THE man in charge of tackling terrorism in the north west believes the whole community must understand why radicalisation occurs if Britain is to win the war on terror.

Det Chief Supt Tony Porter, head of Greater Manchester's Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU), will see his department grow dramatically over the next two years as 400 new specialist staff are taken on.

He said his unit - the first of its kind to be set up outside London - will be 'very aggressive' in stopping 'violent extremists', but it needs the assistance of the general public to ensure success.

"We have recognised that the Muslim community generally do not know who the terrorists hiding among them are, because those terrorists are acting under the blanket coverage of a law-abiding community," Mr Porter, 44, said.

"We are still trying to understand the radicalisation process. We have seen people who are well-educated and in good employment go through the process where they are turning towards extremism. My view is that it is a phenomenon that society has to understand and not simply police officers in the counter-terrorist world.

"The director general of MI5 said three months ago that we were under severe threat and there were 1,600 extremists and 200 networks.

"I do not want to go into figures, but there is a proportion here, just as there will be in any large metropolitan area made up of diverse communities."

Former GMP Special Branch chief Mr Porter said the nature of the work of the CTU inevitably means it is not often in the public eye for obvious reasons.

But the unit has had a number of successes, not least where people have been arrested and put through the courts. Mr Porter said: "The CTU here at GMP and throughout the country are very aggressive in their methods to try to identify people we know are becoming violent extremists or have tendencies in that direction.

"Public safety is our No 1 number one priority and it is right and proper that we put a lot of effort into making sure those people who exhibit those tendencies are stopped effectively."

He said the unit used the latest forensic and technological equipment and liaised with security services in this country as well as authorities in Africa, the Middle East, Europe and China.

But he said officers had not lost sight of the need to ensure law-abiding communities where some of the extremists are hiding do not feel persecuted.

He said: "Four years ago there were calls of Islamophobia against the police, but in more recent times there have been more charges and convictions of those arrested, which points to more focused policing and a greater understanding of the threat.

"Most people are decent and law-abiding and very few have the extremist tendencies of those we are interested in. The more we can deal with them by arrest or charge or by covert means, the more reassurance and confidence we can give the public."

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