ISLAMIC radicals from a supposedly disbanded organisation clashed violently with mosque elders while trying to recruit teenage worshippers to extremist training camps.

Fights broke out as angry parents prevented agitators from entering the Islamic Centre in Redhill, Surrey, during an hour-long confrontation. They say extremists are now operating covertly by following people to their homes.

Moderate Muslims claim the radicals are or were members of al-Muhajiroun, which has targeted other Home Counties towns. The organisation, headed by Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed, is supposed to have disbanded but has been succeeded by a group called the Saviour Sect. Tony Blair announced last week that he intended to ban al-Muhajiroun from Britain.

The Times discovered last year that physical training camps for young Muslims had been set up in Crawley, 25 miles away. Al-Muhajiroun leaders recruited teenagers in the West Sussex town to their cause and taught them how to fight and keep fit.

Now elders in Redhill claim that the same people seen in Crawley have been approaching Muslim males aged between 16 and 20, and trying to pressure them into enlisting at similar training camps.

Worshippers say the extremists’ leader is from Tooting while others are believed to come from Croydon and Brixton, all in South London.

They started visiting the Redhill Islamic Centre three months ago, singling out youths, following them home and trying to convince them to attend seminars, youth groups and camps.

Two radicals began attending the mosque but within a month there were about 15, who tried to speak to worshippers after prayers. Elders and parents blocked their entrance, sparking a confrontation.

Qamar Bhatti, a spokesman for the mosque and member of the Muslim Council of Reigate and Banstead, said: “We were aware that this is how extremist groups were recruiting people to go to Afghanistan.

“They would talk about how they were organised. Then they started to follow people and asked to talk to them. This was disturbing. People started coming to me and saying that people who were not from the area were visiting them at home.

“These visitors would say to them, ‘your priest doesn’t pray right, we do it differently; we have Koran classes; British society undermines our faith’, just starting to chip away at people.

“Some youngsters got involved in all this because they were impressionable. Many parents worry because the parents of those involved in the bombings didn’t know their children belonged to extremist groups.

“These people started talking about seminars, which they later called training camps. We’d already heard about this from friends in Crawley.” The extremists became aggressive with the imam; concerned worshippers called a meeting and decided to ban the extremists.

“The parents decided enough was enough. What they (the extremists) didn’t bargain for is that we have a strong parent body,” Mr Bhatti, 40, said.

“We said we didn’t want any problems and that we were not going to let them come in. They accused us of being unIslamic, and it got fairly nasty. One pushed past us to the door but we brought him back. They wanted an altercation.

“They had a meeting in the street and left. We have not seen them since, but we are aware that they are still operating in Redhill." Mr Bhatti said his community did not believe that alMuhajiroun had disbanded. “Young people here were told that they are still holding seminars and camps,” he said.

Shahbaz Manzoor, 17, from Horley, was approached by the extremists in Redhill. He said: “I went to the back of the mosque to finish my prayers and one of these guys started chatting to me.

“He asked my name, if I lived locally. He said he’d come down from Tooting to get the message of Islam across.

“I said, ‘Surely you’ve come to the wrong place, coming to a mosque.’ He asked how old I was, and when I told him, he said, ‘You’re young, you’re still learning about Islam,’ but I told him I’d learnt nearly all of the Koran by heart.

“He then said he didn’t like any of the non-believers, like Christians, and that they needed to be brought to the right path. I tried to get away but he followed me into a different room. He invited me to join some camp in the Tooting area, where they teach you about Islam. I wasn’t interested.”

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Science News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• An officer and a gentle woman
• Dame Helen Mirren is worthy of the Epidaurus
• Foods that can help to prevent swine flu