Two men held on suspicion of supporting a banned organisation 'after pro-Islamic State flyers handed out in London's Oxford Street'

• Metropolitan Police arrested men aged 37 and 61 in Luton, Bedfordshire
• They are accused of supporting one of 63 banned terrorist organisations
• UK's banned groups include ISIS, Al Qaeda, Al Shabaab and Boko Haram
• According to one report, arrests follow storm over leaflets in August 

Two men have been arrested by counter-terror police today on suspicion of supporting a banned organisation.

According to one report, the arrests followed a storm earlier this year over extremists handing out leaflets in London’s Oxford Street which urged Britons to join a new 'Islamic State'.

Officers from the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command arrested the men, aged 37 and 61, this morning in Luton, Bedfordshire.

They were taken to a nearby police station where they were due to be questioned under Schedule 5 of the Terrorism Act 2000, a Scotland Yard spokesman said.

There are 63 international terrorist organisations proscribed under the Terrorism Act 2000 including Islamic State (also known as ISIS), Al Qaeda, Al Shabaab, Al Muhajiroun and Boko Haram.

Although the vast majority are radical Islamist groups, the Act also proscribes Northern Ireland related groups such as the Irish Republican Army and Ulster Freedom Fighters.

According to the Telegraph's security editor Tom Whitehead, today's arrests came after a storm which surrounded leaflets which were handed out in London's busiest shopping street.

There was an outcry in August after the leaflets, which were photographed and appeared on Twitter, heralded the 'dawn of a new era' in a newly-created 'Islamic State'.

Declaring 'The Khilafah has been re-established', one leaflet claimed 'the Khilafah (Islamic State)' had been destroyed in 1924.

It added: 'After many attempts and great sacrifices... the Muslims with the help of Allah have announced the re-establishment of the Khilafah.'

The leaflet also called on Muslims to 'migrate and resettle' to the supposed state, 'obey' its leaders and 'expose lies and fabrications' about it, though did not state explicitly where it was. 

Commons Home Affairs Committee chairman Keith Vaz said at the time he would ask the Metropolitan Police to investigate, adding:

 'The public should not be subjected to a terrorist recruitment drive in the middle of Europe’s biggest shopping high street.'

Ghaffar Hussain, managing director of the anti-extremism foundation Quilliam, said at the time: 'This is a very disturbing development but one that should not come as a surprise since we are aware that around 500 British nationals have joined up with ISIS already.'

However, there was a debate over whether the leaflets broke the law, because the one pictured did not appear to reference any banned groups directly. 

A Metropolitan Police spokesman declined to confirm or deny the Telegraph's report