LONDON (AFP): Britain faces an increased threat of a chemical or even nuclear terrorist attack, officials said Tuesday, highlighting also the risks from extremists in Pakistan and Somalia.
Unveiling a new counter-terrorism strategy, they said the al-Qaeda network was becoming weaker, but warned of the growing threat from "self-starting" militants, and of attacks using chemical, biological or atomic weapons.
"We know that an attack is highly likely and could happen, without warning, at any time," said Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, citing the definition of the current "severe" threat level, in place since failed car bomb attacks in 2007.
"This new form of terrorism is different in scale and nature from the terrorist threats we have had to deal with in recent decades," she added.
Nuclear or chemical attack
"We know that an attack is highly likely and could happen, without warning, at any time"
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith Asked about the threat of a nuclear or chemical attack, she said: "There is the potential, given the international situation, what we believe to be the aspirations of some international terrorists."
The 174-page strategy, the first unclassified document including an official assessment of the threat facing Britain, outlines the history of the threat and forecasts how it will evolve.
Smith told members of Parliament in the House of Commons that the strategy’s publication was intended to "reassure the public that we are doing all in our power to protect this country through our relentless pursuit of terrorists and our determination to prevent violent extremism".
Britain, a key U.S. ally in the so-called war on terror launched after the Sep. 11, 2001 attacks, has been on high alert since suicide bombings in London in July 2005 which killed 52 people plus the attackers.
Security was also ratcheted up after failed car bomb attacks in London and Glasgow in June 2007; days after Prime Minister Gordon Brown took office.
A senior interior ministry official highlighted threats posed notably by Pakistan and Somalia, as well as Yemen and countries in sub-Saharan Africa, which he said were problematic because of their relative instability.
"Pakistan weaves its way through virtually everything in this strategy," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, underlining "the importance we attach to the huge amount of work we’re doing in (Pakistan)".
"We’ve got very big collaborative programs with the Pakistani authorities, the new government … we’re very interested in working with them," he said.
Increasing threats in Pakistan
Pakistan has faced increasing threats from extremism in recent months, including a suicide attack outside a special police office in Islamabad on Monday which killed a police guard and wounded three other people.
The country, a key U.S. ally, has been hit by around 200 suicide and bomb attacks that have killed more than 1,600 people since government forces fought radical gunmen holed up in a mosque in Islamabad in July 2007.
Sky News television said Tuesday that 20 Britons monitored by Pakistani intelligence and believed to have spent time with radical groups had returned here, with Islamabad reportedly set to hand over a dossier of their names soon.
Asked what other countries had garnered increased attention on the counter-terrorism front since the strategy was last published in 2006, the official listed Somalia, Yemen, Mali and Niger.
The strategy predicted, meanwhile, that though al-Qaeda itself was "likely to fragment", its ideology would survive, possibly leading to an increased number of "self-starting" terror groups.
"Networks and groups associated with al-Qaeda will have more autonomy," it said, adding: "As the structure of al-Qaeda changes, the terrorist threat in and to the UK may diversify towards smaller ‘self-starting’ organizations."