Security services have "undoubtedly" foiled planned terror attacks by al Qaeda followers in Britain and also probably across Europe, according to the head of the country’s anti-terrorist force. Peter Clarke warned, however, there was no room for complacency in the race to stop extremists using skills and links forged in war zones such as Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya and Georgia from carrying out attacks around the world. "We are absolutely confident we have stopped a lot of terrorist activity. There would have been attacks," Clarke, head of Scotland Yard’s Anti-Terrorist Branch, told Reuters in an interview. But "there is still a huge task ahead of us," he added. In line with anti-terror police policy, Clarke declined to give details of any of the recent plots.
| "You'll have to work that out for yourselves..." |
Britain has warned an attack is almost inevitable and security services have been on their second-highest alert for the past few weeks — arresting 23 suspects — after they said they had information an operation was planned. Clarke praised the "unparalleled" cooperation between international security services, saying it was "entirely possible" UK police had foiled attacks abroad and vice-versa. "This is a global threat. These are terrorist groups and police have disrupted them both here and abroad. The disruption takes place here, France, Spain, Germany and elsewhere — it’s a totally international effort," he said.
| Good idea, since it's a totally international enemy..." |
Clarke added he could not be sure if police had thwarted a planned strike on the scale of September 11 or whether al Qaeda was biding its time before launching another such attack. "It may be they hadn’t chosen to target Western Europe," he said. "We are not quite sure what we have stopped."
| Ricin... Strasbourg cathedral... Couple others... |
The international terror threat was now divided into the hard core al Qaeda network, blamed for the September 11 attacks on the United States, associated groups based around the world, and individuals such as convicted British "shoebomber" Richard Reid who shared the same ideology, he explained.
| And had their plane tickets paid for by al-Qaeda... |
Reid was jailed for life in January after admitting trying to blow up a Paris-Miami flight using explosives in his shoe. "There would seem to be a core al Qaeda organisation and people of associated groups loosely connected to it, for instance North African groups," Clarke said. "The common factor that seems to provide links is participation in various conflicts like Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya and Georgia."
| The common factors are turbans, automatic weapons, Olde Tyme Religion, and princely largesse... |
"That’s where we see the links were formed. They have come back from the training camps...and are playing a key role." Since September 11, around 500 people have been held in Britain under its sweeping anti-terrorism laws. The most significant was British Muslim Sajid Badat, 24, who appeared in court on Thursday accused of possessing explosives and conspiring with Reid to carry out terror attacks.
| The most significant was Abu Qatada. Sajid's cannon fodder... |
Some human rights groups have criticised police tactics but Clarke dismissed suggestions police had adopted an "arrest first, investigate later" attitude. "About a half of all arrests led to some sort of sanctions. About 90 people have been charged with some sort of terrorism activity and that is completely unprecedented," he said. |