| Submit your comments on this article |
| Europe |
| Intelligence chiefs say al-Qaeda is active in Britain |
| 2002-12-19 |
| AL-QAEDA terrorists are living in the United Kingdom and operating in âclassicâ small cell structures, a senior Whitehall source said yesterday. The official said: âAn attack is not inevitable, but the probability is that sooner or later one of these groups, who are extremely determined, will get through. We can protect many obvious high-value targets but then, as we have seen in Bali, they can go for the very soft target.â The only movement on my surprise meter was when he said an attack wasn't inevitable... Speaking at the Cabinet Office at a rare briefing for senior members of the media, the official distinguished between what he called âthe small numberâ of al-Qaeda terrorists who all âknew each otherâ and the larger group of sympathisers who shared the same ideology. âWeâre not talking about hundreds of trained Mujahidin, and those who are giving support to the small number of al-Qaeda in this country may not even know that they are engaging in terrorism when they are asked to provide a safe house or a car,â the official said. He thinks very wishfully, doesn't he? His up-to-date analysis of the threat that Britain is facing from international terrorism came as seven men of North African origin were arrested yesterday in London and Edinburgh. They were being interviewed under the Terrorism Act in Glasgow. He's probably this placid about the whole thing because they've got al-Muhajiroun and the Finsbury Mosque wired so many different ways. Sure hope they're not missing anything... |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |