MI5 FOIL PLOT TO KILL QUEEN
Jihadi terrorists planned six atrocities in UK over last year
A BRITISH jihadist killed by the RAF in Syria had plotted to blow up the Queen.
Cardiff- born Reyaad Khan, 21, was blitzed in a drone strike last month, David Cameron said last night.
He had been trying to recruit other British fanatics for “barbaric attacks” on UK soil, he told MPs.
One plot foiled by MI5 involved a massive bomb blast at a ceremony in London on August 15 on the 70th anniversary of VJ Day.
The Queen, Prince Charles and other senior members of the Royal Family were among many dignitaries present.
Another foiled attack was aimed at Armed Forces Day in London in June.
Six UK terror plots have been thwarted in 12 months, Mr Cameron said. Two other
Islamist fighters, including Ruhul Amin from Birmingham, died when a precision guided missile fired by an RAF remote- controlled drone blasted their vehicle near the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqah in Syria on August 21.
It was the first time that a British drone aircraft has been used to kill enemy targets in a territory where UK Armed Forces are not directly involved in combat operations.
Another British- born jihadist involved in plotting terrorist outrages in the UK, 21- year- old Junaid Hussein, was killed in a US airstrike in Raqqah three days later.
The Prime Minister said he sanctioned the RAF attack to counter threats of massive terrorist outrages in the UK. “We took this action because there was no alternative,” Mr Cameron told a hushed House of Commons. “We were exercising the UK’s inherent right to self defence.”
Khan and Hussain were seeking to recruit other British nationals to attack the UK mainland.
Both were understood to be linked to the plot to assassinate the Queen. They planned to detonate a massive pressure- cooker bomb, capable of causing hundreds of casualties, at the commemoration in London on August 15 to mark the 70th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in the Second World War.
Her Majesty bravely went ahead with the ceremony after being warned of the threat.
MI5 agents thwarted the plot – one of six foiled in Britain in 12 months. Another plot is understood to have targeted an Armed Forces Day event in London in June.
Mr Cameron authorised the Reaper drone strike after British agents identifi ed a “direct threat” from Khan. The Prime Minister discussed the threat with his National Security Council before agreeing to use a remote control aircraft over Syrian territory. Once the vehicle carrying Khan and other fighters was identified, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon gave the order to attack.
Mr Cameron insisted the strike was within international law, even though Parliament has not voted in favour of military action in Syria.
He said: “My fi rst duty as Prime Minister is to keep the British people safe. There was a terrorist directing murder on our streets and no other means to stop him.
“I am not prepared to stand here in the aftermath of a terrorist attack on our streets and have to explain to the House why I did not take the chance to prevent it.”
He added: “Both Junaid Hussain and Reyaad Khan were British nationals based in Syria who were involved in actively recruiting and seeking to orchestrate barbaric attacks against the West including directing a number of planned terrorist attacks right here in Britain. We should be under no illusion. Their intention was the murder of British citizens. So on this occasion we ourselves took action.”
No civilians were injured in the drone attack, the Prime Minister told MPs. He added: “I am clear the action we took was entirely lawful.
“The Attorney General was consulted and was clear there would be a legal basis for action in international law. There was clear evidence of the individuals planning and directing attacks against the UK.
“In the circumstances in Syria, the air strike was the only feasible means of disrupting the attacks. It was necessary and proportionate for the self- defence of the UK.”
Mr Cameron insisted the strike was not part of an allied attack against Islamic State in Syria.
He said there was a “strong case” for Britain joining air strikes in Syria but promised to hold a fresh vote in Parliament before going ahead.
Acting Labour leader Harriet Harman urged the Government to publish the legal advice justifying the decision to launch the drone attack.
Khan was a high- profi le member of Islamic State and has appeared in recruitment videos attempting to lure young Muslims from Britain.
WE ARE living through dangerous times as David Cameron confirmed yesterday when he told the House of Commons that six terrorist attacks against Britain have been foiled in the past 12 months. It would be blindly optimistic to expect this situation to continue for ever. The terrorists only have to get lucky once, the security services have to get everything right every time.
The Director General of MI5 has in the past stated that it is only a matter of time before we are hit. That we have stayed safe in the face of a growing threat is testament to the hard work and expertise of the security services.
The RAF drone attacks in Syria that killed two British members of IS send a powerful message to our enemies. Even on the other side of the world they cannot run and they cannot hide. This country does not tolerate terrorism and our Government is capable of acting decisively to eliminate those who wish us harm.
But at the same time Europe has capitulated in the face of the migrant crisis. By throwing their arms open and allowing thousands of people into the continent the governments of Europe have created an easy opportunity for jihadists to make it on to our doorstep. Meanwhile IS’s slick propaganda videos and the vile ravings of hate preachers continue to exert an influence on the minds of impressionable Britons.
As the Government considers greater military intervention in Syria it cannot afford to forget that terrorism needs to be tackled much closer to home too.
MILLIONS have been moved by the photograph of a Turkish soldier carrying the lifeless body of threeyear- old Aylan Kurdi from the beach where he had been washed up after drowning on an attempted voyage to Greece. But our leaders should be wiser than to react in panic to a wave of public emotion.
David Cameron’s announcement yesterday that Britain will take in 20,000 Syrian refugees over the next five years is a gesture which will make next to no impact on the human tragedies in the Middle East and North Africa.
He has little idea of where these people will be rehomed. We already have an acute housing crisis, with many migrants already here living in garden sheds and overcrowded, illegally sublet council homes.
Aylan Kurdi’s death changes nothing. Those who have been following the migrant crisis will know that more than 2,000 people have already died attempting to cross the Mediterranean this year – on top of 3,000 who perished last year. Many of them were children. The only difference in Aylan’s case was that there happened to be a photographer around when his body washed up.
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