The firebrand Muslim cleric eying Scottish island for new 'homeland'

Sheikh Yasser al-Habib, 45, and his supporters are in advanced talks to buy Torsa, off the west coast of Scotland, reports claimed.

The one-mile long island, which has not been inhabited for 85 years, sits in the Slate Isles and was marketed last year by Savills for £1.5m. The scholar wants to build a school, hospital and mosque on the island, where it intends to practise sharia law, it has been claimed.

The newspaper referred to reports on the cleric’s Fadak TV, which MPs have called to be shut down given its attacks on people of the Sunni faith.

Mr Al-Habib, who is originally from Kuwait but was granted asylum in Britain 20 years ago, claimed in one video, seen by the newspaper, that he will negotiate with the UK Government to secure visas to allow Muslims “from all over the world” to live in their new “homeland”.

Torsa has one farmhouse and a ruined castle and is accessible only by private boat from Luing – itself reached via a ferry from the island of Seil. Its name is of Norse origin, roughly translated as "Thor's Island".

The island has a resident population of otters, deer and seals to spot. Golden eagles and sea eagles can be seen in the skies, and whales, dolphins and porpoises in the sea.

Mr Al-Habib said on Fadak TV that Torsa, which comes with two little adjoining islets and is 20 miles south of Oban, is an 'irreplaceable opportunity'.

In one three-minute video, he says: 'If you want to live free under the banner of the imam [Shia leader], in a special homeland where you feel everything in it reminds you of the awaited mahdi, everything is the Shia homeland…support this project.'

In the same video, another man, who is filming from Torsa, says: 'Here, my brothers, God willing, we want to build a large mosque, a school and a hawza [Shia seminary]. We want this place to be a homeland to the Shias and the believers.”

The footage switches to images of Mr Al-Habib's 'army', called Al-Shurta Al-Khamis, training in the grounds of his mosque in Fulmer, Buckinghamshire.

Sarah Zaaimi, a deputy director for communications at the American think tank Atlantic Council, said it was "puzzling" that UK authorities had allowed Al-Habib to make bold claims about the island. She said: "They will have their own army, their own justice system, they will manage their own schools and hospitals, and people from around the world will be able to migrate to this homeland.

"It does challenge the notion of sovereignty. It's puzzling to me how the UK authorities are allowing such a discourse. You are fundraising for the creation of a sovereign country on the margins of another country."

Al-Habib, who spent nearly three months in jail in Kuwait for insulting the Sunni faith, leads the Mahdi [Messiah] Servants Union (MSU).

A spokeswoman for Savills said: “Scottish private islands rarely come to the market and as such attract high levels of interest. Torsa, surrounded by beautiful west coast scenery and sheltered sailing waters, continues to receive interest from all over the world and remains available.”