Al-Qaeda-linked extremists are planning attacks intended to cause mass casualties in the UK, a top British intelligence report has warned.
The report, which has been prepared by the intelligence branch of the British Ministry of Defence, MI5 and Special Branch, warned that secret cells of al-Qaeda extremists based in London, Birmingham and Luton are planning attacks in the UK.
The so-called Government Security Zone (GSZ), an area which covers the Houses of Parliament, Whitehall, Buckingham and St James’ Palaces, is a possible target of the al-Qaeda cells, with threat level in the GSZ described as “severe”, the Daily Telegraph reported.
“For the foreseeable future the UK will continue to be a high-priority target for international terrorists aligned with al-Qaeda. It will face a threat from British nationals, including Muslim converts, and UK-based foreign terrorists, as well as terrorists planning attacks from abroad,” the top intelligence report said.
According to the British daily, the report headlined ‘International Terrorism’ states that “some thousands” of extremists, many believed to have been trained in overseas terrorist camps, are active in the UK.
“The majority of extremists are British nationals of south Asian, mainly Pakistani origin but there are also extremists from north and east Africa, Iraq and the Middle East, and a number of converts,” it warned
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Intelligence has a place and as this article indicates has a very important place in the war on terror, what is lacking however is affirmative action against terrorists. Lets ask the question, Assume a terrorist gets arrested and convicted and goes to jail, what next? Well he/she will be comforted, provided a fertile recruitment ground to radicalize others plot and plan, this is hardly a punishment.
We need hard measures that “hit home” for example;
1.Solitary confinement(A mass murderer gets it, why not a terrorist?)
2. Life without the possibility of parole – ever!
3. Terrorism is an act of treason (i.e. aimed at overthrowing the state) therefore a loss of citizenship for the terrorist and immediate family plus any individuals they may have sponsored to emigrate to the UK.
4. Confiscation of all known assets
Essentially when someone commits such heinous acts of terror they have to learn that there is a price to pay for them and their loved ones. The also have to know their life is over as they know it, there will be no deals, no releases for good behaviour just solitary confinement!
This certainly appears to be related to the October 15th alert. With all the monitoring of the terrorists cells and finding that they are preparing to attack, why aren’t they taken down? Innocent people are going to be killed/injured either way. Making the decision to strike the terrorists before they make their attack seems the logical thing to do, but there must be some reason to sit back and wait for them to make the first move….sure hope it is worthwhile.
Where is the proactive action required to go head-to-head with al-Qaeda and other terrorist operations? I think the above mentioned suggestions are a good start. However, the civilized world needs to take decisive measures and go after these cowards even if it means killing some innocent lives along the way. The innocent lives taken under such measures woulb be far less than those taken by future attacks by al-Qaeda and other organzations. The world needs to wake up and realize the only way to destroy an enemy is to devouer it.
Obama is planning on dismantling Guantanamo Bay and allowing all detainees a fair trial here Us stateside. It is part of his agenda to target this issue as soon as he comes to office. What this may mean is that some trials will allow the insurgents foreign fighters to go free on tecnicalities of the legal system, yet other higher level teir members will be set free due to expensive lawyers. What this will mean also is the members will be in our us jails and then set free on our Us Streetcorners. I think this may be an area to look at versus monitoring online chitter chatter so that we can have a decisive plan for no-fly lists even if they are found no contendre,guity and did their time on parole, and/or not-guilty. One of my advisors this morning had an inter-office meeting with this topic over breakfast. We are in agreeance here that deportation might be in order for them untill we have withdrew our forces from Iraq,Afghansitan, and elsewhere globally. Please don’t misinterpret my former post as being soft or lax on these issue, I am just thinking in pretext of what our newer administration is going to also do with newer detainees we may catch in 2008 and on. The us justice system does have its flaws.
Hi 111,
Thank you for your comments above. One thing that struck me or shall I say jumped out and battered me was when you said I quote “One of my advisers this morning had an inter-office meeting with this topic over breakfast. We are in agreeance here that deportation might be in order for them until we have withdrew our forces from Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere globally.” Unquote
111, this is the main problem, why as a nation should we be thinking about deporting these people? It should be given, anyone who poses a risk (actual or implied) should be removed for the safety of the population! In addition it should be mandatory any foreigner convicted of a serious crime, I believe it is called a felony in the US should be deported. The fundamental weakness we have as a people is we treat everybody as our best friend, well my friend I do appreciate your dedication and support to your country but such wide open loopholes are big enough to drive a bus through, if foreigners travel and break the law with serious crimes they are not the kind of people you need visiting your country.
In conclusion, people in the most part have reasons to be in a place like Guantanamo Bay, I do not say there are not innocent people locked up as well, surly every penal system in the world has wrongly accused who are incarcerated, but to assume all are innocent is stretching it a bit thin. These are people who will (given the easy access to weapons) kill again, maybe an automatic rifle in a kindergarden or worse, do we really want to take such a risk of letting such people wander in the land of the free? This is a news flash, not everybody is our friend!
I’m impressed with the rhetoric here.
People are worried about the implications of this alert, even though nothing is really specified. Where??? When??? How??? Who??? With what??? None of these are even vaguely addressed. Someone could strike somewhere at any time with anyone using anything at all and that might be the one in question, or it might not. I question the purpose of such a statement. Are we supposed to live in constant dreaded fear of our lives from now until death because there MIGHT be a chance of an attack?? Doesn’t that mean that the “enemy” has won?? Isn’t that what they want?? To keep everyone in constant fear of a POSSIBLE attack. From the posts above, OBL doesn’t need to do a thing ever again. All he needs to do is plant one of these stories every few years and watch people cringe at home under their sofa.
I might also remind you that you have a very anti-American picture of the president-elect on this page. While in the US we are to uphold the freedom of expression everywhere, I can’t help but think about the many sites that have been completely shut down for showing similar pictures of Bush with monkeys. I hope this doesn’t mean that freedom of expression only goes for neocons, and everyone else has to toe the line.
I will also add that your fear of Gitmo prisoners being let go is misplaced. They have yet to convict one single person from Gitmo, but have let free hundreds of detainees. And “they” are Bush and his admin. All these people that you say are “already” guilty, even though no trial nor formal accusation has ever been entered, are being let go by Bush. These latent terrorists sent to Gitmo since 2002 have been let go, one by one, and sometimes in groups, with no convictions, no trials complete, no accusations that won conviction, nothing. Hundreds are now roaming the streets of the world, perhaps back in the US plotting this diabolical scheme that has all of you cowering in your bedrooms, but Bush has not been able to convict one single person for any terror related crime.
Why is that??
You say that they are all guilty. You say that they are all hardened terrorists. You say that you are afraid of Obama letting them go. But you don’t mention the hundreds that Bush has let go to date. Is this what they mean when they say hypocrites??
To read your posts, I would say that Osama has already won. He has you cowering for fear, trembling in your long johns. The way to stop Osama is not to grab innocent people all over the world, torture them and then let them go. You might think that it’s the “American Way” but others around the world think it’s cruel and only creates more anger and hatred against the US. The way to stop Obama is to stop his ability to recruit. In CIA terms, stop the blowback. The old adage, “You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar,” applies quite well here. How do you think the police become so successful with their sting operations?? They promise “honey” to criminals and then just nab them as they come to collect. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
Blind fear and rage allow evil to win. Thoughtful and logical action stops them every time. And please turn down the anti-American pictures here, unless you are really anti-American.
Funny how there are still some folks in the world who think this is a law enforcement problem, instead of a WAR, or worse, all a great misunderstanding. I guarantee you the enemy thinks (and says) it is a war…and their aim is to exterminate us. Considering radical Islam has had this as a goal for over 1300 years (they wrote it all down) it never ceases to amaze that a large segment of society still does not get it.
The administration in the US got it immediately, even when the previous one did not (Clinton) and the results speak for themselves. The US has deterred any further attacks and have taken the fight to the enemy, forcing them to fight our war. That is being proactive. We have crushed them wherever there has been the proper application of forces and tactics, i.e., the surge in Iraq and intelligence and covert operations elsewhere. Once we have the resources to make it work in Afghanistan, we will win there…but even in Afghanistan we crush them in a stand up fight everytime. The proof is their change in tactics to suicide bombings that target civilians and govt entities…precisely the same mistake Al Qaeda in Iraq made.
Gordon Brown gets it…and I have no doubt the Brits who are in charge see it the same way…and will thwart the enemy.
Winning the war by killing the enemy while fostering freedom and democracy among those people who have never known either (the Middle East) IS the long term solution to eliminating the radical Islamic terrorist threat. Free peoples tend not to kill each other, even within a religion steeped on conversion by the sword. Moderate Islam is the future.
Hey guys, honestly now…
Why would we send someone that has perpetrated a terrorist act against our citizens BACK to their country of origin and a hero’s welcome?!?! Only to have them train up the next batch of bad guys to come over and do it all over again?? Sounds kind of like a self-licking ice cream cone…
The idea of locking them up like mass murderers is okay, but why do we keep the mass murderers around either?! They simply become a burden on our taxpayers, getting their 3 squares a day, free education, “rehabilitation”, etc etc. All simply because we are too scared to KILL them. Political correctness and fear of offending someone are getting ridiculous. What about the victims? Who was looking out for them?
It’s time for people to read the definitions of jihad and intifadah (sp?). The debate can rage about whether the terrorists are wackos that pervert the Koran to their devices, or if they are “true” Muslims trying to rid the world of the unfaithful. Whatever your point of view, jihad is war. And it’s pretty much accepted everywhere that a target of war is entitled to defend themselves.
Next step?? Who is going to bring up the favorite argument of who started it?!?
Great comments from everyone, please keep on contributing!