'Asbos For Extremists' To Tackle UK Jihadists

By Jon Craig, Chief Political Correspondent

Home Secretary Theresa May is planning to bring in new laws to tackle the threat of British jihadists - including "anti-social behaviour orders" for extremists.

Mrs May will announce a three-point plan to counter British Muslim extremists, warning that the security threat to the UK will continue for decades.

The measures would target the activities of radical preachers, such as Anjem Choudary, whose extreme rhetoric currently does not constitute a crime.

Full details are yet to emerge, but the new power will be designed to restrict extremists' behaviour and language.

As with an Asbo, it could result in a criminal conviction carrying a jail term if breached.

Mrs May has unveiled her crackdown in an article in the Daily Telegraph.

Theresa May's warning echoes recent comments from David Cameron

She discloses that she will make it illegal to join extremist groups that preach violent views, but are not directly involved in terrorism.

Currently, the threshold for banning membership of organisations, such as the Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIL), requires the Home Secretary to prove that the group is directly involved in terrorist acts.

The new power could target Islamist political organisations and other Muslim groups that tacitly support extremism.

In addition, state-funded organisations such as councils and schools will be given a new legal obligation to combat extremists.

Mrs May uses the Telegraph article to echo a warning about extremism made by the Prime Minister in a newspaper report last weekend.

The Home Secretary writes: "We are in the middle of a generational struggle against a deadly extremist ideology.

Cardiff students Khan (L) and Muthana (C) appeared in an IS video

"We will be engaged in this struggle for many years, probably decades. We must give ourselves all the legal powers we need to prevail.

"I am looking again at the case for new banning orders for extremist groups that fall short of the legal threshold for terrorist proscription, as well as for new civil powers to target extremists who seek to radicalise others."

The measures proposed by Mrs May are similar to recommendations for legislation made by the Government's Extremism Task Force last December.

Those recommendations were surprisingly omitted from the Queen's Speech this year.

But there is no suggestion yet that the Home Secretary plans to introduce emergency legislation when MPs return to the Commons on September 1.

David Cameron said during his brief return to Downing Street from his holiday after the murder of journalist James Foley that there would be "no knee-jerk reaction".

Radical Islamist preacher Anjem Choudary

The problem of radicalisation was highlighted in June when two Cardiff students - Reyaad Khan, 20, Nasser Muthana, also 20, - were identified in a propaganda video for IS posted on YouTube.

The two men along with Muthana's younger brother Aseel, 17, were lured to join extremists fighting in Syria and Iraq.

And a jihadi fighter in Syria told Sky News in July that he was training British teenagers as young as 16 to fight in the war.

Yvette Cooper, Labour's shadow home secretary, said: "More action is needed to respond to the serious problem of people travelling to fight with ISIL.

"The Home Secretary's confirmation that she is continuing to look at the recommendations of the Prime Minister's Taskforce, announced last December, is welcome.

"Though there remains no detail on things like civil powers to tackle extremists or extremist groups for people to consider.

"However I remain concerned that the Government is not addressing the gaps in the Prevent programme - especially the lack of support for community led approaches to preventing radicalisation.

"And the Home Secretary also needs to respond to the concerns raised by the current and previous Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation about the decision to weaken control orders, where they have advised that stronger measures should be put in place."

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Russia Aid Trucks 'Take Ukraine Military Goods'

A Ukrainian army spokesman has accused Russia of using aid trucks to take production equipment from two military plants.

A convoy of about 200 vehicles entered the country on Friday without the permission of the Ukraine government - and left on Saturday after dropping its cargo.

However, military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said the trucks had taken equipment from a factory in Luhansk that makes firearm magazines and a Topaz plant that produces radars.

The convoy's departure comes as German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived in Kiev for talks with Ukraine's pro-Western leaders on the ongoing conflict.

Russian aid trucks pictured upon their return to the border crossing

It had been agreed the lorries - which had waited on the Russian side of the border for a week - would only be allowed into eastern Ukraine if they were escorted by the International Red Cross.

However, the charity pulled out after not receiving enough security guarantees as fighting continues to rage.

Kiev's foreign ministry informally allowed the convoy to pass to avoid "provocations".

Russia previously let journalists look inside a handful of the lorries, which it said were carrying 1,800 tonnes of aid including food, water, medicine and electrical generators.

This was questioned by Nato's top military commander, Philip Breedlove, who claimed the trucks looked like a disguised attempt to reinforce separatist forces. Russia denies backing the rebels.

Ms Merkel will hold talks with Mr Poroshenko

The UN Security Council discussed the convoy on Friday and no country came to Russia's defence, according to British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant.

Members called it an "illegal and unilateral" action.

Following a phone call, US President Barack Obama and Ms Merkel condemned the act.

They also expressed concern that the large numbers of Russian troops on the Ukraine border and fighting in eastern parts of the country represented a "dangerous escalation".

Ms Merkel will hold talks with Ukraine's pro-European President Petro Poroshenko, three days before he meets Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and top EU officials.

A Ukrainian rebel controls an area after a shelling in Donetsk

The German leader is expected to call for a ceasefire while trying to consolidate Ukraine's relationship with the EU.

Mr Poroshenko has pledged to "talk peace" with the Russian President but insists the conflict - which has claimed more than 2,200 lives - will end only when pro-Kremlin fighters leave.

Meanwhile, Ukraine continues to pound rebel strongholds such as Luhansk and Donetsk, where water has been cut off and supplies are dwindling.

At least two civilians were killed by shelling on Saturday.

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IS Has Iraqi Towns In Lockdown As Battles Rage

Kurdish forces are struggling to defend themselves against Islamic State (IS) militants in northeast Iraq and are appealing for more international help.

There has been fighting around towns including Jalula and Sa'dya, which have been controlled by the well-armed Sunni extremists for several weeks.

The IS insurgents have seized large swathes of the country since a June offensive but have been hit by US airstrikes in some areas including around Mosul Dam.

However, Sky's Chief Correspondent Stuart Ramsay, reporting from outside Jalula, north of Baghdad, said the Kurdish peshmerga fighters want more weaponry from the outside world and are "getting little or no air support".

Thousands of peshmerga and counter-terrorism soldiers have been deployed, including many around the town.

Sky's Stuart Ramsay outside the town of Jalula

He said the Kurds have some heavy weapons but the equipment is old, while the jihadists "have modern equipment and lots of money".

Ramsay said the two sides are fighting to control territory not the towns themselves as IS have them "under total lockdown".

The Kurds are trying to cut their supply lines and one fighter told Sky News: "We need weapons to make the battle equal."

Ramsay said: "Peshmerga front-line positions are regularly hit from far away. There are scorch marks and burning patches everywhere."

Roadside bombs laid by the extremists are also "causing more casualties than ever before," he added.

Meanwhile, eight people have been killed after a suicide bomber blew up a vehicle packed with explosives at the interior ministry's intelligence headquarters in Baghdad.

PM designate Haider al Abadi is trying to form a more inclusive government

It comes a day after a sectarian attack at a mosque killed at least 68 Sunni Muslims, plunging efforts to form a united front against the jihadists into crisis.

Officials say a suicide bomber blew himself up in the Imam Wais mosque north of Baghdad, with Shia militiamen picking off fleeing worshippers with machine guns.

Diyala has seen heavy fighting between Iraqi troops and IS. File pic

Attacks on mosques are acutely sensitive and have in the past unleashed a deadly series of revenge killings and counter attacks in Iraq.

The attack, in Diyala province, is seen as a blow to government efforts to secure backing from Sunni groups in its battle against the extremists.

The US says the killing of James Foley was a "terrorist attack" on America

Prime Minister designate Haider al Abadi, a moderate Shia, is attempting to form a more inclusive government following the resignation of outgoing PM Nouri al Maliki.

But two influential Sunni politicians - Parliamentary Speaker Salim al Jabouri and Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al Mutlak - have now pulled out of talks with the main Shia political alliance after the massacre.

The US, which is carrying out airstrikes against militants, has ramped up its rhetoric over the beheading of journalist James Foley.

In Washington, Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes said the murder "represents a terrorist attack against our country".

He said the US would not be restricted by the Iraq-Syria border when it considers further action against IS militants.

Having poured in from Syria across a desert border that it does not recognise, the Islamist movement has declared its own caliphate.

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IS Demanded Release Of Woman In Texas Jail

One of the demands made by kidnappers who killed US journalist James Foley was the release of a woman once named among America's seven most wanted terrorists.

In the final email the Islamic State militant group sent to Mr Foley's parents, the jihadists claimed they offered prisoner exchanges for the journalist's freedom. The one name mentioned in the email was that of Dr Aafia Siddiqui.

The US-educated, Pakistani-born scientist was arrested in the street in Afghanistan's Ghanzi province in 2008.

When local police searched her handbag they found she was carrying handwritten documents referring to a "mass casualty attack" as well as a toxic substance called sodium cyanide, US prosecutors said.

The final letter sent to James Foley's parents named Siddiqui

The mother of three's notes listed locations such as the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street and the Brooklyn Bridge, according to the FBI.

There was also information on how to create a dirty bomb, destroy reconnaissance drones and use underwater bombs, and excerpts from the book "Anarchist's Arsenal", according to US prosecutors.

Upon her arrest, Siddiqui was taken by local police to a compound but, left unsecured behind a curtain, she managed to grab an M4 rifle and fire at the US team who had come to interview her, yelling "death to America", her trial heard.

She did not hit anyone, but Siddiqui herself was shot.

The 42-year-old was flown to the US and following her two-week trial in 2010, she was sentenced to 86 years in a Texas jail for trying to kill American servicemen.

Siddiqui married a relative of the 9/11 mastermind

No terrorism charges were filed, but prosecutors painted her as a potentially dangerous terrorist.

Siddiqui's lawyers - three of whom were paid by the Pakistani government - argued she had shot at the US officials in a panic and she was mentally ill.

She appeared in a wheelchair, looking frail, and frequently disrupted the proceedings with outbursts at her own lawyers, the jury and witnesses.

Protests in Pakistan following Siddiqui's sentencing

Dubbed "al Qaeda Mom" and "Lady Qaeda" by US tabloids, Siddiqui was born in Karachi, Pakistan, but moved to America in the late 1980s or early 1990s.

She trained as a neuroscientist at prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brandeis University.

US authorities claim she returned to Pakistan in 2003 after marrying a relative of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed - the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.

But her disappearance for the next five years is unexplained and has caught the attention of human rights groups.

One theory is that she was detained by America after being named by Mohammed during interrogation. Her lawyers had claimed she had been held in secret US detention.

Imran Khan is among Siddiqui's supporters

However, in 2004 US attorney general John Ashcroft listed her among the seven most wanted al Qaeda fugitives.

Her eventual detention, trial and sentencing prompted mass protests across Pakistan.

Activists poured on to the streets shouting "death to America" and burning effigies of President Barack Obama when she was sentenced.

Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan led one rally in Lahore, condemning her jailing as "unethical and inhuman".

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Major Operation To Retake IS-Held Towns In Iraq

Kurdish forces have started a major assault to try to retake the northeast Iraqi towns of Jalula and Sa'dya from Islamic State (IS) militants.

It comes as US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the threat posed by IS extremists, who have seized control of large parts of Syria and Iraq, was "beyond anything we've seen".

The group, which beheaded American journalist James Foley in response to US airstrikes in Iraq, was "beyond just a terrorist group", Mr Hagel said.

A Kurdish peshmerga fighter

"They marry ideology, a sophistication of … military prowess," he added.

Sky's Alex Crawford, reporting from the outskirts of Jalula, said the operation was being carried out by the Kurdish military's elite counter-terrorism unit, backed up by peshmerga forces.

James Foley in Libya in 2011

She said the towns, near the Iranian border and the semi-autonomous Kurdish region, had been under the control of IS insurgents for more than two months.

The Kurdish forces have already taken back a major checkpoint, which the Sunni militants had controlled.

Alex Crawford said: "What is significant about this assault is that they (the Kurds) are doing this pretty much entirely on their own.

"They've had very little air support. There is no evidence of any outside weaponry, military hardware to back them up."

A rough outline of the caliphate declared by IS militants

Meanwhile, US airstrikes in Syria - where Mr Foley disappeared in November 2012 - have not been ruled out.

When asked about that possibility, Mr Hagel said Washington was "exploring all options".

General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, also did not discount attacks on IS fighters in Syria.

Militants vowed to attack US targets in another video clip

"This is an organisation that has an apocalyptic, end-of-days strategic vision and which will eventually have to be defeated," he said at a briefing.

"To your question, can they be defeated without addressing that part of their organisation which resides in Syria? The answer is no.

"That will have to be addressed on both sides of what is essentially at this point a non-existent border."

The fighter who killed James Foley

IS, which was formerly known as ISIS, declared an Islamic state, or caliphate, covering large parts of the two countries earlier this year.

Michael Scheuer, a former CIA senior officer who ran operations against al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, has told Sky News defeating IS will require an "enormous" number of Western troops on the ground which would mean an "enormous bloodbath".

He said: "It's a greatly bigger problem than we've seen before, it's better armed, it's better led and certainly more vicious than al Qaeda was in the initial years."

US President Barack Obama has insisted the scope of the US strikes will remain limited, while Prime Minister David Cameron has said Britain will not fight another war in Iraq.

A criminal investigation has now been opened into Mr Foley's murder, which was recorded by the militants in a video that emerged earlier this week.

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Final Email From James Foley's Killers Revealed

IS Demanded Release Of Woman In Texas Jail

Updated: 11:34am UK, Friday 22 August 2014

One of the demands made by kidnappers who killed US journalist James Foley was the release of a woman once named among America's seven most wanted terrorists.

In the final email the Islamic State militant group sent to Mr Foley's parents, the jihadists claimed they offered prisoner exchanges for the journalist's freedom. The one name mentioned in the email was that of Dr Aafia Siddiqui.

The US-educated, Pakistani-born scientist was arrested in the street in Afghanistan's Ghanzi province in 2008.

When local police searched her handbag they found she was carrying handwritten documents referring to a "mass casualty attack" as well as a toxic substance called sodium cyanide, US prosecutors said.

The mother of three's notes listed locations such as the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street and the Brooklyn Bridge, according to the FBI.

There was also information on how to create a dirty bomb, destroy reconnaissance drones and use underwater bombs, and excerpts from the book "Anarchist's Arsenal", according to US prosecutors.

Upon her arrest, Siddiqui was taken by local police to a compound but, left unsecured behind a curtain, she managed to grab an M4 rifle and fire at the US team who had come to interview her, yelling "death to America", her trial heard.

She did not hit anyone, but Siddiqui herself was shot.

The 42-year-old was flown to the US and following her two-week trial in 2010, she was sentenced to 86 years in a Texas jail for trying to kill American servicemen.

No terrorism charges were filed, but prosecutors painted her as a potentially dangerous terrorist.

Siddiqui's lawyers - three of whom were paid by the Pakistani government - argued she had shot at the US officials in a panic and she was mentally ill.

She appeared in a wheelchair, looking frail, and frequently disrupted the proceedings with outbursts at her own lawyers, the jury and witnesses.

Dubbed "al Qaeda Mom" and "Lady Qaeda" by US tabloids, Siddiqui was born in Karachi, Pakistan, but moved to America in the late 1980s or early 1990s.

She trained as a neuroscientist at prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brandeis University.

US authorities claim she returned to Pakistan in 2003 after marrying a relative of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed - the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.

But her disappearance for the next five years is unexplained and has caught the attention of human rights groups.

One theory is that she was detained by America after being named by Mohammed during interrogation. Her lawyers had claimed she had been held in secret US detention.

However, in 2004 US attorney general John Ashcroft listed her among the seven most wanted al Qaeda fugitives.

Her eventual detention, trial and sentencing prompted mass protests across Pakistan.

Activists poured on to the streets shouting "death to America" and burning effigies of President Barack Obama when she was sentenced.

Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan led one rally in Lahore, condemning her jailing as "unethical and inhuman".

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Foley: Secret US Raid Failed To Free Journalist

US special forces were sent to Syria this summer in an attempt to rescue US hostages, including journalist James Foley, but the secret raid failed.

Administration officials said the team found, after a fight with Islamist militants, that the hostages had already been moved.

News of the raid followed the release of a gruesome propaganda video by Islamic State (IS) militants that showed Mr Foley being beheaded.

The rescue mission was authorised after intelligence agencies believed they had identified the location inside Syria where the hostages were being held.

Officials had also become convinced that "these hostages were in danger with each passing day", Lisa Monaco, Mr Obama's senior counterterrorism adviser, said in a statement.

Militants have also threatened to kill Steven Sotloff

"The US government had what we believed was sufficient intelligence, and when the opportunity presented itself, the President authorised the Department of Defense to move aggressively to recover our citizens," Ms Monaco said.

"Unfortunately, that mission was ultimately not successful because the hostages were not present."

Several dozen special operations forces were dropped by aircraft into Syria and engaged in a fight with members of the Sunni militant group.

As they fought their way toward the spot where the hostages were believed to be kept, the US forces realised there were no captives to rescue.

Several militants were killed in the gunfight, administration officials said. No Americans died but an aircraft came under fire and one American sustained a minor injury.

The New York Times said the raid targeted an oil refinery in northern Syria and was carried out by two dozen Delta Force commandos.

The newspaper quoted a Defense Department official as saying missing the hostages may have been "a matter of hours, perhaps a day or two".

News of the beheading of Mr Foley, a 40-year-old American, shocked the public opinion. President Barack Obama and officials around the Western world have expressed revulsion.

James Foley disappeared in Syria in November 2012. Pic: Nicole Tung

The disclosure of the rescue mission marks the first time the US has acknowledged that American military personnel have been on the ground in Syria since a civil war there broke out more than three years ago.

Caitlin Hayden, spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council, said the administration never intended to disclose the mission but was forced to do so because a number of media outlets were preparing to report on it.

Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said: "As we have said repeatedly, the United States government is committed to the safety and well-being of its citizens, particularly those suffering in captivity.

"In this case, we put the best of the United States military in harm's way to try and bring our citizens home."

IS, an offshoot of al Qaeda that operates in Syria and Iraq, has warned that another captured American, Steven Sotloff, would also be killed unless the US called off airstrikes in Iraq.

James Foley's younger brother Michael has criticised the US government, saying he thought it could have done more to save Mr Foley.

He said, as a result, it needed to do more to free Mr Sotloff.

The US officials have not specified how many Americans are believed to be held captive.

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Video Shows Yazidis 'Converting To Islam'

An Islamic State video has emerged purporting to show dozens of captured Yazidi people converting to Islam.

The footage emerged shortly after the group released a video showing one of its black-clad fighters beheading American journalist James Foley.

The latest film, titled "Hundreds of Yazidis convert to Islam", gives no indication of the bloodshed that prompted tens of thousands of people to flee.

In the video, two Islamic State fighters field questions in Arabic. One of the fighters is a bearded middle-aged man dressed in black with an AK-47 assault rifle.

The men get off a bus and greet militants

The other is dressed in a crisp grey military uniform and camouflage cap.

"What has been said is the opposite of reality," the older man says.

He also says that Islamic State has provided the Yazidis with everything they need.

"Men, women and children have converted and I was with them and they are happy with their conversions," he says.

The video shows men asking questions to Islamic State fighters

He adds: "We advise the Yazidis to come down from the mountain and convert."

This is a reference to Mount Sinjar, where thousands who feared death at the hands of the militants took refuge.

"If they stay on the mountain, they will die of starvation and thirst. This talk about aid from Western and crusader countries is all lies.

"If they convert, we will give them everything they need. They will live a happy life."

Thousands of Yazidis have been displaced by the IS advance

The video then shows dozens of Yazidis getting off a bus, walking past a truck mounted with an anti-aircraft weapon and hugging Islamic State militants.

IS fighters had previously threatened members of the ancient religious group with death if they failed to convert to Islam.

IS has been accused of killing hundreds of Yazidis since the militants moved into the area of northern Iraq where the community lives.

More than 400 men were reported to have died in the village of Kocho over two days and their families forced to move with IS militants to Tal Afar.

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Iceland Volcano: Mini-Quakes Revealed In Video

Geologists have released a computer-generated video showing a swarm of mini-earthquakes threatening to trigger a volcanic eruption in Iceland

The images emerged after Iceland's authorities evacuated an area close to the country's Bardarbunga volcano over fears it could erupt.

Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupted in 2010, producing an ash cloud that severely disrupted air travel.

The Bardarbunga volcano in Iceland Pic: Icelandic Met Office

The video - by the Icelandic Met Office - shows a mass of seismic activity, stretching deep beneath the mountain range.

The area - which is 190 miles from the capital Reykjavik - has no permanent residents but sits in a national park which is popular with tourists.

The dots show areas of seismic activity (pic: Icelandic Met Office)

More than 3,000 small earthquakes have occurred since Saturday at Bardarbunga -  the country's largest volcano system.

Geologists said the magnitude of the earthquakes had been relatively small. Seismologists add that magma is moving horizontally, rather than vertically.

Ash billows from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano In Iceland in 2010

The country's aviation alert level for the risk of a possible eruption is currently at orange, the second-most severe level.

The risk level was raised on Monday after magma movements were detected around six miles from the surface.

The 2010 ash cloud shut down much of Europe's airspace for six days. More than 10 million people were affected.

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PM Returns From Holiday After IS Beheading

David Cameron is cutting short his holiday in Cornwall and returning to Downing Street following the beheading of a US journalist.

The Prime Minister's return follows the release footage appearing to show a masked man - speaking with a British accent - killing James Foley, who was seized by armed men in Syria in November 2012.

A No 10 statement said: "If true, the brutal murder of James Foley is shocking and depraved.

"The Prime Minister is returning to Downing St this morning. He will meet with the Foreign Secretary and senior officials from the Home Office, Foreign Office and the agencies to discuss the situation in Iraq and Syria and the threat posed by ISIL terrorists."

Mr Cameron said he was ready to return from his Cornish holiday if needed

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said the video appeared to be genuine and was "an appalling example of the brutality of this organisation".

Mr Hammond told Sky News: "This is an evil organisation with an evil ideology."

Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander MP said: "The horrific footage of the killing of James Foley has shocked and outraged the world.

"Suggestions that the attack may have been carried out by a UK national are particularly concerning and the Government must now work with international partners to establish the facts and uncover any possible information about the perpetrator."

Meanwhile, the French President Francois Hollande said the crisis in Iraq represented the "most serious" international situation since 2001.

Mr Cameron had only been in Cornwall for a day, where he was pictured with his wife Samantha sipping coffee at Surfside cafe on Polzeath beach in Wadebridge.

He insisted he remained in control while on holiday and was "always within a few feet of a BlackBerry".

Earlier this month, the PM had to cut short a holiday to Portugal to respond to the Iraq crisis, and said he would do the same again "instantly" if necessary.

Mr Cameron has said Britain should use all its assets, including its "military prowess", to help tackle the threat posed by Islamic State (IS) extremists in Iraq, but insisted the UK would not get drawn into another war.

More follows...

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British IS Militants 'Not Taking Back Seat'

An expert in radicalisation has warned that Britons are at the forefront of the Islamic State conflict in Iraq and Syria and could be called upon to carry out attacks in the UK.

Shiraz Maher, a senior researcher at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation, said there was evidence of British involvement in several attacks in Syria.

Some 400 Britons are thought to be involved in the Islamic State (IS) conflict. Others are thought to have come from the US, Australia and France among others.

Mr Maher told Sky News: "It's very clear that the Brits who have gone out there don't intend to take a back seat and they haven't done at any point.

Muhammad Hamidur Rahman, from Portsmouth, was killed in Syria Pic: Facebook

"They are very much at the forefront of this conflict.

"Because of the dramatic, the appalling nature of what has taken place, it has publicised what some of the British fighters out there are doing to a much wider and broader audience."

Mr Maher said a British suicide bomber targeted Aleppo prison in Syria in 2013 and there were reports of British fighters executing prisoners of war in Syria in early 2014.

A Crawley father-of-three Abdul Waheed Majeed, 41, became the first Briton suspected of staging a suicide bomb attack when he attacked the jail in Aleppo in February.

In May, 18-year-old Abdullah Deghayes, from Brighton, was killed while fighting in Syria alongside his two brothers Jafar and Amer.

In June, Cardiff students Nasser Muthana and Reyaad Khan - both 20 - appeared alongside Abdul Raqib Amin, from Aberdeen, in an IS recruitment video urging Westerners to join the fighting.

Ahmed Muthana said he has now disowned his two sons Nasser and Aseel after they joined IS.

Abdul Raqib Amin, from Aberdeen, was reportedly killed in Syria last month

In a message to others thinking of joining the group, he said: "Don't go they are a fake. The prophet didn't tell anyone to kill people."

Amin, 26, was reportedly killed in a gun battle near Ramadi in July.

And earlier this month, 25-year-old former Primark supervisor Muhammad Hamidur Rahman, from Portsmouth, was reportedly killed while fighting for IS in Syria.

Initially, many people went out to Syria and Iraq to help alleviate human suffering, but attitudes have hardened, Mr Maher said.

"Over time what you have seen is a hardening of attitudes, a desire not to go and help people but to build an Islamic state to engage in this millenarian project and that has motivated scores of people to go out there," Mr Maher said.

"They are seeing their friends doing it, so when they see a certain number of people doing it that in their minds makes what is quite a remarkable thing - to give up your life, to go out there and join these groups - it makes it real, tangible and feasible."

The beheading of US journalist James Foley is the first time IS has used a "directly confrontational approach" to the Western world, he said.

IS fighters could later be used to carry out attacks in their native countries if the group's aim of establishing and Islamic caliphate in Iraq and Syria is prevented.

Mr Maher added: "A lot of the militants who are out there fighting for IS traditionally and largely say they don't intend to return, they want to say out in Syria and Iraq, live out there lives there and ultimately die there.

"If that intensifies then of course its feasible that they may look to some of the British fighters in their ranks and try to look at sending some of them back to do attacks here."

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IS Beheads US Journalist James Foley In Video

Islamic State militants have released a video that purportedly shows the beheading of a US journalist who went missing two years ago.

The footage appears to show a masked man - speaking in English with an English accent - killing James Foley, who was seized by armed men in Syria in November 2012.

In the five-minute propaganda video, posted on social media sites by Islamic State sources, the man says Mr Foley was being killed because Barack Obama had ordered airstrikes against IS positions in northern Iraq.

The journalist, dressed in an orange jumpsuit like those worn by Guantanamo inmates, is seen kneeling in the desert before he blames the US for his death, in a statement presumably prepared by his abductors.

He then says: "I wish I had more time, I wish I could have the hope of freedom and seeing my family once again, but that ship has sailed." 

He is then beheaded.

Mr Foley in Syria before he was captured. Pic: Nicole Tung

The group also claimed to be holding another American journalist, Steven Sotloff, who appears at the end of the video, and said his life depended on the US President's next move.

A statement issued by Mr Foley's mother, Diane Foley, said: "We have never been prouder of our son, Jim. He gave his life trying to expose the world to the suffering of the Syrian people.

"We implore the kidnappers to spare the lives of the remaining hostages. Like Jim, they are innocents. They have no control over American government policy in Iraq, Syria or anywhere in the world.

"We thank Jim for all the joy he gave us. He was an extraordinary son, brother, journalist and person. Please respect our privacy in the days ahead as we mourn and cherish Jim."

On Tuesday, two unnamed US officials said they believe the man in the video - which Sky News has chosen not to show - was Mr Foley.

John and Diane Foley, Mr Foley's parents

White House National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said if the video is verified by the intelligence community, the US would be "appalled by the brutal murder of an innocent American journalist".

Mr Foley, 40, was an experienced correspondent who had covered the war in Libya before heading to Syria to follow the revolt against Bashar al Assad for the GlobalPost, AFP and other outlets.

Philip Balboni, GlobalPost chief executive and co-founder, said the firm had been informed that the FBI is evaluating the video to determine whether it was authentic.

"We ask for your prayers for Jim and his family," he said.

According to witnesses, Mr Foley was seized in the northern Syrian province of Idlib on November 22, 2012.

The car he was travelling in was stopped by four militants in a contested battle zone that both Sunni rebel fighters and government forces were trying to control.

His family has not heard from him since, despite a public campaign for information.

IS militants have captured large areas of northern Iraq and Syria

Several senior US officials with direct knowledge of the situation told the Associated Press that IS very recently threatened to kill Mr Foley to avenge the American airstrikes over the last two weeks.

The strikes targeted militants advancing on Mount Sinjar, the Mosul Dam and Kurdish capital Irbil.

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said the video, voiced by an IS fighter with a British accent, appeared to be genuine and was "an appalling example of the brutality of this organisation".

Mr Hammond told Sky News: "This is an evil organisation with an evil ideology."

"I reject any suggestion British foreign policy is providing any excuse for what ISIL is doing," he added.

Mr Hammond said the IS extremists posed a major threat, not only to stability in Iraq and the rest of the Middle East, but also to the UK's domestic security.

The Foreign Secretary also said he did not believe the US would be "cowed" by IS threats to kill US journalist Steven Sotloff, who they claim to be holding.

Prime Minister David Cameron returned to Downing Street from his holiday early after the beheading, which came just days after he warned Europe could be facing a "poisonous" terrorist state on its doorstep.

The release of the video comes a day after IS militants threatened to attack US targets in another video where they warned "we will drown all of you in blood".

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Iraq Conflict: Fighting Resumes At Mosul Dam

Fighting has resumed at Mosul Dam in northern Iraq with jets seen overhead, according to Sky sources.

On the ground, Iraqi and Kurdish peshmerga forces have been battling Islamic militants for control of the strategic site which supplies water and power to millions of people down the Tigris river valley.

US fighter jets and drones have been attacking Islamic State (IS) targets from the air as they try to help push back the Sunni extremists who have taken over large parts of the north and west of the country.

IS seized the hydro-electric dam several weeks ago but President Barack Obama announced on Monday that Iraqi and Kurdish forces had regained control of the facility with the help of American airstrikes.

But it appears that are still remnants of IS in the area who are putting up resistance.

Mosul Dam. Pic: File

Sky's Alex Crawford, at Mosul Dam, said: "We heard firing behind us about 1km away. The president's son sad he suspected some hardened IS fighters were in the south of the dam who had not been cleared from the area."

She added: "They are still clearly holding out and putting up some sort of defence."

Crawford said she heard heavy machine gun fire and possibly mortar shelling as well as jets overhead.

There is also fierce fighting near the centre of Tikrit, the hometown of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

The dam and the city of Mosul are in the north of the country

Tikrit was seized by IS earlier in the year but Iraqi forces as well as Shia militias are trying to drive the insurgents out.

The violence was taking place near the main hospital, more than two miles from the town centre.

"Helicopters are pounding the bases of the terrorists to prevent them from regrouping," said an army major.

Iraqi forces were pushing from the south and also advancing slowly from the west due to landmines and roadside bombs planted by the militants, he added.

Meanwhile, the insurgents, who also seized control of the second city of Mosul in June, have threatened to respond to US airstrikes by attacking American targets, posting a video in which they warn: "We will drown all of you in blood".

The message was accompanied by photographs of beheadings.

Unlike al Qaeda, IS has, to date, focused on seizing land in Iraq and Syria for its self-proclaimed caliphate, rather than attacking Western targets.

Earlier, the group denied losing control of Mosul Dam.

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Iraqi Militants Threaten Revenge Attacks On US

Crucial Battle For World's Most Dangerous Dam

Updated: 5:36pm UK, Monday 18 August 2014

By Sam Kiley, Foreign Affairs Editor

Recapturing the Mosul Dam from Islamic State (IS) militants isn't just a military and political necessity - it's an engineering imperative.

It's got feet of clay. More accurately, gypsum and limestone.

It holds 12 billion cubic metres (425 billion cubic feet) of water.

If it broke it would unleash a liquid bulldozer 10 metres (65 feet) high that would engulf Mosul downstream on the Tigris before racing south and flooding Baghdad.

Some experts have said around 500,000 people could be killed if the dam were to fail.

Because it's been built on gypsum and limestone, which are water soluble, the dam's base gets regular injections of "grout" - a messy mix of concrete and earth.

Some 200 tonnes of the emergency engineering porridge has to be poured into the base every year but sinkholes are appearing.

Iraq's government had earmarked billions to repair the dam, which is also the source of electricity for about a million people and clean water for much of northern Iraq.

And while IS has pretentions to establishing a "caliphate" over much of Syria and Iraq, it is unlikely the ranks of its militants include advanced construction engineers capable of keeping the dam from collapsing.

In 2007, the US Army Corps of Engineers surveyed the structure and concluded the dam was "the most dangerous in the world".

Kurdish peshmerga fighters, with the support of airstrikes by US warplanes, are battling for control of the dam.

It's a ginger process.

The IS fighters are battle hardened. They are also demolitions experts and have unleashed a tide of bloody religious slaughter across a third of Iraq and Syria.

They have sown the countryside around the dam with improvised explosive devices and mines.

There are fears they might have also rigged the dam for destruction.

This may be an exaggerated concern. The IS is violent and extreme but there are no signs it is idiotic.

Its recent tactical successes have been carefully orchestrated as part of a wider strategy to create a caliphate not even al Qaeda managed to establish.

Sending a wall of water crashing down the Tigris valley and drowning mostly fellow Sunni Muslims would rob the caliphate of potential supporters and guarantee the survivors would turn against its brutal interpretation of Islam.

But this doesn't mean the dam may be damaged in fighting.

Nor that it would be able to survive intact if the IS manages to hang on, or in tit-for-tat-operations the dam's relentless need for reinforcement was fatally interrupted.

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Coach Overturns On Motorway And Lands In Ditch

Around 50 passengers have escaped serious injury after a coach overturned on a motorway.

Police said the driver hurt his back in the crash on the M5 in Gloucestershire.

The incident, which the Highways Agency described as "serious", happened near Dursley, on the southbound side between junctions 13 and 14.

The section was closed following the crash.

A spokesperson for South West Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust said: "We were notified at 9.58am that a coach had left the carriageway. It was the only vehicle involved in the incident.

"There were six casualties and all of them sustained minor injuries. They are being assessed at the scene to see if they need to be taken to hospital."

According to reports, the passengers were on a day trip from the West Midlands to Weston-super-Mare.

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Cameron: 'We Are Not Going To War In Iraq'

David Cameron has insisted that Britain will not be getting involved in another war in Iraq.

He spoke out after reports Britain had briefly sent some ground troops to Irbil, to prepare the way for a rescue mission to help displaced Yazidi people.

His comments came amid reports on Iraqi state TV that Kurdish troops have retaken the strategic Mosul dam from Islamic militants.

The UK is considering arming peshmerga troops fighting IS extremists

Peshmerga fighters have been battling Islamic State fighters, with the aid of US airstrikes, after the dam was seized by the militants 10 days ago.

Mr Cameron made his strongly worded statement this morning amid confusion over the UK's involvement in Iraq after a series of media interviews by senior ministers. 

He said: "I want to be absolutely clear to you and to families watching at home. Britain is not going to get involved in another war in Iraq.

"We are not going to be putting boots on the ground. We are not going to be sending in the British Army."

A US airstrike against an IS position near Mosul Dam

Mr Cameron has previously conceded that Britain's role will go beyond humanitarian aid and involve limited action to prevent violence spreading to British streets.

But he said: "So we are helping the Kurds, we are working with the Iraqi government to make sure it is more representative of the whole country.

"And, of course, we are working with neighbours and allies to put the maximum amount of pressure on IS and make sure it is properly dealt with.

"We have said that if the Kurds, the peshmerga, want to have arms from us, that is something we would consider favourably."

Michael Fallon says Britain's involvement could last 'weeks and months'

Mr Cameron appeared on television after Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said the UK's Iraq mission would likely last "weeks and months".

Mr Fallon was addressing British troops in Cyprus as it emerged that UK soldiers have been back on the ground in Iraq for the first time since 2009.

The soldiers, from the 2nd Battalion Yorkshire regiment, were briefly sent to Irbil, the capital of Iraq's Kurdistan region, to prepare the way for a Yazidi rescue mission.

It is understood the rescue operation would involve Chinook helicopters and the ground troops remained in the country for only 24 hours.

Sheikh Khalah Sheikh Alyas: 'IS killed our young people'

Sky News Political Correspondent Anushka Asthana said the UK's position on Iraq was "a little confusing" after various newspaper and TV interviews by the PM and Mr Fallon.

Asthana said some had interpreted the PM's commitment to providing more than humanitarian aid in Iraq as meaning there would be military action.

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said discussions with the Kurdish regional government were focusing on what weapons to supply Kurdish troops.

The retaking of Mosul Dam is considered a major development in the fight against militants in Iraq.

A White House statement said the failure of the dam could threaten the lives of civilians, as well as US personnel and facilities - including the embassy in Baghdad.

In another development, displaced Yazidis, who fled to Syria, have taken up military training and are "seeking revenge".

Sheikh Khalah Sheikh Alyas, head of a Yazidi training camp in Qamishli, Syria, said: "I called on Yazidi young men to volunteer to take revenge and they came in large numbers. Only yesterday and today we received about 55 men."

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Teen Shooting Unrest: National Guard Called In

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon has ordered the National Guard to Ferguson amid rising tensions following the shooting death by police of an unarmed black teenager.

Mr Nixon said the National Guard would "help restore peace and order" to the St Louis suburb after days of protests over the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown. 

In the latest violence on Sunday night, police fired tear gas at demonstrators as gunfire was heard.

The announcement by Mr Nixon came as a preliminary private autopsy found that Mr Brown was shot at least six times - twice in the head - according to the New York Times.

The post-mortem examination was carried out by Dr Michael Baden, a former New York City chief medical examiner, at the request of Mr Brown's family.

Protesters say Michael Brown was trying to surrender when shot

Mr Baden said one of the bullets entered the top of Mr Brown's skull, suggesting that his head was bent forward when he suffered a fatal injury.

Mr Brown was shot four times in the right arm and all the bullets were fired into his front, he told the New York Times.

Attorney General Eric Holder has ordered a federal medical examiner to perform another autopsy.

As night fell in Ferguson, a peaceful protest quickly deteriorated into further violence - more than a week after Mr Brown's killing on August 9.

Some protesters have defied the curfew

Some protesters carried signs protesting against police brutality. Some had their hands up in the air, while others threw Molotov cocktails at police officers.

Authorities said they were responding to reports of gunfire, looting and vandalism.

The Missouri Highway Patrol also said it used tear gas to disperse "aggressors" who were trying to infiltrate a law enforcement command post, and that armoured vehicles were deployed to ensure public safety.

Captain Ron Johnson said there were "acts of violence that appear to not have been spontaneous, but premeditated attacks designed to damage property, hurt people, and provoke a response".

The demonstrations have been going on for a week, with most being peaceful

A man was shot and critically wounded in the area, but not by police, and someone also shot at a police car, authorities said.

Seven people were arrested for failing to disperse.

Officials announced another five-hour curfew for the second night running which started at midnight local time (6am UK time). But much of the violence started before the curfew.

Calls to demilitarise police have mounted

Authorities said they plan to decide on a day-by-day basis whether to extend the curfew, first imposed on Saturday night by Mr Nixon in an effort to quell the demonstrations.

Mr Nixon meanwhile sharply criticised the town's police for releasing CCTV video which they say shows Mr Brown stealing cigars from a store and shoving an employee.

"I think it had an incendiary effect," he told CBS' Face The Nation on Sunday morning.

He said police "clearly are attempting to besmirch a victim of a shooting".

Minutes after the robbery, Mr Brown had a fatal encounter with an officer who police say stopped the teenager for jaywalking.

Mr Brown was unarmed and it has been claimed he was trying to surrender before he was shot dead by white police officer Darren Wilson, 28.

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Julian Assange Will Leave Embassy 'Soon'

Julian Assange has told a news conference he will leave the Ecuadorian embassy in London "soon" after more than two years holed up inside the building.

The Australian spelled out his plans for his next moves alongside Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino at the embassy in Knightsbridge.

Widespread reports had suggested the WikiLeaks website founder needs hospital treatment for heart and lung problems.

But the 43-year-old denied he was leaving the embassy for health reasons.

He said: "I am leaving the embassy soon - but perhaps not for the reasons the Murdoch press and Sky News are saying at the moment.

"Being detained in various ways in this country without charge for four years and in this embassy for two years which has no outside area, therefore no sunlight… it is an environment in which any healthy person would find themselves soon enough with certain difficulties."

Police officers outside the embassy building in Knightsbridge

Mr Assange insisted Ecuador's decision to grant him political asylum "is the correct one".

He said: "How can it be that such a situation in Europe arises where a person is held and their freedom of movement restricted and they are kept from their family while a foreign government builds an ever larger case against that person and their organisation?

"Somehow the situation has developed here for me… where basic rights that were previously universally accepted in Europe are no longer respected."

He added that there had been "significant mis-reporting" surrounding his case.

Media organisations including Sky News were not inside the news conference

He said: "Firstly - I have not been charged with an offence here in the UK or in Sweden at any time.

"Secondly, the basis under which my asylum was granted here is the ongoing US investigation into me and WikiLeaks.

"It is often falsely reported that women in Sweden have accused me of the serious crime of rape. That is false.

"This is the situation which is being seized upon, at the time of the conflict between me and the US, the Swedish government resurrected a matter that had been previously dropped."

Ecuador Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino called for an end to the situation

Mr Patino said: "There has been two years of great uncertainty and a lack of legal protection. This situation must come to an end. Two years is simply too long.

"It is time to free Julian Assange."

He added that he would seek to meet with the British Foreign Secretary in the next few weeks to discuss resolving the situation.

Kristinn Hrafnsson, WikiLeaks spokesman, said: "The plan, as always, is to leave as soon as the UK Government decides to honour its obligations in relation to international agreements."

Mr Assange requested asylum in June 2012 and has been under continued surveillance with police stationed outside the embassy since.

He faces an arrest warrant in Sweden over allegations he sexually assaulted two women and would be arrested if he left the embassy building.

Mr Assange has been investigated by US authorities since WikiLeaks published leaked military and diplomatic documents in 2010 and has said he fears being extradited to the US to face questioning if he goes to Sweden.

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US Launches Airstrikes To Help Retake Iraq Dam

'Corpses Everywhere' After Jihadist 'Massacre'

Updated: 12:54pm UK, Saturday 16 August 2014

Dead bodies were found "everywhere" when Yazidi fighters arrived at a village where jihadists have been accused of carrying out a massacre, witnesses have said.

Officials believe Islamic State (IS) fighters killed around 80 people, mostly Yazidis, after arriving in the northern Iraq village of Kocho and demanding they abandon their beliefs and convert to Islam.

The militants also kidnapped women from the village in Nineveh province and took them to prisons they control, according to a senior Kurdish official.

Yazidi fighter Mohsen Tawwal told AFP by telephone that he saw a large number of bodies in the village.

"We made it into a part of Kocho village, where residents were under siege, but we were too late," he said.

"There were corpses everywhere. We only managed to get two people out alive. The rest had all been killed."

A man from a neighbouring village, who had been told what happened, added: "The Islamic State had spent five days trying to persuade villagers to convert to Islam and ... a long lecture was delivered about the subject today."

"The men were gathered and shot dead.

"The women and girls were probably taken to Tal Afar because that is where the foreign fighters are."

Senior Iraqi official Hoshyar Zebari said: "We have information from multiple sources, in the region and through intelligence, that (on Friday) afternoon, a convoy of (IS) armed men entered this village. 

"They took their revenge on its inhabitants, who happened to be mostly Yazidis who did not flee their homes.

"They committed a massacre against the people. Around 80 of them have been killed."

Thousands of Yazidis - people from a minority sect with an ancient religion - have been forced to flee their homes by the IS advance.

The extremist group, previously called ISIS, has swept across a large part of northern and central Iraq, taking Mosul and threatening Baghdad and Kurdish capital Irbil.

On Saturday, airstrikes targeted the group around Mosul Dam. It was not immediately clear if they were carried out by the Iraqi air force of the US. 

The IS seized Iraq's largest dam on August 7.

Iraq's human rights minister has said that Islamic State militants have killed at least 500 members of the Yazidi community during their offensive in the north.

Some of the victims, including women and children, were buried alive, Mohammed Shia al Sudani said.

The United Nations Security Council on Friday blacklisted six Islamist militants and threatened sanctions against anyone who helped arm or supply them.

Five members of the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, which operates in Syria, and Islamic State spokesman Abu Muhammad al Adnani were included on the British-drafted resolution, which also condemned all aspects of IS's activities and beliefs.

Earlier, EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels agreed to arm Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq.

The meeting of foreign ministers from the 28 EU nations was called by EU foreign policy chief Baroness Ashton and came after several European countries, including France and Germany, said they were prepared to supply weapons to the Peshmerga forces.

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PM Warns Of Terror State On Europe's Doorstep

'Poisonous Extremism' Warning

Updated: 10:57pm UK, Saturday 16 August 2014

By David Cameron, Letter In The Sunday Telegraph

Stability. Security. The peace of mind that comes from being able to get a decent job and provide for your family, in a country that you feel has a good future ahead of it and that treats people fairly.

In a nutshell, that is what people in Britain want - and what the Government I lead is dedicated to building.

Britain - our economy, our security, our future - must come first.

After a deep and damaging recession, and our involvement in long and difficult conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is hardly surprising that so many people say to me when seeing the tragedies unfolding on their television screens: "Yes, let's help with aid, but let's not get any more involved."

I agree that we should avoid sending armies to fight or occupy.

But we need to recognise that the brighter future we long for requires a long-term plan for our security as well as for our economy.

True security will only be achieved if we use all our resources - aid, diplomacy, our military prowess - to help bring about a more stable world.

Today, when every nation is so immediately interconnected, we cannot turn a blind eye and assume that there will not be a cost for us if we do.

The creation of an extremist caliphate in the heart of Iraq and extending into Syria is not a problem miles away from home.

Nor is it a problem that should be defined by a war 10 years ago. It is our concern here and now.

Because if we do not act to stem the onslaught of this exceptionally dangerous terrorist movement, it will only grow stronger until it can target us on the streets of Britain.

We already know that it has the murderous intent. Indeed, the first Isis-inspired terrorist acts on the continent of Europe have already taken place.

Our first priority has of course been to deal with the acute humanitarian crisis in Iraq.

We should be proud of the role that our brave armed services and aid workers have played in the international effort.

British citizens have risked their lives to get 80 tons of vital supplies to the Yazidis trapped on Mount Sinjar.

It is right that we use our aid programme to respond rapidly to a situation like this: Britain has given £13 million to support the aid effort.

We also helped to plan a detailed international rescue operation and we remain ready and flexible to respond to the ongoing challenges in or around Dahuk, where more than 450,000 people have increased the population by 50 per cent.

But a humanitarian response alone is not enough. We also need a broader political, diplomatic and security response.

For that, we must understand the true nature of the threat we face.

We should be clear: this is not the "War on Terror", nor is it a war of religions. It is a struggle for decency, tolerance and moderation in our modern world.

It is a battle against a poisonous ideology that is condemned by all faiths and by all faith leaders, whether Christian, Jewish or Muslim.

Of course there is conflict between Shias and Sunnis, but that is the wrong way to see what is really happening.

What we are witnessing is actually a battle between Islam on the one hand and extremists who want to abuse Islam on the other.

These extremists, often funded by fanatics living far away from the battlefields, pervert the Islamic faith as a way of justifying their warped and barbaric ideology - and they do so not just in Iraq and Syria but right across the world, from Boko Haram and al-Shabaab to the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

So this threat cannot simply be removed by airstrikes alone. We need a tough, intelligent and patient long-term approach that can defeat the terrorist threat at source.

First, we need a firm security response, whether that is military action to go after the terrorists, international co-operation on intelligence and counter-terrorism or uncompromising action against terrorists at home.

On Friday we agreed with our European partners that we will provide equipment directly to the Kurdish forces; we are now identifying what we might supply, from body armour to specialist counter-explosive equipment.

We have also secured a United Nations Security Council resolution to disrupt the flows of finance to Isis, sanction those who are seeking to recruit for it and encourage countries to do all they can to prevent foreign fighters joining the extremist cause.

Here in Britain we have recently introduced stronger powers through our Immigration Act to deprive naturalised Britons of their citizenship if they are suspected of being involved in terrorist activities.

We have taken down 28,000 pieces of terrorist-related material from the web, including 46 Isis-related videos.

And I have also discussed the police response to this growing threat of extremism with the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe.

The position is clear. If people are walking around with Isis flags or trying to recruit people to their terrorist cause, they will be arrested and their materials will be seized.

We are a tolerant people, but no tolerance should allow the room for this sort of poisonous extremism in our country.

Alongside a tough security response, there must also be an intelligent political response. We know that terrorist organisations thrive where there is political instability and weak or dysfunctional political institutions.

So we must support the building blocks of democracy - the rule of law, the independence of the judiciary, the rights of minorities, free media and association and a proper place in society for the army.

None of these things can be imposed by the West. Every country must make its own way. But we can and must play a valuable role in supporting them to do that.

Isis militants have exploited the absence of a unified and representative government in Baghdad. So we strongly welcome the opportunity of a new start with Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Haider al-Abadi.

I spoke to him earlier this week and assured him that we will support any attempts to forge a genuinely inclusive government that can unite all Iraqi communities - Sunnis, Shias and Kurds - against the common enemy of Isis, which threatens the way of life of them all.

The international community will rally around this new government. But Iraq's neighbours in the region are equally vital.

So we must work with countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the UAE, Egypt and Turkey against these extremist forces, and perhaps even with Iran, which could choose this moment to engage with the international community against this shared threat.

I want Britain to play a leading role in this diplomatic effort. So we will be appointing a Special Representative to the Kurdistan Regional Government and using the Nato summit in Wales and the United Nations General Assembly in New York to help rally support across the international community.

Finally, while being tough and intelligent, we must also be patient and resolute. We are in the middle of a generational struggle against a poisonous and extremist ideology, which I believe we will be fighting for the rest of my political lifetime.

We face in Isis a new threat that is single-minded, determined and unflinching in pursuit of its objectives.

Already it controls not just thousands of minds, but thousands of square miles of territory, sweeping aside much of the boundary between Iraq and Syria to carve out its so-called caliphate.

It makes no secret of its expansionist aims. Even today it has the ancient city of Aleppo firmly within its sights.

And it boasts of its designs on Jordan and Lebanon, and right up to the Turkish border. If it succeeds, we would be facing a terrorist state on the shores of the Mediterranean and bordering a Nato member.

This is a clear danger to Europe and to our security.

It is a daunting challenge. But it is not an invincible one, as long as we are now ready and able to summon up the political will to defend our own values and way of life with the same determination, courage and tenacity as we have faced danger before in our history.

That is how much is at stake here: we have no choice but to rise to the challenge.

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Russian Missile Launchers 'Cross Into Ukraine'

A convoy of Russian military equipment, including at least three missile launchers, has crossed into Ukraine, according to officials in Kiev, as a fighter jet was shot down by pro-Moscow rebels.

A Ukrainian military spokesman said at least three Grad missile systems were among the weapons being sent to the separatists in the east of the country, who are battling a Ukrainian government offensive.

Andriy Lysenko also told journalists that Russian drones had violated Ukrainian air space on 10 occasions.

The fighter jet MiG-29 plane was shot down in the Luhansk area, where Ukrainian forces recaptured a police station on Sunday after more than three months under the control of the separatists.

Russian vehicles with containers for BUK-M1 missiles in Rostov on Saturday

The pilot ejected from the MiG-29 plane and has been found after a search, spokesman Oleksiy Dmytrashkivsky said.

Mr Dmytrashkivsky said the plane was shot after launching an attack on rebels.

The shooting down of the plane came after Kiev and Moscow reached agreement on the passage of a Russian aid convoy into the east.

There are reports that 16 of the aid trucks left the parking lot in western Russia where the convoy has been waiting and headed for the Ukrainian border.

The plane was shot down in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine

Ukraine had been concerned the convoy of 280 white trucks could be a 'Trojan horse', allowing Russia to set up a permanent presence in rebel-held territory.

But Russia "guaranteed" the US that no military personnel were in the vehicles, which have been stuck near the border for the past few days.

Moscow says the trucks are carrying water, food and medicine for people displaced by fighting in eastern Ukraine.

Red Cross officials have been examining the contents of the lorries.

Several lorries from a Russian aid convoy are moving to the border

They say they need security guarantees from both sides before the convoy can start moving across the border.

Fighting in Ukraine has escalated since the insurgency arose in April, with government troops steadily taking back rebel-held territory in the east.

Luhansk is reportedly suffering from severe electrical outages and shortages of food and medicine.

Donetsk, the largest rebel-held city, is also suffering through frequent shelling.

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