Islamist militants may strike in Britain again*

By Adrian Croft
Reuters
Tuesday, April 24, 2007; 6:03 PM

LONDON (Reuters) - London police's anti-terrorist chief said on Tuesday
it was a "sensible assumption" that Islamist militants will strike again
in Britain.

Reviewing British counter-terrorism efforts since the September 11
attacks on U.S. cities, Peter Clarke said the strategic threat from
Islamist militants was "enduring and to a significant extent targeted at
the United Kingdom."

"Within the country we have people who are sympathetic to the terrorist
cause and prepared to carry out attacks against their fellow citizens,"
he said in a lecture.

The police and security service had stopped a number of attacks in
Britain and more than 100 people were awaiting trial on
terrorist-related charges, he said.

"Nevertheless, we suffered the appalling attacks of July 2005 and the
only sensible assumption is that we shall be attacked again," he said.

On July 7, 2005, four British Islamist suicide bombers blew themselves
up on London's transport network, killing 52 people.

Clarke said he did not disagree with a figure given by Elizabeth
Manningham-Buller, former head of the British intelligence agency MI5,
who said in November that her agents were tracking some 1,600 suspected
Islamist militants.

But he said he stood by a comment he made last year that the total
number may run into thousands.

Clarke said an alleged plot by Islamist militants to blow up
transatlantic airliners, foiled by police last August, was another step
in what appeared to be a "trend towards more ambitious and more
destructive attack planning."

MOMENTUM

"The extremists have a momentum that must be stopped," he added.

In the 2005 London attacks and in other cases, police had spotted a
trend for groups of British citizens to travel to Pakistan for training
and then returning to Britain and building up their networks in
preparation for launching attacks, he said.

Clarke said the threat from al Qaeda was very different from the threat
Britain faced for 30 years from Irish Republican Army (IRA) guerrillas
opposed to British rule in Northern Ireland.

The al Qaeda networks are large, mobile and resilient, he said.

"We have seen how al Qaeda has been able to survive a prolonged,
multinational assault on its structures, personnel and logistics. It has
certainly retained its ability to deliver centrally directed attacks
here in the UK," he said.

"Arrested leaders or key players are quickly replaced, and disrupted
networks will re-form quickly. Suicide has been a frequent feature of
attack planning and delivery," he said.