• Military
• WMD
• Intelligence

• Security Menu                     

• Systems
• Industry
• Operations
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Space

UK faces growing terror threat in N Ireland, security chief warns

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

London, Sept 17, IRNA -- Britain faces a growing threat of terrorist attacks from dissident Irish republicans as well as from UK residents trained in Somalia, the head of MI5 security services has warned.

Jonathan Evans also raised concerns about Yemen as a source of serious plots against the UK and about the number of convicted prisoners in Britain due for release soon, who are 'committed extremists and likely to return to terrorist activities'.

'Counter-terrorist capabilities have improved in recent years but there remains a serious risk of a lethal attack taking place. I see no reason to believe that the position will significantly improve in the immediate future,' Evans warned.

In a rare public speech in London on Thursday, he said that MI5 had not expected dissident republicanism to grow as it had in Northern Ireland.

The 'working assumption' was that the residual threat from terrorism was low, and likely to go down there.

The security chief said there had been more than 30 attacks or attempted attacks by dissident republicans on security targets this year compared with just over 20 for the whole of 2009 and that he 'cannot exclude the possibility' it might spread to mainland Britain.

With regard to Somalia, he said that there was a 'significant number' of UK residents now training in al-Shabaab camps who are believed to be of various origins, including Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and west African.

'Al-Shabaab, an Islamist militia in Somalia, is closely aligned with al-Qaida, and Somalia shows many of the characteristics that made Afghanistan so dangerous a seedbed for terrorism in the period before the fall of the Taliban,' Evans warned.

With also concern about Yemen, he said a change in recent years was the source of the most serious plots shifting from tribal areas in Pakistan, which now accounts for half, rather than 75%, of all terror plots linked to Britain.

The security chief also made plain that in its review of terrorism legislation the government must maintain special control orders for terror suspects even though they have been ruled to be illegal and in breach of basic human rights in several cases.

'The government cannot absolve itself of the responsibility to protect its citizens just because the criminal law cannot, in particular circumstances, serve the purposes,' he said.