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| Britain |
| Scotland arrests 3 for terrorist activities |
| 2005-10-23 |
| POLICE in London have arrested three men on suspicion of being involved in terrorist activities as Scots were warned that they are not immune from al-Qaeda attacks. Scotland Yard said the three men, in their early 20s, who were not identified, were detained on suspicion of "the commission, preparation or instigation" of terrorist acts. Police said the arrests were not linked to the July bomb attacks on London, which killed 52 people and four suicide bombers. Two men were arrested on Friday at homes in west London and Chatham, south of the capital, while the third man reported voluntarily to police. Detectives were searching the two homes and a third property, also in west London. The move came as leading security experts warned Scots to be on the alert against Islamist extremists. Jim Brooks, a vice-president of London-based security consultants Control Risks Group, warned that Edinburgh and Glasgow possessed the kind of internationally famous targets that would attract terrorist attention. Brooks, who served with the US Navy Seals special forces, was in Scotland to address business executives. "Terrorists will move out of areas such as London to mount attacks in places they hope will be easier," he said. Professor Paul Wilkinson, director of the centre for the study of terrorism and political violence at St Andrews University, backed the warning, saying: "For al-Qaeda, any area where they can attack people they regard as infidels is an appropriate target. Also they are ruthless in targeting civilians and going where no-one would expect." It emerged last night that Britain's counter-terrorism strategy is failing, according to a leaked assessment prepared for Prime Minister Tony Blair. Key policies aimed at preventing al-Qaeda attacks and rooting out terrorists are "immature" and "disjointed", the Prime Minister's delivery unit has concluded. Others have been deemed unrelated to the "real world." The paper formed the backbone of a presentation to Downing Street insiders. The document says that the anti-terror policy is mired in confusion, with "little effective co-ordination" and no clear leadership. The is "little confidence" in the ability of the security apparatus to tackle the problem and "it is very difficult to demonstrate that progress has been made", it adds. The unit has proposed appointing a new minister inside the Cabinet Office with responsibility for counter- terrorism. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |