britain to extradite Abu Qatada - once described as "Osama bin Laden's right-hand man in Europe" - to Jordan to face terror charges.

Farr also described the English Defence League as a "significant organisation" adding "that it is deeply troubling in many respects and can cause great harm".

But he said that the attacks similar to those in Norway that killed 77 people last year, were unlikely.(ANI)