Terror suspects 'recruited to fight holy war'

The families and friends of three British citizens detained in Afghanistan by US authorities tonight spoke of their shock amid fears that the men were recruited to fight a holy war by an extremist Muslim group.

Relatives of Shafiq Rasul, Asif Iqbal and Ruhal Ahmed, who all attended the same school in Tipton, West Midlands, insisted that the trio were innocent and called for them to be returned to Britain.

The British Foreign Office has confirmed that former law student Rasul, 24, and Iqbal, 20, are both among suspected Taliban and al-Qaida members being held at Camp X-Ray in Cuba’s Guantanamo Bay.

Ahmed was being detained in the former Taliban stronghold of Kandahar, in Afghanistan, said the FO spokeswoman.

She said it was not yet known where Ahmed, believed to be aged 20, was seized or if he would be taken to the maximum security camp in Cuba.

The FO had no information about another Tipton man, Munir Ali, believed to be missing in Afghanistan.

The spokeswoman said: ‘‘We have no details about him. If his family want to contact us, then we will try to check on any information they have.’’

Earlier, it emerged that Ali, Iqbal, Rasul and Ahmed - three of whose families live within a stone’s throw of each other - had all attended Alexandra High School in Tipton.

Sandwell councillor Ian Jones said news of a third local man’s detention would further shock the close-knit Park Estate, where at least three of the men lived.

Mr Jones, a Labour representative for Sandwell’s Tipton Green ward, claimed that an extremist fundamentalist group had been active in the area for more than two years.

‘‘I think that the authorities will have to look at the close proximity of where the men live to have a view of whether they are coincidences,’’ he said.

‘‘All I can do is support the community. It’s a very moderate area and the moderate element of the Muslim community wants peace and harmony and not war and bullets.’’

Mr Jones maintained that the area was a well-integrated multi-cultural society which had suffered little unrest.

‘‘The general feeling is shock that individuals from within this community have found themselves, by whatever means, in Afghanistan and been arrested for whatever reason.

‘‘It’s disturbing that three men within a stone’s throw of each other have found themselves in Afghanistan.’’

The councillor said he was anxious not to pre-judge what the men had been doing in Afghanistan, but added: ‘‘I have been told from within the community that there has been a religious fundamentalist group who have been operating for over two years in this area.’’