UK is Europe's top terror centre

London, Apr 27 (UNI) Britain has become the top centre of Islamist terror in Europe with more Muslim extremists detained last year on terror-related charges than in the rest of Europe added together, official figures revealed.

A report by Europol, the European police force, said the number of arrests rose steeply and involved ''young, radicalised British citizens'', sparking fears that the threat of an attack was growing.

The report added, ''Terrorist plots linked to groups in Pakistan had been almost exclusively focussed on the UK.'' British authorities said 203 people were arrested on suspicion of terror offences in 2007, representing a 30 per cent increase on the previous year and the majority were said to be motivated by Muslim extremism, the Daily Telegraph reported.

In contrast, only 201 people were detained in the rest of Europe.

French police made 91 arrests.

''People shouldn't be sceptical about the threat that is posed,'' the report, which followed the disclosure that 15 terror plots have been foiled in Britain in the three years since the London bombings, added.

UNI XC SKB KP1736