WORLD / Europe
UK terror chief warns of long fight
(AP)
Updated: 2007-07-09 08:38
LONDON - Britain's new security chief warned on Sunday that the battle
against domestic militancy could take up to 15 years, and said Britons
must start sharing information about neighbors they suspect of
involvement in terrorism.
A woman reacts as she waits to lay a bouquet of flowers in a memorial
garden outside King's Cross Station in London, to mark the second
anniversary of the London bombings, Saturday July 7, 2007. [AP]
Adm. Sir Alan West, the former navy chief who was recently named Prime
Minister Gordon Brown's security minister, said the level of the threat
Britain faced was unprecedented and a new approach was critical.
One of those approaches included challenges to the British psyche, he
said.
"Britishness does not normally involve snitching or talking about
someone," he told The Sunday Telegraph. "I'm afraid, in this situation,
anyone who's got any information should say something because the people
we are talking about are trying to destroy our entire way of life."
He said preventing the radicalization of young British Muslims was his
top priority.
"This is not a quick thing," he said. "I believe it will take 10 to 15
years. But I think it can be done as long as we as a nation apply
ourselves to it and it's done across the board."
Meanwhile, authorities acknowledged no armed police were on duty at
Glasgow airport June 30 when two men crashed a Jeep Cherokee laden with
gas cylinders and gasoline into the main terminal.
"Armed officers are only deployed to the airport when the national threat
level requires it," a Strathclyde police spokesman said on condition of
anonymity because department policy barred him from speaking for
attribution.
Britain's terrorism threat level was "severe" at the time of the attack -
the second-highest level, which means an attack is highly likely. It
remains at that level.
It is up to individual police forces to decide how to deal with the
threat level, a Home Office spokeswoman said on condition of anonymity in
line with department policy.
Most police throughout Britain do not carry firearms out of the
philosophy that arming police makes criminals feel justified in carrying
weapons. However, all forces have specially trained firearms teams ready
for rapid deployment.
The two men arrested following the Glasgow attack were overpowered by an
unarmed officer, an off-duty policeman and members of the public. Armed
police have been on duty at the airport since the attack.
Eight people are in custody in connection with the attacks - seven in
Britain and one in Australia. Most of the suspects worked for Britain's
health service and come from countries in the Middle East and India. One
has been charged: Bilal Abdullah, a 27-year-old doctor born in Britain
and raised in Iraq.
Two cars packed with gas cylinders and nails were discovered June 29 in
the busy heart of London's West End - one outside a crowded nightclub,
the other near Trafalgar Square. The next day, a Jeep Cherokee smashed in
flames into the security barriers at Glasgow airport.
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