MI5 chief: Minority of Muslims a threat to UK

THE head of MI5 today warns Britain faces a ‘serious’ threat from a small minority of Muslims.

Marking the tenth anniversary of the 7/7 attacks by four Al Qaeda suicide bombers, Andrew Parker warns of ‘individuals who’ve grown up here but decided for whatever twisted reasons to identify their own country as the enemy’.

Writing on the MI5 website, he says that a ‘tiny fraction of the population … presents a serious security challenge’.

David Cameron will today lead tributes to the 52 people killed and the hundreds who were injured on the London transport system a decade ago.

Mr Parker said the atrocity had been the moment when the UK fully realised the threat posed by Al Qaeda and other fanatics – and that an attack was possible on British soil.

BRITAIN faces a ‘serious societal’ threat from a tiny minority of Muslims with a ‘twisted’ belief their own country is the enemy, the head of MI5 warns today.

On the tenth anniversary of 7/7, Andrew Parker describes the atrocity as the moment the UK fully woke up to the threat of Al Qaeda and other Islamists.

he says a ‘step change’ in counterterrorism defences, as a result of the london bombings, allowed the security service to foil more plots and save thousands of lives.

But, in an article for MI5’s website, Mr Parker says ‘appalling acts’ continue to be attempted by individuals who have ‘grown up here but decided for whatever twisted reasons to identify their own country as the enemy’.

he adds: ‘They are a tiny fraction of the population. But the continuing fact that some people born in the UK, with all the opportunities and freedoms that modern Britain offers, can nonetheless make those sorts of warped choices presents a serious societal and security challenge.’

It follows warnings by David Cameron that some Muslim communities are ‘quietly condoning’ the extremist ideology that can lead to terrorism.

The Prime Minister and other dignitaries will today pay tribute to victims of the bombers who set off homemade devices on three Tube trains and a bus a decade ago, killing 52 and injuring hundreds.

Police and security officials are on high alert, with a terrorist outrage officially rated highly likely.

Mr Parker insists MI5 could not have prevented the July 7 attacks, orchestrated by Mohammad sidique Khan, who had been on the security services’ radar.

he adds: ‘ We had always known, and said publicly, we simply can’t find and stop every terrorist plot … While it remains true that we thwart most attempts, the rare occasions when terror attacks occur stand as stark moments in contemporary history.

‘In the preceding months, there had been a degree of scepticism about the terrorism threat in the media … 7/7 ended those arguments and led to a step change in the nation’s counter-terrorism defences.

‘A year later we detected and … prevented Al Qaeda’s most ambitious plot, to bring down multiple airliners on Us cities using liquid bombs on flights from london. Thousands would have died. I’m not sure we would have detected it without the uplift that followed 7/7.’

In a police interview marking the anniversary, Britain’s top counter-terrorism officer said the threat is ‘very different’ to 2005 – but every bit as severe.

The Met’s Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said, instead of Al Qaeda ‘going for complex, high-impact attacks’, officers were now confronted by Islamic state’s cruder tactics. he said of Is: ‘ We are dealing with an organisation that uses marketing, uses the internet and is trying to create a corrupt violent cult … to act in its name.’

Is is making an ‘enormous’ list of potential targets which is ‘not very focused’, Mr Rowley said.

‘We still have some individuals interested in sophisticated attack planning but you’ve got this breadth now … it reaches into people’s homes in terms of recruitment … somebody on one side of the world can organise a plot on the other side of the world through the internet … [ it’s] very different to what we were dealing with in 2005,’ he added.

he claimed Is’s ‘warped version of Islam’ was having an impact outside Muslim communities, adding: ‘They are looking for misfits and criminals from all sorts of backgrounds.’

In a statement last night, Mr Cameron said: ‘We will never be cowed by terrorism.

‘We will keep on doing all we can to keep the British public safe, protecting vulnerable young minds from others’ extremist beliefs and promoting the shared values of tolerance, love and respect that make Britain so great.’

Meanwhile, in a radio interview, former prime minister Tony Blair once again denied the terrorist attacks were a response to his foreign policy in Iraq and Afghanistan.

‘Warped version

of Islam