LOC13:25
10:25 GMT
LONDON, May 31 (KUNA) -- Al-Qaeda chiefs in Pakistan are thought to have
planned all of the recent terrorist incidents in Britain, including the
suicide attacks in London on July 7, 2005, the thwarted fertiliser bomb plot
to blow up shopping centres and the alleged conspiracy to destroy
transatlantic airliners, according to a report here Thursday.
Two of the London bombers and the leader of the fertiliser plot had been to
training camps in the Pakistan border areas, The Daily Telegraph newspaper
said.
They were in direct contact with "core Al-Qaeda leaders" and had received
orders and equipment from them or through them.
A leaked quarterly intelligence report produced recently by the UK Joint
Terrorism Analysis Centre, based at the London headquarters of the domestic
intelligence service known as "MI5", said "Networks linked to 'AQ Core' pose
the greatest threat to the UK," the daily said.
It added that recent intelligence also showed a potential threat from "AQI"
or Al-Qaeda in Iraq, the network originally established by the Jordanian, Abu
Musab Al-Zarqawi.
The leaked report said, "A member of this network is reportedly involved in
an operation which he believes requires AQ Core authorization.
"We assess that this operation is most likely to be a large-scale, mass
casualty attack against the West."
The report said there is "no indication" this attack would specifically
target Britain, "although we are aware that AQI networks are active in the UK."
Meanwhile, a civilian worker with the London Metropolitan Police has been
charged under the UK Official Secrets Act in connection with this disclosure.
Last year Al-Qaeda's leader in Iraq called on nuclear scientists to apply
their knowledge of biological and radiological weapons to "the field of jihad."
Details of a separate plot to attack Britain, "ideally" before Prime
Minister Tony Blair steps down next month, were contained in a letter written
by Abdul Al-Hadi Al-Iraqi, an Iraqi Kurd and senior Al-Qaeda commander.
It was reported last month that he is now in American custody in Guantanamo
Bay after being captured late last year.
British police and MI5 have been conducting a covert inquiry, known as
project Rich Picture, aimed at finding people who are being groomed for
terrorism and identifying the Islamic extremists carrying out the recruitment.
The nationwide investigation follows intelligence suggesting there is a
very small, but significant number of British-born and Britain-based Muslims
who are prepared to carry out bombings and other terrorist attacks in this
country.
They work to an Al-Qaeda appointed head who can either be home grown, or a
foreigner living in Britain.
Last November, Dhiren Barot, a Hindu convert to Islam, pleaded guilty to
planning several attacks, including a radioactive "dirty bomb" and a plot to
blow up limousines filled with gas cylinders in central London, and received a
40-year prison sentence.
MI5 is currently investigating dozens of suspected plots and watching
hundreds of "primary investigative targets," The Daily Telegraph concluded.
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