Al-Qaida seeking to 'radicalize' prisoners

LONDON, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- Al-Qaida has targeted hundreds of British Muslim prisoners for recruitment into the terrorist organization, law enforcement officials say.

British probation officers say up to 800 Muslims imprisoned for petty crimes such as burglary and drug dealing are vulnerable to "radicalization" by an estimated 150 known terrorists housed in British jails, The Sunday Times of London reported.

In response, the Ministry of Justice told the newspaper it has instituted an effort to persuade the terrorists to give up their cause, as well as trying to protect certain Muslim inmates from violent extremists. The number of Muslim inmates in British prisons has grown to 8,000, or 10 percent of the total jail population, officials said.

Al-Qaida terrorist Richard Reid, the so-called "shoe bomber" convicted of trying to blow up a transatlantic jet in 2001 with explosives hidden in his sneakers, is the "poster boy" for the prison converts, The Times said. Reid had served time as a petty criminal before being radicalized in jail, prosecutors said.