The 'terra threat', made in the UK
Senior security officials say the high number of "returnees" - five times the figure that has been previously reported - underlines the growing danger posed by "extremist tourists" going to the war-torn region.
MI5 and police have already thwarted one serious plot last autumn by a cell of "returnee" jihadis who were allegedly preparing a Mumbai-style gun attack on civilians, probably in a crowded public place in London.
The security services are closely monitoring the 250 returnees, who include several veteran hardliners who have fought in Afghanistan or Pakistan. They are suspected of wanting to carry out attacks here or of inciting others to do so.
Comment: So get this; with all of the draconian airport security and wiretapping and spying and names on no fly lists, the back room boys in British intelligence are somehow unable to do anything about British "al-qaeda" 'jihadis' flying out of the UK to Syria and then back again! Yes indeed, now, that these alleged 250 Islamic terrorists are safely ensconced back home in the UK, British intelligence are forced to sit around and wait to see what they do, powerless to take any action. Believable? No, Horse Shit!
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Ministers have been told that over the past two years more than 400 British-based extremists have gone to Syria. Around 20 Britons have since been killed in the fighting, leaving more than 100 who are thought to be still in Syria.
A senior Whitehall security official told The Sunday Times: "Well over half of those who travelled out have come back." All those who have returned have spent time in terror camps. Many have experience of combat. Some are thought to be ready or willing to act.
Among the estimated 20 Britons who have died was Abdul Waheed Majeed, 41, from Crawley, West Sussex. The first British suicide bomber said to have lost his life in the conflict, Majeed is said to have driven a lorry into a jail in Aleppo and detonated a bomb, allowing scores of rebel prisoners to escape.
Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the Metropolitan police commissioner, last week added his voice to those expressing fears about the threat posed by returning British jihadis.
"There are a few hundred people going out there. They may be injured or killed, but our biggest worry is when they return they are radicalised, they may be militarised, they may have a network of people that train them to use weapons," he said.
Whitehall officials stressed that while the number of those returning was alarming, not all would be a threat. "This doesn't mean that all the individuals who have come back are planning attacks. Many will have returned and want nothing more to do with it. Others may be arranging training or simply moving money," one said.
Most of the 400 who have travelled to Syria have been based in terrorist camps in northern Syria, some within 40 miles of the poorly guarded border with Turkey.
There they train with hundreds of other European volunteers including many from France, Germany and Holland. The camps, run by extremist affiliates of al-Qaeda, give them access to weapons and training.
The threat to Britain is not, however, just from those returning. Some British fighters are staying in the Syrian camps and advising associates from other European countries on the "operating environment" in Britain. This includes teaching them about targets and tactics used by the authorities to thwart them.
Some Britons are repeat visitors, going for as little as two weeks before returning. About a third of the estimated 400 have travelled out by direct flight to Istanbul.
Cheap flights are available through, among others, easyJet. The men find their way to the border where fixers take them into Syria. Others take more circuitous routes through the Middle East. At least four large "humanitarian" convoys each containing dozens of vehicles have left Britain for Syria since the conflict escalated. Handfuls of extremists are also believed to have travelled with them.
The convoys have included flatbed trucks and ambulances. These can be used by humanitarian groups and by rebel fighters alike.
The Charity Commission said it was monitoring nine Islamic groups that have been collecting money for Syrian aid or are otherwise involved providing relief. Tens of thousands of pounds has already been seized from relief vehicles travelling from the UK to Syria.
So does this mean I can go liberate the Gaza strip, return it to its proper owners and not face charges when I return home? Frikkin A!!!