Blarghhhhhhh

UK 'number one al-Qaeda target'



The bombings on 7 July last year killed 52 people

Al-Qaeda has become more organised and sophisticated and has made Britain its top target, counter-terrorism officials have told the BBC.

Security sources say the situation has never been so grim, said BBC home affairs correspondent Margaret Gilmore.


They believe the network is now operating a cell structure in the UK - like the IRA did - and sees the 7 July bomb attacks "as just the beginning".


Each cell has a leader, a quartermaster dealing with weapons, and volunteers.
According to our correspondent, each cell works on separate, different plots, with masterminds controlling several different cells.


They were often aware they were being followed and so were meeting in public spaces.


In addition, training is taking place in the UK and Pakistan.


'Indoctrination weekend'

It was thought that five years ago al-Qaeda was a number of "loosely-connected organisations" with common aims, but it is now more organised, she said.


Security officials are concerned the group is targeting universities and the community, and are "less worried" about mosques, she added.


The network is targeting "carefully selected" new recruits - mainly young Muslim men - according to the Guardian newspaper, which also quotes security sources.


The paper tells how recruits are then put through a "psychologically compelling" indoctrination of weekend and evening briefings.


This starts with religious lectures and prayer, but moves gradually to more radical teachings and political discussions about the position of Islam in relation to the western world.


The leadership of al-Qaeda does appear to ... be more coherent and organised than had been thought in recent years


Gordon Corera
BBC security correspondent


BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera said the view was Britain was particularly vulnerable because "it may be easier for al-Qaeda to strike the UK than other targets".


He said these views were "based on activity they are actually seeing. Plots they're disrupting, trials which might be coming up soon".


"There is hard evidence behind it, rather than just theories," said our correspondent.
"That's based partly on what they are seeing, in terms of the types of activity, and partly based on the coincidence, that al-Qaeda's leadership is based in the tribal areas of Pakistan where there are links to the UK and flows of people going back and forwards.


"It makes it easier to make the UK a target than the other countries it might wish to target."


The network also appeared to be better organised, he continued.


"The leadership of al-Qaeda does appear to have been re-grouping and to be more coherent and organised than had been thought in recent years.
"The view is it clearly was an organised group before 9/11, but the campaign in Afghanistan disrupted that leadership very heavily.


It is no longer about looking for a needle in a haystack


Crispin Black
Security analyst


"But in recent years, particularly in the tribal areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan, the al-Qaeda leadership has been able to re-group and re-organise itself.


"In doing so it's able to open up channels of communication, contact, recruitment and planning around the world, and operate those in a more coherent fashion than maybe we were seeing three years' ago."


However, intelligence analyst Crispin Black said another attack in the UK "was not inevitable", citing the UK's "considerable successes against the IRA".


He said the security services had a good idea about who they were dealing with, saying: "We still have that expertise and training present within our military forces and intelligence."


"It is no longer about looking for a needle in a haystack. We have some pretty good clues and information on where we should be looking."

as Adam said .... "Blarghhhhhhh"

at least the freedom of speech (press) is keeping things from being hidden ...
Not to many years ago an article like that would not have been published! *keep it hush - hush*

stay alert, stay safe, and always guard your rights as a human being ...
ok i think that sounded like a campaign slogan

*knows better than to get into political discussions so wanders back to cookie baking

I actually heard this on british radio (I'm not from england) and it pretty much sounded as if your goverment is trying to scare you pooless. (^^)

I seriously doubt it's that bad, they just want to scare you to giving up your civil liberties, I mean heck. In London you got one camera for every 4 person.

and so the cycle of hate and violence continues.


is this opinion based on anything or just a general distrust of government? I usually think that governments hype things up in order to gain support for a cause, but I'm not so worried about them trying to strip away our civil rights.

London have 4 goverment cameras per person. They counted and such, and yes my distrust in the government doesn't help either. By giving them more power, your getting less free