UK launches new terrorist threat system
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
London, July 10, IRNA
UK-Terrorist Threat
The British government is launching a new warning system designed to inform the public about the official assessment of current threats from terrorist groups.
The new system, which was being unveiled by Home Secretary John Reid on Monday, is to be published for the first time on the websites of the Home Office and the MI5 security agency.
It is reported that there will be five separate warning levels, instead of the current seven, but will not be colour-coded as in the US.
The current seven-tier system, which was not generally in the public domain, ranges from Negligible, Low, Moderate, Substantial, Severe general, Severe defined up to the highest Critical.
Speaking on the first anniversary of last year's London bombings, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair has said another terrorist attack in the capital is inevitable. He said the force had since foiled three further attacks.
The change in the warning grading comes after the cross-party intelligence and security committee in May called for a more transparent system in its report on the July 7 bombings.
The committee said the system should be changed to recognise the limitations of intelligence gathering and "that attacks may be at the planning stage without being detected".
Their report highlighted how the terrorist threat level was reduced from 'severe general' to 'substantial' prior to last year's London attacks, but defended the decision, saying that the reduction was "not unreasonable" on the basis of available intelligence.
The government is also due to publish two other separate documents this week, including a wide-ranging summary of the its long-term terrorism strategy code-named 'Contest' and an outline of its policy on preventing extremism.
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