Further UKterrorist plots foiled
BRITAIN: Britain is dealing with an unprecedented terrorist threat which has seen MI5 and police disrupt five terror plots in the past two months alone, a senior Whitehall source has said.
The threat from jihadists intent on committing attacks in the United Kingdom is so high that the security services are currently running 500 active investigations looking at some 3000 potential suspects.
Counter-terrorism officials last night sought to disclose the scale of the threat as MI5 and police faced accusations they had missed chances to stop the Manchester suicide bomber when he was repeatedly flagged to authorities as a danger.
Family, friends and the local community are understood to have informed the authorities of the danger posed by Salman Abedi on at least five separate occasions before he blew himself up at a Manchester Arena pop concert, killing 22 people.
As the country remains on its highest terror alert for a decade, armed transport police have begun patrolling trains for the first time.
With the public urged to be vigilant, police were called to a string of false alarms. Bomb squad officers were yesterday called to a school in Manchester, while London’s Westminster Bridge and a shopping centre in Newport were closed because of suspicious cars, and Swansea magistrates’ court was evacuated over a suspect package.
The threat from battlehardened jihadists returning from Iraq and Syria and the peril of online radicalisation are contributing to the highest threat seen in decades. A total of 18 plots have been uncovered since 2013, including five in the two months since Khalid Masood killed four people during a car and knife rampage in Westminster.
The source said: ‘‘Abedi was one of a larger pool of former subjects of interest whose risk remained subject to review by MI5 and its partners.’’
The source said that where former subjects of interest seemed to show a risk of heading back into terrorism, ‘‘MI5 can consider reopening the investigation, but this process inevitably relies on difficult professional judgments based on partial information’’.
A terror attack in the UK is expected imminently after the national threat level was raised to critical in the wake of Tuesday’s attack in Manchester.
Around 1000 troops remain on the streets after the Government invoked the Operation Temperer contingency plan, allowing police to call on military support.
Counter-terror police investigating the Manchester bombing arrested another man yesterday, bringing the total number of arrests to 10. Detectives were now questioning eight men following a series of raids across the country, Greater Manchester police said.
A relative of bomber Salman Abedi said he had felt increasing frustration at his treatment in the UK, which was heightened after a friend was fatally knifed in what he perceived to be a religious hate crime. Libyan authorities, who are questioning Abedi’s parents and siblings, claimed he made a final phone call to his mother on the eve of the attack, in which he said: ‘‘Forgive me.’’
- Telegraph Group, Reuters
Assault accused triumphs
Montana Republican Greg Gianforte claimed victory in a congressional special election yesterday, and apologised to a reporter who accused Gianforte of assaulting him on the eve of the vote. Speaking to cheering supporters in Bozeman after his win, Gianforte apologised for the incident involving Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs, and said he was not proud of his actions. ’’I should not have responded the way I did.’’ Gianforte prevailed despite being charged with assaulting Jacobs, who said the candidate ‘‘body-slammed’’ him during a campaign event in Bozeman as he tried to ask him about healthcare. A Fox News reporter who was present said Gianforte ’’grabbed Jacobs by the neck with both hands and slammed him to the ground’’.
Bourke St defendant ‘set up’
Australia’s alleged Bourke St killer has gone on a strange rant in court, blaming ‘‘the Illuminati’’ and claiming he was set up. Dimitrious ‘‘Jimmy’’ Gargasoulas, 27, appeared via video link in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court yesterday for a hearing on charges unrelated to the January attack, when he allegedly ran down pedestrians with a car in Melbourne’s CBD. He claimed to be under extreme stress, controlled by the government, set up and targeted because he held ‘‘the key to Freemasons treasure’’. Despite attempts by the magistrate and his lawyer to cut him off, Gargasoulas went on, saying the stress had caused him to have a mental breakdown. Gargasoulas is facing six charges of homicide and 29 counts of attempted murder over the Bourke St incident.
‘Terrorist’ prize angers
A Houston-area school is apologising after a seventh grade student was given an award that named her ‘‘most likely to become a terrorist’’. Lizeth Villanueva got the certificate during a mock awards ceremony after the official awards ceremony at Anthony Aguirre Junior High. Her mother, Ena Hernandez, was furious and said her daughter was hurt. Lizeth said the teacher meant the awards to be funny but added that ‘‘I do not feel comfortable with this’’. The school district said the teachers involved had been disciplined.