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| Britain |
| Numbers obscure al-Qaeda threat |
| 2005-03-08 |
| The police, security services and ministers all believe there is a continuing threat of a terrorist attack though no one can be sure how many al-Qaeda-trained activists are in the country. The Home Office said on Monday it would not "get into the numbers game when it comes to answering [in public] questions like how many individuals are posing a threat". At the weekend Sir John Stevens, former Metropolitan police commissioner, put the figure at 100 to 200 but added the figures might not be "exact". Sir John is thought to have drawn on intelligence assessments he had seen since September 11 2001. The estimates make a distinction between more than 300 Britons who trained in al-Qaeda camps and are under watch, and a core of probably fewer that 30 individuals who might be plotting an attack here or abroad. Pressed for details last month, Charles Clarke, the home secretary, told a Commons select committee the number facing control orders on the grounds they might pose a security risk might not be "significantly larger" than the 17 who have been detained without trial since September 11 2001. The Home Office said an estimate suggesting 20 would be subject to the new security measures was not meant as a precise figure. The number features in a public document entitled "regulatory impact assessment", in which the Home Office makes a financial cost analysis estimate based on a notional figure. Other recently published figures show that of the 701 people arrested in the UK under terrorism laws between the attacks in the US and the end of last year, only 17 had been convicted and 351 were released without charge. The majority of prosecutions resulted in acquittals or convictions for indirect offences, such as fundraising or recruitment. While the figures provide a confused picture, police and security service chiefs are adamant there is a threat of a terrorist attack on the UK. Police and security service officials say that they have intelligence that could not be used in court as evidence to secure a conviction. As one counter-terrorist expert put it: "We can argue about the figures but the essence of Sir John's warning is right. There can be no room for complacency." |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |