LONDON - Prime Minister David Cameron said British Muslims should stop extremist ideologies taking root in their communities if they want to stem the flow of radicalised Islamists travelling to fight in Syria and Iraq.

Muslims who "quietly condone" prejudices either online or in their community give credence to the recruiters, encouraging young people to become fighters and suicide bombers, Mr Cameron told a security conference in Bratislava, Slovakia, yesterday.

"There are people who hold some of these views who don't go as far as advocating violence, but do buy into some of these prejudices, giving the extreme Islamist narrative weight and telling fellow Muslims 'you are part of this'," Mr Cameron said, according to extracts of the speech released by his office.

"This paves the way for young people to turn simmering prejudice into murderous intent."

Muslims who subscribe to any part of the ideology that identifies the West as "bad", denounces democracy, says women are inferior and homosexuality is evil and teaches that ideology is superior to the state, while advocating violence to enforce those beliefs, are contributing to a background of support for extremism, the premier said.

BLOOMBERG