America's fight against terrorism has been staunchly supported by Britain which has suffered its own terrorist attacks and still struggles with a home-grown terror network. Dateline's Evan Williams has been filming in some of the Muslim neighbourhoods there and found no sign the extremists there backing down.

REPORTER:  Evan Williams - London

London under attack - at least six bomb blasts rock the British capital.

VOICE OVER, JULY 2005:   I can see in front of me a red double decker bus, the front half of which has been totally blown away.

MAN: I heard a very loud bang. The lights went out and the carriage filled with smoke.

In central London a memorial marks the place where dozens died at the hands of Al-Qaeda. The British and US flags symbolizing unity of purpose in fighting Islamist terror. Today, a small note celebrates the killing of Osama bin Laden but the risk of attack is a real as ever.

This is Tavistock Square in central London, it was here that a bus was attacked in July 2005 as part of the 7/7 bombings in which 56 were killed including four suicide bombers. The killing of Osama bin Laden may well have taken the leader of Al Qaeda but here in Britain the risk of home grown jihadis launching further attacks in the future is still a very real possibility.

East London is home to tens of thousands of Muslims, many live in deprived areas. I have come to Whitechapel, which is very much the heart of London's very multicultural east because this is also home to one of Britain's most radical Islamist groups. I'm here to find out what they think about the death of Osama.

These are members of a group called the Muslims Against Crusades, or the MAC, an organisation closely watched by the British Government. I meet them on the street as they walk to their headquarters.  Inside, the group gathers to discuss the death of a man they call a great leader - Osama bin Laden - Assadullah is one of the group's organisers.

ASSADULLAH, MAC LEADER:  Sheik Osama bin Laden today, he represents maybe a symbolic kind of figurehead today, but there are many soldiers out there.

The group says they do not support terrorist attacks in Britain but they can understand those who might want to.

ASSADULLAH:  Unfortunately the West have become deaf, dumb and blind from their own atrocities, from their own criminal acts. So sometimes the bully needs a bloody nose to wake up to the reality of what they are living.

Abu Ubaidah warns the death of Bin Laden is not the end of Islamist terror.

ABU UBAIDAH:  He's a man who opposed the tyrants and the oppressors when we could see that so many of the so called 'scholars' were silent. He's been killed. Now it's up to us to take revenge.

Abu Jandal believes Bin Laden was just one in a long line of Islamist heroes.

ABU JANDAL:  He was somebody who understood in our current time the burning issue was the occupation of Muslim land. After his death it doesn't mean now it will stop, rather there will be many people like him who will come after him. Allah will bring more people to complete this obligation and it will not stop because of an individual.

ASSADULLAH:  As long as the British are involved in the occupation of Muslim lands, as long as they are involved in supporting doctorial regimes then there will always be a threat of attacks in this country.

A senior member of 'Muslims Against Crusades' soon joins us.

SENIOR MEMBER OF MAC:  Definitely there's going to be a race on. I think many people are going to be inspired by his life. I think the amount of media attention that's going to happen from today onwards towards what he stood for and his life and his sacrifice, I think it's going to be something very inspirational, in particular for the Muslim youth around the world. He has become a very iconic figure. I think many mothers are dying to have sons like Sheik Osama.

While Bin Laden was their main inspiration, much of their local guidance, comes from another man. Anjem Choudary calls himself an occasional speaker for the Muslims Against Crusades.

Anjem CHOUDARY, MAC:  Sheikh Osama bin Laden obviously was the emir of the jihad worldwide. He was someone respected by all the Muslims worldwide who are practicing and he left behind a legacy where the phenomenon of Al-Qaeda, in other words the phenomenon of jihad, and working and struggling to liberate the land and to defend life and property is now spread all around the world.

Add to that the fact that Jihad is franchised. Sheiks are saying, you don't need to come to Muslim countries, you can do the operation wherever you are, build a bomb in your own kitchen. So in light of this I think there's a very high likelihood of some type of retaliation. I think that the Muslim community has many grievances in Britain, and I think the British Government is sitting on a box of dynamite and they have the matches in the hand and they are being very flippant.

Terror expert Houriyah Ahmed co-wrote a major study on UK-based extremism. She says the MACshould not be taken lightly.

HOURIYAH AHMED, CENTRE FOR SOCIAL COHESION:  They are a small group and a lot of them are, if I can use a colloquial phrase, a lot of them are jokers really. But what we have seen are individuals who have been linked to them either by membership or whatever else. They have been convicted of Islamist related crimes in the UK. We also found that some of them have gone and travelled abroad to either train or fight so-called 'jihad' so they do pose a threat in that sense, and now they have a new name 'Muslims Against Crusade' but it's essentially the same people. The message that they purport is a very violent Islamist ideology.

One fifth of Luton's 200,000 people are Muslim. It is also now know for its extremism. Farasat Latif is secretary of the Luton Islamic Centre and Mosque.

FARASAT LATIF, SECRETARY OF LUTON MOSQUE:  Extremism in Luton with a population of 250,000 people of whom 50,000 are Muslim, concentrated in a very small area, with a very high young population, high unemployment, high deprivation. This is one of the most deprived areas of the country - the top 3% in the country and it's considered to be a hotbed of extremism.

He says he is engaged in a battle against Muslim extremists trying to recruit new members here.

FARASAT LATIF:  There is a small group of hard core extremists, about 15-20, with a following of about 50 young men who are promoting a number of beliefs. One is pronouncing other Muslims, the Muslim governments, anyone who works for the Muslim Governments, police officers, civil servants, judges, all of them to be disbelievers and by default it's permissible to kill them in the process of overthrowing them and to establish an Islamist state. That will declare global Jihad, liberate Palestine, basically bring down America, the West, Russia, the whole lot really. That's the kind of call they are giving so we explain it to them that this is not correct.

Faresat took me to the Islamic Centre that he says is the front line against extremists.

FARASAT LATIF:  This is the Islamic Centre.

His opinion of Bin Laden is the opposite of Muslims Against Crusades.

FARASAT LATIF:  Killing a man doesn't kill his ideas. His ideas are still around. There are people who still promote those ideas. Killing him is not going to change that. What is going to change that is challenging those ideas, and that's happening in this country with our mosque and other mosques. It's happening in Muslim countries by scholars. It's happening all over the Muslim world basically, and that's the fight.

Back in central London, Quilliam has been set up by former Islamists to counter extremist thought, Ghaffar Hussein is the outreach officer.

GHAFFER HUSSEIN, OUTREACH OFFICER:   In some countries it's getting weaker and in some countries it's growing. So if you look at Egypt, Algeria, even Saudi Arabia, you know traditional hotspots, right now it's quite unfashionable to be a jihadist in those countries. If you look at Somalia, parts of Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, even parts of Bangladesh, even parts of the Maldives, parts of south-east Asia it is actually growing - Indonesia in particular is growing and it's growing in Malaysia.

The Muslims Against Crusades have gathered to mark the death of Osama bin Laden.

AJEM CHOUDRY:  The biggest criminal in the world today is Barack Obama and his henchmen.

MAC leader Ajem Choudry rallies the faithful.

CROWD:  USA you will pay.

AJEM CHOUDRY:  We want justice from the Americans.

It may be a small crowd but analysts warn this group's fiery rhetoric has led to extremist action among some.

HOURIYAH AHMED:  It's very unpredictable what Bin Laden's death can create in the long term for Al-Qaeda. Will it be the death of Al-Qaeda or will it make it grow stronger in terms of recruiting and support? We don't know. We can't say for sure. All this is very new. However, what we do know is that long before Osama bin Laden died he became an inspiration for other groups and individuals for them to conduct terrorist operations and want to commit attacks. So in that sense his death in the immediate future will not necessarily change the threat that we have at the moment because we still have these pockets of little Al-Qaedas, or pockets of Al Qaeda individuals operating who still want to harm the West or Western interests.

With a heavy police presence and monitoring, the march moved off, heading for the US embassy. Many of these themes are familiar but Houriyah warns there is a new jihadist front that is a major concern for the West.

HOURIYAH AHMED: The problem with Somalia, what we have found is that there have been a number of individuals within Europe and America of perhaps Somali background who have gone back to fight with the terrorist group there called Al-Shabab, or train with them. Now these individuals, the security service here have said they could pose a potential security risk to the UK should they come back.

Not everyone welcomes their right to protest in the name of Osama.

REPORTER:  What's your opinion?

MAN:  All those innocent people are killed because of these f**kers. 

A few blocks from the embassy the march is attacked.

MAN:  A bunch of English Defense League guys from the side. Looks like two or three have been hit - two or three arrested seem to have attacked the march. They attacked some of the brothers, yes they did.

As they approach the embassy tension rises further. Anti-Muslim protestors the English Defence League are waiting.

MAN:  It's unbelievable. They can march through the streets when Bin Laden killed so many and I am arrested! A disgrace!

This is the small group of Muslims with their prayer for Bin Laden. There's a large number of police here just outside the American Embassy. And as you can see, just over here is the English Defense League.  A group who are opposed to the Muslim's being allowed to protest. They're being kept apart by two very strong lines of police. 

Osama's death may have weakened Al-Qaeda for now but here at least it has also fuelled the resolve of a minority who warn it will only lead to more attacks.

Reporter

EVAN WILLIAMS

Producer

ASHLEY SMITH

Researcher/Camera

EVE LUCAS

Editor

NICK O'BRIEN

Original Music composed by 
VICKI HANSEN