London: YouTube has been called on to block thousands of videos by Yemen-based preacher Anwar al-Awlaki, one of the world's most wanted terrorists, which allow him to preach directly, in English, to potential new recruits.
The head of MI5 in a speech last week warned that al-Awlaki was encouraging his followers to act "alone and with little formal training."
Awlaki lived in Britain for two years and built up a substantial following that included the July 7, July 21 and trans-Atlantic airlines bombers.
According to The Telegraph, since moving to Yemen he has gained steadily in popularity through his skillful use of the Internet.
A government document earlier this year revealed that he had 1,910 videos on the site and one video had been viewed 1,64,420 times but a search on Sunday showed the number of videos has now grown to more than 5,000.
Among his most popular titles are 'Constants on the Path to Jihad' and '44 Ways to Support Jihad.' Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens, a researcher at the prestigious International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at King's College, London, said, "The internet has become one of the prime incubators of radicalisation."
"[Awlaki's] Youtube following has grown considerably as he has gained notoriety, and Youtube must now begin to consider implementing robust measures which would prevent users from accessing his work so readily, " he added.
The Home Office said they would work with international partners to quickly tackle the problem
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