London, Nov 23 (IANS) British police have charged four men, including a father-son duo, with attempting to wage "violent jihad" after arresting them in northern England.

The men, who are to be produced in court Monday, also include a white Briton who is a family friend of a member of the British rock band Happy Mondays.

Three were charged with assisting others to take part in violent jihad while a fourth was charged with planning to take part in terrorist activity himself.

The men - all from the Manchester area - were named as Israr Malik, father and son duo Munir and Haris Farooqi, and Matthew Newton, who was reported to have converted to Islam two years ago.

All four were arrested in a dawn raid a fortnight ago.

The Sun reported that Newton previously ran a clothing business with the son of the former Celebrity Big Brother winner Bez of the Happy Mondays band.

Bez's son Arlo told The Sun: "It's shocking for me and my dad. I've known him for two or three years. He got on with my dad and with everyone."

It said the four were held over an alleged plot to recruit Britons for Taliban training camps in Afghanistan.

Officers from the North West Counter Terrorism Unit detained the men in what was described as a 'low key operation' following a 15-month investigation into alleged terrorist activity overseas.

Italian police arrested a Pakistani father-and-son duo at the weekend in connection with the Mumbai 26/11 attacks.