Choudray: "One day the black flag of Islam will be flying over Downing Street"

A growing band of MPs fear the country's long-standing commitment to democracy and free speech has made it the number one choice as a refuge for exiled extremists.

That could change now that the anti-terrorist legislation planned in the wake of the Omagh bombing will apply also to any group, not just those in Northern Ireland.

Violent groups such as the GIA, which aims to establish Islamic rule in Algeria, and the Egyptian Jihad group are known to have supporters in London.

The controversy dates back to the 1980s, but the issue has come to a head again following the dual bombings against US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which are thought to be the work of Islamic extremists.

Apologist for Africa bombs: Omar Bakri Mohamed

The terrorist acts, in which more than 200 people were killed, were welcomed by at least one militant group, al-Muhajiroun.

Speaking on BBC Radio, Omar Bakri Mohamed, who heads the London-based organisation, vented his anger at America for its retaliatory air strikes against suspected terrorist targets in Afghanistan and Sudan.

"It was the action of gangsters," said Mr Mohamed. His group has been linked to Osama bin Laden, the man blamed for the embassy bombings.

While he regretted the civilian casualties in the Africa bombings, Mr Mohamed said the attacks were justified.

Moderates angered

The comments of fellow al-Muhajiroun organiser, Anjem Choudray, are just as likely to enrage Britain's political moderates.

"One day the black flag of Islam will be flying over Downing Street," said Mr Choudray.

It is those sort of views, and fears that militant groups are fundraising in the UK to sponsor terrorism abroad, that have inflamed many Britons.

Some MPs have said that many of the extremists are asylum seekers and are abusing their hospitality.

Conservative MP Gerald Howarth: "They are abusing British hospitality"

Tory Home Affairs Spokesman James Clappison has written to the Home Secretary, Jack Straw, demanding assurances that the government be vigilant of the activities of extremist groups.

"Supporters of bin Laden based in the UK are a threat to our national security and as bin Laden has already urged retaliation, are a threat to the lives of British citizens," Mr Clappison wrote in the letter.

He backed the government's planned consultation paper, due for publication in the autumn, which aims to outlaw foreign terror groups from organising or raising funds in Britain.

"No place here"

The Labour Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman, Donald Anderson, said he supported the deportation of "fanatic" leaders.

"Those individuals who by their statement or actions clearly support international terrorism have no place here," Mr Anderson told BBC News Online.

"I fully accept the liberal asylum conditions in this country and the rule of law which says that any individuals targeted for deportation must know the facts and have a judicial hearing, but this puts them beyond our hospitality."

Pressure has also come from outside the UK. France, which has been a target of Islamic terrorists, is thought to disapprove of Britain's tolerant approach.

The US President Bill Clinton made a veiled reference to Britain when he spoke about closing down the financial networks of multi-millionaire bin Laden.

Galloway: "Britain is supporting anti-Saddam Hussein terrorists in London"

But Labour MP George Galloway, who has campaigned for the lifting of sanctions on Iraq, says radicals such as Omar Bakri Mohamed do "more harm than good to the cause of Islam".

""He is supported by a very tiny number of people," says Mr Galloway.

"If he breaks the law he should be dealt with severely [but] they are very careful these people. They only talk about revolutions abroad, they do not get in any criminal activity.

"One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter," he said.