Taliban Target Britain On Orders From al-Qaeda

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The terrorist informant has told prosecutors he was trained by Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistan Taliban, and was planning a series of suicide attacks with 11 other men.

The informant, known as “Ahmed”, told investigators the bombers were to work in pairs using a “device carried in a backpack with a third person to detonate a remote control” in order to ensure the bombers went through with their mission.

Details of the attempted attacks emerged in papers submitted to the Spanish authorities in a case against the alleged bombers, who were arrested in raids in the Raval district of Barcelona in January last year.

It is claimed the attacks were to begin on the Barcelona underground system and then spread to the other European countries with a presence in Afghanistan, thought to include Britain, according to new documents.

The information echoed claims made by British security services that a terrorist cell was sent to Manchester from the Taliban heartland in Pakistan’s lawless tribal areas.

British investigators believe that the cell, which was allegedly planning attacks on the Trafford and Arndale shopping centres over the Easter holidays, had connections with al-Qaeda, and Spanish prosecutors say their cell may also have had links with al-Qaeda.

The terrorist group is believed to have formed a “holy alliance” with the Taliban to launch terrorist attacks on foreign soil.

Instead of relying on British-born men travelling to Pakistan for training, al-Qaeda is now recruiting “ready made” terrorists from among the Taliban, investigators believe.

The 10 men arrested in the north west are fighting deportation on national security grounds after Government lawyers accused them of being members of a “UK-based network linked to al-Qaeda involved in attack planning”.

Spanish police found chemicals including nitrocellulose and potassium perchlorate along with batteries, timers and cables in the raids.

They also found “materials for indoctrination” relating to attacks against Nato forces in Afghanistan and books and DVDs.

Spanish prosecutors submitted documents laying out their case earlier this month and Dolores Delgado Garcia, a prosecutor at Spain’s National Court, told the Daily Telegraph she believed the Barcelona cell was inspired by speeches by Osama bin Laden about the “loss of Andalucia” once part of the Muslim Ottoman empire.

“Al-Qaeda has been targeting Spain because of its historic associations with Andalucia,” she said. “But other cities in Europe where countries have troops in Afghanistan were also targets.”

Explaining her case at a top-level conference organised by New York University’s Centre for Law and Security, she said “Ahmed” had become a “protected witness” and had told them that “Baitullah Mehsud would make demands and when they were not complied with, they would launch their attacks”.

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Britain Prepares To Deport 9 Terrorism Suspects to Pakistan

Two weeks after hundreds of police officers staged raids in northern England and arrested 12 men in what Prime Minister Gordon Brown described as “a very big terrorist plot,” the police released nine of them on Tuesday and handed them over to Britain’s border control agency for deportation to Pakistan.

Two other men remained in police custody for further questioning under Britain’s Terrorism Act. Another man had been handed over previously to the border agency for deportation.

A Home Office spokesman, referring to the transfer of the nine suspects to the border agency, said the government was “seeking to remove these individuals on grounds of national security,” suggesting that some kind of plot was still under investigation. A police spokeswoman in the northern city of Manchester, which the British news media had portrayed as the focal point of the plot described by Mr. Brown, said the investigations were continuing.

But Britain’s security agencies appeared to have pulled back from earlier suggestions that they had foiled a major imminent attack involving infiltrators with Al Qaeda sent to Britain from Pakistan on student visas. After the arrests on April 8, senior officials were quoted in British newspapers as saying they had moved against the 12 men after deciding that a bombing attack involving mass casualties was only days from being carried out, probably against a target in Manchester, possibly a crowded shopping center over the Easter weekend.

via Britain Prepares to Deport 9 Terrorism Suspects to Pakistan – NYTimes.com.

Report: Britain to Use Google Against Terrorists

The British government may be deploying a new weapon against terrorists: Google.

According to the tech-related news site The Register, the Home Office’s Office for Security and Counter Terrorism plans to work with “approved” Islamist Web sites to “flood the Internet” with pro-Western viewpoints.

It will train the operators of the pro-Western sites in search-engine optimization, an arcane strategy that basically makes sure your site is near the top of Google, Yahoo and Microsoft LiveSearch results pages.

That way, young British Muslims searching online for say, “jihad,” will get pro-Western Web sites instead of Al Qaeda mouthpieces, or so the theory goes.

“In order to support mainstream voices, we work with local partners to help develop their communication, representational and leadership skills,” an unnamed Home Office spokesman told The Register. “This support could include media training, which can help make their voices heard more widely, and support the development of skills which allow communities to be more effective in debate.”

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Al-Qaeda Terror Plot To Bomb Easter Shoppers Broken Up – UK

An al-Qaeda cell was days away from carrying out an “Easter spectacular” of co-ordinated suicide bomb attacks on shopping centres in Manchester, police believe.

Sources told The Daily Telegraph that the arrests of 12 men in the north west of England on Wednesday were linked to a suspected plan to launch a devastating attack this weekend.

Some of the suspects were watched by MI5 agents as they filmed themselves outside the Trafford Centre on the edge of Manchester, the Arndale Centre in the city centre, and the nearby St Ann’s Square.

Police were forced to round up the alleged plotters after they were overheard discussing dates, understood to include the Easter bank holiday, one of the busiest shopping weekends of the year.

“It could have been the next few days and they were talking about 10 days at the outside,” one source said. “We had to act.” Police are now engaged in a search for an alleged bomb factory, where explosives might have been assembled.

If such a plot was carried out, it would almost certainly have been Britain’s worst terrorist attack, with the potential to cause more deaths than the suicide attacks of July 7, 2005, when 52 people were murdered.

A plan to arrest the suspects in a series of co-ordinated raids yesterday morning had to be hastily brought forward to Wednesday afternoon after the country’s most senior anti-terrorism officer, Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick, of the Metropolitan Police, was photographed going into Downing Street carrying a briefing paper with top secret details of Operation Pathway in full view.

Yesterday morning, Mr Quick resigned after he was told by the Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, that he had lost her confidence and that of MI5.

As a result of his blunder, hundreds of police officers had to be scrambled to arrest the suspects, who were being monitored round the clock.

Former police chiefs pointed out that rounding up suspected suicide bombers in public places in Liverpool, Manchester and Clitheroe, Lancs, had put other people at risk and could also have compromised the operation.

Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, described the alleged plot as “very big” and said investigators were looking at links with Pakistan.

Mr Brown said: “We know that there are links between terrorists in Britain and terrorists in Pakistan. That is an important issue for us to follow through and that’s why I will be talking to President Zardari about what Pakistan can do to help us in the future.”

All but one of the men arrested were Pakistani nationals who came to Britain on student visas. This suggested a possible new tactic by al-Qaeda, which had previously used British-based extremists who travelled to Pakistan for training.

The issue of student visas represents a potential security nightmare for the police and MI5. There are 330,000 foreign students in Britain and around 10,000 such visas are issued every year to Pakistanis alone.

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• U.S. al Qaeda effort lacking, official warns (cnn.com)

Al-Qaeda YouTube Warning To Britain

AL-Qaeda last night issued a chilling video threat to Britain — on YouTube.

Rants by key henchmen of Osama bin Laden are accompanied by footage of a black-clad gunman riddling the Union Flag with bullets.

The Stars and Stripes is also peppered — along with Israel’s flag.

Fanatic Abu Hareth Muhammad al-Oufi — a former Guantanamo Bay inmate — vents his fury at the West while fondling an automatic rifle and brandishing a grenade. Read more

CIA Helping To Track 4000 UK Terror Suspects

The CIA has begun an unprecedented intelligence-gathering operation in Britain to help MI5 monitor 4000 terrorist suspects.

More than four out of 10 CIA operations to prevent attacks on US soil are now conducted against targets in Britain.

This has led to friction between British and American spies, with some US intelligence officers irritated that resources are being diverted to gather intelligence on suspects in their closest ally’s backyard. British intelligence officers do not know the identity of all the CIA informers and are uneasy about some of the uses to which the intelligence has been put.

MI5 as a whole is glad of the help, however, and works closely with its sister service. US spies share information when it concerns security in Britain.

Intelligence from CIA informers is believed to have helped thwart more than one terrorist atrocity on British soil. Information passed on by a CIA source in Britain was also instrumental in locating Rashid Rauf, a British-born al-Qaeda operative killed by a US air strike in Pakistan on November 22.

A British official said: “There is a great deal of CIA activity inside the UK. The CIA has been given a free rein to raise, handle and process from intelligence sources inside the UK.

“In many cases we do not know who their assets are. Several of the recently foiled terrorist plots inside the UK were uncovered by informants run by US source handlers. We’ve been able to interdict these plots.”

via CIA tracking 4000 UK terror suspects | theage.com.au.

Killer Virus Vomiting Bug Grips Britain

Millions face being struck down by a deadly winter vomiting bug sweeping the country. You may remember this same vomiting bug struck last year, however experts are saying itr could be even worse this time.

Scores of hospitals have been forced to close wards to new patients as they struggle to cope with the influx of norovirus sufferers.

One of London’s leading hospitals has even had to turn away 999 emergency patients after being overwhelmed with cases of the virus, while another hospital has drafted in GPs to cover for staff hit by the bug.

As the crisis deepens, health campaigners are warning that hospitals face going into “complete meltdown” over Christmas and New Year.

Last year more than three million people were struck down by the bug as it reached epidemic levels. Now experts are warning that the virus could affect even more this year.

It appears to be taking hold much earlier than usual.

Last night the Health Protection Agency warned that it was expecting the number of cases to escalate.

Geoff Martin, of the campaign group Health Emergency, said: “Christmas and New Year are a notoriously busy time and the fact that hospitals can’t cope already is very, very ominous. Winter and Christmas are always extremely difficult for hospitals.

“People giving germs to each other means more flu, the cold weather means a lot more respiratory problems, especially for the elderly, and everyone’s out drinking a lot so there are more injuries that way, too.

“The busiest period is still two weeks away and it is evident that hospitals can’t cope.

“If the Secretary of State for Health does not do something about this, there could be a complete meltdown and a full-blown crisis.

“It would be the worst I have seen in five or six years.”

At its height last year the virus, which causes projectile vomiting, diarrhoea, mild fever and headaches, was striking down more than 200,000 a week. The illness can prove deadly for the vulnerable –  children and the elderly.

So far there have been 1,575 reported cases since July but officials fear the figure could be 100 times higher as most sufferers do not report it. St George’s hospital, one of London’s three major trauma centres, was forced to turn away ambulances last Monday because it had run out of beds.

Hospital chiefs said they had suffered a 14 per cent surge in demand over the weekend, compared to the same time last year.

Patients had to be diverted to neighbouring hospitals, all of which have reported serious pressure on their capacities.

A survey by the Daily Express found that hospitals across the country were, on average, each shutting off between eight and nine wards to new admissions and visitors.

At least 21 hospitals have had to isolate patients.

Daily Express

UK – al-Qaeda Buying Ambulances and Other Emergency Vehicles on Online

MI5 have warned Britain’s cash-strapped National Health Services that dozens of ambulances–along with old police cars and fire engines past their sell-by date–are being snapped up by al-Qaeda operatives in the United Kingdom to mount suicide bomb attacks.

So serious is the problem that counter-terrorism officials at the Home Office have written to eBay, the Internet auctioneer, asking them to stop selling emergency service vehicles, equipment and uniforms.

But eBay has insisted it can only halt the sales if a new law is passed by Parliament. That could take many months to enact.

The use of ambulances is of particular concern to Britain’s terrorist chiefs. They say the tactic has already been used in Iraq with devastating effects.

A report by Lord Carlisle–the government terrorist czar who last month warned about the possibility of private planes being used for an attack on London–has been issued to all of Britain’s 48 police forces warning of the danger of selling-off emergency service vehicles.

Lord Carlisle, who works closely with the Terrorism Analysis Centre in London set up since the 9/11 attacks, said ambulances were the ideal weapon of choice for terrorists.

“It is almost rare that police will stop such vehicles on suspicious grounds. An ambulance rigged with high explosives could drive into any ultra-sensitive target like a nuclear power station or even Whitehall”, said a senior MI5 source.

The Association of Chief Police Officers has warned that the risk could be “highly significant” if the law is not tightened.

Every year dozens of police cars, ambulances and even fire engines are sold on eBay for as little as £1,500 ($2,230).

Many are still in working order. Those that need repair can be easily fixed to pass as genuine emergency service vehicles.

“An ambulance could carry half a ton of explosives. A rigged police car could carry half that amount. So could a fire engine”, states the MI5 report.

MI5 counter-terrorism officers say such attacks have been successfully carried out in Iraq and Israel.

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UK – Threat Of Large Scale Terror Plot Being Monitored

Lord West, who advises the Prime Minister on security matters, told the House of Lords: “There is another great plot building up again and we are monitoring this.”

His comments came the day after the House of Lords forced the Government to abandon plans to extend detention without trial for terror suspects to 42 days.

Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, dropped the measure from the bill after it was defeated in the upper house but warned critics they were exposing the country to a greater risk.

During a debate on the Counter-terrorism Bill, Lord West repeated the government’s intention to keep the proposals in a separate piece of legislation to be introduced if needed in the face of an emergency.

He told peers: “Some of the measures that we have put into place in the past 15 months have made us safer, but that does not mean that we are safe.

“The threat is huge. It dipped slightly and is now rising again within the context of ’severe’.

“There are large complex plots. We unravelled one, which caused damage to al-Qaeda and the plots faded slightly.

“However, another great plot is building up again, which we are monitoring.

“We have done a great deal to protect ourselves and to look after our water supplies, our resilience, underground trains, our preparedness and communications.

“We have done all the things that we need to do, but the threat is building – the complex plots are building.”

The Daily Telegraph reported two weeks ago that security sources believed terrorist activity was nearing “critical”.

The threat level is at the “severe end of severe” according to sources who say the level of “ambient activity” among terrorist cells has increased in recent months and they are now operating at full stretch.

The source said: “We are not chasing shadows. These are potential threats to security and life. Police and the security network are operating at full capacity.”

The assessment, which has five levels, has only been “critical,” meaning an attack is “imminent,” during last year’s attack on Glasgow airport and the July 2005 London bombings.

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Al-Qaeda Plots New Terror Attacks In Britain

al Qaeda is planning a new wave of terror attacks on Britain, security chiefs have warned.

Intelligence agencies are tracking four plots to unleash carnage on our cities.

And they fear there could be up to a dozen more in the early planning stages. The terror operations are thought to centre on London and Birmingham.

Two are understood to be plans to launch devastating explosions in the city centres. Read more

UK Terror Threat Severe – Critical

The U.S. is apparently not the only country picking up on a possible increased terror threat. In Britain, the threat level is at the “severe end of severe” according to sources who say the level of “chatter” among terrorist cells has increased in recent months.

The security services say they are now operating at full stretch to counter the elevated threat.

Britain’s close relationship with the US has been particularly inflammatory after cross-border raids into Pakistan by American forces.

Security officials had considered downgrading the official threat level from “severe” but that plan has now been abandoned as a result of the increase in terrorist activity.

A senior counter terrorism source said: “We were looking at the threat level six months ago and asking how severe is severe? But it is October now and we are at the severe end of severe.

“Al-Qaeda’s core exists on the Afghan-Pakistan border. The arrangement of people changes at a frighteningly rapid pace but they have enough people to replace them and there are people who are looking at us and at external operations, some at this country in particular.

“We are not chasing shadows. These are potential threats to security and life. Police and the security network are operating at full capacity.”

The source said a review by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, which looks at information from MI5, MI6 and GCHQ, had considered downgrading the threat from “severe,” meaning an attack is highly likely, to “substantial,” meaning an attack is a strong possibility, but that move was abandoned after the level of activity increased.

The assessment, which has five levels, has been considered severe since the arrest of the men allegedly plotting to attack transatlantic airliners in 2006 but moved up to “critical,” meaning an attack is imminent, during last year’s car bomb alert which led to the attack on Glasgow airport.

It is now only just below that level.

MI5 is watching around 200 networks across Britain and MI6 and GCHQ are constantly monitoring communications on the crucial Afghan-Pakistan border area.

Although key commanders have been killed in air strikes, one of the particular concerns is the disappearance of Rashid Rauf from Birmingham, an alleged al-Qaeda mastermind who escaped from Pakistani custody last December.

Security officials are also worried about threats which may come from off the radar.

They are particularly worried by lone operators who “self-radicalise” over the internet and stock-pile chemicals from domestic sources.

“They are discreet from traditional networks and have a very small intelligence signature which makes them hard to pick up,” the source said.

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British Terror Arrests Linked To Threat to Kill Brown

The arrest of three terror suspects in northern England earlier this month was linked to an online threat to kill Prime Minister Gordon Brown, British media reported Friday.

The British Broadcasting Corp. said the three men were being held in connection with an Internet posting signed “al-Qaida in Britain,” which threatened the life of Brown and former prime minister Tony Blair.

The statement, posted on a radical website earlier this year, demanded the withdrawal of British forces from Iraq and Afghanistan, and the release of Muslim inmates from Britain’s Belmarsh Prison, a high-security facility that houses many convicted terrorists.

The BBC did not cite a source for its report or explain the suspects’ alleged connection to the Internet posting. However, Britain’s Press Association news agency quoted unidentified police sources as confirming the BBC report.

Lancashire police in northern England were not immediately available for comment about the reports Friday evening. Brown’s office declined comment. Neither did Britain’s Home Office, which handles media queries for the country’s domestic intelligence agency MI5.

The three men were arrested Aug. 14, two of them at Manchester Airport, about 300 kilometres north of London, and the third in the nearby town of Accrington. The BBC said the two arrested at the airport were about to board a plane for Finland, and that British counterterrorism police have travelled there as part their investigation.

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Terror Cell May Have Been Plotting To Attack Queen

The cell, which included Britain’s youngest ever terrorist, arrested on his way home from his GCSE chemistry exam, was found with information about the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh along with the Prince of Wales, the Duke of York, the Earl of Wessex and the Princess Royal.

Also on the list were Princess Michael of Kent, The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and The Duke and Duchess of Kent. Read more