. Britain
- Al-Qaida members have been arrested all over Europe: Great Britain, Germany, France, Belgium, and Spain. But the more important one, Abu Qatada, Osama bin Laden's European Ambassador suspected of mass murder and bombing, is still hiding in Britain where he has been living at least for nine years. The police has been looking for him for many months but without success. British Fundamentalist Islamic groups could protect him but some others believe that he has defected and that he is helping MI5, revealing all he knows about the terrorist cells across Europe. One day we will know.
- It is well known that hundred, if not thousand, of British Muslims living in Britain are al-Qaida members, or support his terrorist organisation one-way or the other. At least 36 of them are under surveillance by the security services. None of them have been arrested or interned because there are no proofs against them. It is also believed that between 500 and 600 British Muslim had some training in the al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan or Pakistan before September 11, 2002. They are now back.
- On December 8, 2002, the British police arrested seven men in London and
Edinburgh on suspicion of fundraising and logistical support of some terrorist
organisation. They are also accused to have some loose links with al-Qaida.
- The British anti-terrorism police have arrested 6 men of North Africa -possibly
Algerian origin- on January 7, 2003, after Ricin, a very potent poison, was
found in one apartment in London. Ricin is a colourless, odourless substance
derived from castor beans. There is no known antidote to this poison but it
is not easy to use on large scale, however it has been used to kill individuals.
- New and bigger "Royal Panic Rooms" have been built at Buckingham
Palace and at Windsor Castle to protect Queen Elizabeth II and some senior
members of her family against terrorist attacks (poison, bombs or assassination).
They cost about $1.8 million.
- Four men were accused in London on January 11, 2003, and officially charged
on January 13 of producing chemical weapons and of terrorism offences. They
are not thought to have links with the group arrested previously but they
possessing some small amount of the deadly poison Ricin. These men are of
North African origin and were identified as Mouloud Feddag, Sidali Feddag,
Samir Feddag and Mistapha Taleb. On January 13, 2003, six more people -five
men and a woman- were arrested in Bournemouth. It is not clear if they are
liked with the four Algerians charged the same day in London for having the
deadly poison Ricin.
- On January 14, 2003, a British plainclothes policeman was stabbed to death
and four others hurt while arresting three men of Algerian origin in Manchester.
They are thought to be linked with the people charged with possessing the
deadly poison Ricin in London.
- On January 20, 2003, the police in London raided Finsbury Park mosque in
north London and confiscated tear gas, passports and credit cards, and arrested
seven people, six Algerians and one east European. This action is related
to the discovery of the ricin poison nearby on January 5. One of the cleric,
Sheik Abu Hamza al-Masri, is well known to support Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida
and to preach Jihad, the sacred war of the Muslims against the Infidels. Richard
Reid who tried to blow-up a US plane with explosive hidden in his shoes and
Zacarias Moussaoui, the 20th September 11 would be martyr are known to have
been to this Mosque.
- The controversial Muslim cleric and Imam, Abu Hamza, was removed from the
London Central Mosque in Finsbury Park on February 4, 2003. He is accused
of using it for spreading extreme political propaganda as well as for calling
the Columbia shuttle disaster a "divine act, a message for mankind"
and a punishment for the sins of the Infidels. Abu Hamza said that he would
defy the ban.
- And on February 12, 2003, Heathrow airport in London, followed soon by other
airports in Britain went on missile terror alert. About 400 soldiers in tanks
and 1,000 heavily armed policemen took over. Cars, but especially lorries,
on nearby roads were stopped and checked. Later on it was said that the intelligence
services "knew" that terrorists had smuggled a ground-to-air missile
launcher to Britain.
- People here are wondering if this alert has been launched to reduce the
size of the anti-war protest organised this Saturday February 15 in London
where up to 1,000,000 people are expected to participate. People are also
asking why Heathrow, and nothing at Gatwick? No answer to this until now!
- All the same, a live grenade was found in the luggage of a Venezuelan man
- Rahaman Alan Hazil Mohammad- arriving from Caracas on a British Airways
jet at Gatwick on February 13! This caused huge disruption to the traffic
and a lot of nuisance to the travellers, some had to spend the night in the
airport. An inquiry is launched in Caracas to find out how it was possible
for anybody to board a plane with a hand grenade. Rahaman Alan Hazil Mohammad
appeared in court and was charged in London on February 16, 2003. He is accused
of possession of an article for committing a terrorist act, possession of
an explosive substance with the intend of endangering life or damaging property,
and carrying a dangerous article on a British plane. He was remanded in jail.
- On September 7, 2003, an extremist British Islamic group is planning to
hold a conference in London on September 11 dedicated to the "Magnificent
Nineteen", the hijackers who died in the attacks on the USA two years
before that caused the death of about 3,000 people. Hundred of young British
Muslims will attend. Omar Bakri Mohammed, the Emir of the group al-Muhajirom
denied that it would be a celebration of the attacks on the USA but only an
"exploration of the causes of the events".
- There was a massive anti-terrorist exercise in London on Sunday September
7, 2003. The emergency services tested their procedures, their new equipments,
and their ability to work together by simulating a chemical attack at an underground
station in the City. The results of the operation will be analysed in the
next few days, but the first impression was that everything went well.
- On September 17, 2003, Abu Qatada, the London based radical Islamic cleric
detained under Britain's post September 11 anti-terrorist law, is facing extradition
to Spain where he is accused of belonging to al-Qaida.
- On September 30, 2003, 10 Algerians have been arrested in London and Manchester.
They will be interrogated to see if thy are involved in terrorist activities,
as the police believes.
- On October 14, 2003, a legal peer, Lord Alexander of Weedon, QC and chairman
of the all-party law reform group, said that the British attorney general,
Lord Goldsmith, "scrapped the bottom of the legal barrel" to give
legitimacy to the war on Iraq. He added that it was "risible" for
the government to rely on a UN resolution passed in 1990 as a basis to invade
Iraq in 2003 knowing that the UN Security Council would not authorise it.
Lord Alexander asked the attorney general to make public all his advices on
the question even if this goes against the British tradition.
- On June 9, 2004, a British cross-party committee is to investigate the role
of the British soldiers in Iraq. Some doubts about their legal status is growing
as the latest UN resolution does not fully clarify the position of the foreign
troops in Iraq after the transfer of sovereignty on June 30; in addition there
are increasing allegations of serious human right abuses.
- On August 28, 2005, we were told that the government was warned over a year
ago by its most senior Foreign Office official that the Iraq war was fuelling
UK Muslim extremism in Britain. Foreign Office Permanent Secretary Michael
Jay issued the warning in a May 2004 letter to Cabinet Secretary Sir Andrew
Turnbull in which he said British foreign policy was a "key driver"
behind recruitment by extremist Muslim groups. The Foreign Office said it
did not comment on leaked documents.
- Hundreds of people are being kept under surveillance as part of the battle
against terrorism, Home Secretary Charles Clarke told MPs on September 13,
2005.
- Seven people have been detained by police and Immigration Service officers
on September 15, 2005. Six were held in London and one in Greater Manchester.
The detainees were Algerians and the majority were among the eight men cleared
in April of involvement in a ricin poison plot.
- CCTV footage shows the 7 July London bombers staging a practice run nine
days before the attack. Detectives reconstructed the bombers' movements studying
thousands of hours of film. The images show three of the bombers entering
Luton station, before travelling to King's Cross station where they are also
pictured.
- The first payments have been made to victims of the 7 July London bombings,
the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority said on October 4, 2005. The
board sent out two compensation cheques and expected more offers of awards
to be accepted. So far it has offered 14 payments to bereaved relatives and
eight to injured survivors for more than £400,000. Under strict Home
Office guidelines, bereaved relatives will receive £11,000 each or £5,500
if two or more claim for the same victim.
- Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Sir Menzies Campbell called on
September 18, 2005, for an end to the US and UK "occupation" of
Iraq. But he stopped short of calling for a date for the withdrawal of troops.
In his speech to the Liberal Democrat annual conference, Sir Menzies said
the Iraq war was illegal, and conducted on a "false prospectus".
He also attacked the "inexcusable failure" to plan for post-war
Iraq, which is illustrated by a "terrible daily carnage" in the
country.
- One of the men accused of trying to bomb a London Underground train on 21
July has been remanded in custody on September 23, 2005. Hussain Osman, 27,
is charged with offences including the attempted murder of Tube passengers
at Shepherd's Bush and conspiracy to murder. Mr Osman, who was extradited
from Italy on Thursday, was remanded in custody by Belmarsh magistrates until
8 December.
- The UK and US may have to abandon Iraq if central government breaks down
and the country is engulfed by chaos, Tony Blair's former special envoy said
on September 23, 2005. But he added he did not think this had happened yet.
- On September 25, 2005, Prime Minister Tony Blair has denied reports that
British soldiers will start withdrawing from Iraq next May. Any exit strategy
"depends on the job being done", he said. Mr Blair also said he
had not expected the "ferocity" with which elements in the Middle
East would try to disrupt the political process. But he said despite insurgents
infiltrating the Iraqi police force, and the escalating violence in the country,
he would have made the same decision to invade Iraq.
- On October 25, 2005, the US Senate committee that accused MP George Galloway
a few months ago of receiving oil money from Saddam Hussein has accused him
of lying under oath. Mr Galloway gave evidence to a Washington hearing in
May, where he ridiculed the claims against him. Now the senators say they
have fresh evidence linking the Respect MP and his wife to Iraq's oil-for-food
programme. Mr Galloway replied: "I did not lie under oath in front of
the senate committee." His wife has previously issued denials. The committee
says it has seen bank records linking Mr Galloway and his wife Dr Amineh Abu-Zayyad
with Iraqi government vouchers. Chairman Norm Coleman said documents it had
uncovered were "the smoking gun". Mr Coleman claimed that Mr Galloway
had "been anything but straight" with the committee.
- The former British ambassador to the US, Sir Christopher Meyer, believes
the Iraq war has played a part in fuelling terror attacks in the UK. He said,
"there is plenty of evidence" that "home-grown terrorism was
partly radicalised and fuelled" by Iraq. Sir Christopher, who sat in
on crucial meetings between President Bush and Mr Blair in the build-up to
the war, is about to publish his memoirs of his time in Washington. Although
he still believed that it was right to topple Saddam Hussein, he expressed
misgivings about how the war's aftermath had been handled. "I don't believe
the enterprise is doomed necessarily, though, God, it does not look good."
- On Monday November 7, 2005, the former British ambassador to the United
States accused Prime Minister Tony Blair of squandering a golden opportunity
to push the United States to delay the invasion of Iraq. On Tuesday, he described
Blair's government as, mostly, "a crowd of pygmies." These assessments,
and others, appear in a memoir by the former ambassador, Christopher Meyer,
which is being excerpted in British newspapers. Although Blair's Labour government
is affecting an insouciance about Meyer's unflattering analysis, the book
is proving a huge embarrassment at a time when the prime minister is confronting
restiveness in his own party and sturdier than usual challenges from the Conservative
opposition. Meyer is particularly damning about what he sees as the rush to
war in Iraq, accusing the British government and the Bush administration of
being ill prepared to deal with the aftermath of the invasion. In the book,
Meyer charges that Blair could have used his influence to delay the Iraq war
by six months or so - buying crucial time to determine whether Saddam Hussein
had unconventional weapons, to seek a second UN resolution authorizing the
use of military intervention, and to formulate a coherent long-term plan for
post-Saddam Iraq.
- On November 11, 2005, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has attacked ex-ambassador
Sir Christopher Meyer's memoirs as an "unacceptable" breach of trust.
Mr Straw said the book raised questions about Sir Christopher's role as head
of the Press Complaints Commission. He rejected the book's claim that the
Foreign Office was cut out of much of the discussion before the Iraq war.
Senior civil servants and the Lib Democrats have echoed concerns about Sir
Christopher breaking confidentiality.
- On December 20, 2005, the British antiterrorist police arrested one man
suspected to be involved in the July 21 failed bombing in London. The unidentified
man was arrested when his plane from Addis Abada, Ethiopia, landed in Gatwick.
- On December 21,2005, Sir Jeremy Greenstock, a former ambassador at the UN
and former UK representative in Baghdad, said that the insurgency in Iraq
could last five more years. Moreover the US-led coalition will still need
more than 100,000 troops there in 2007.
- Conservative leader David Cameron is calling on February 6, 2006, for curbs
on prime ministers' power to declare war or agree treaties without the approval
of MPs. He wants more key decisions to be down to MPs, rather than the prime
minister. Last year Gordon Brown called for a debate on whether MPs should
have the final say on sending troops to war.
- A demonstrator, Omar Khayam, who imitated a suicide bomber in a Muslim protest
over cartoons satirising the Prophet Muhammad has been recalled to prison
on February 7, 2006. He is a convicted drug dealer who was jailed in 2002
and released on licence last year after serving half his sentence. He was
arrested and recalled to prison for breaching the terms of his licence. Khayam
apologised for his "insensitive" protest on Monday but said the
cartoons had offended him.
- On February 18, 2006, British military police have begun interviewing four
Iraqi youths about the attack by soldiers. Officers spoke to four alleged
victims and visited the area where it is claimed the incident took place.
- An inquest into the deaths of six Royal Military Policemen, killed by a
mob in southern Iraq, has begun on March 13, 2006. The men - all from the
Goojerat Barracks in Colchester - died during an attack on a police station
in the town of Majar al-Kabir in June 2003. They are: Cpl Simon Miller 21,
from Tyne and Wear; Sgt Simon Hamilton-Jewell 41, of Chessington, Surrey;
Cpl Russell Aston 30, of Swadlincote, Derbyshire; Cpl Paul Long 24, from Colchester;
L/Cpl Benjamin McGowan Hyde 23, of Northallerton, North Yorkshire; L/Cpl Tom
Keys 20, of Bala, North Wales.
- A member of a UK group with alleged links to al-Qaida was involved in a
plot to buy an atomic bomb, a jury at the Old Bailey has been told on March
22, 2006. The plan was to buy it from the Russian mafia in Belgium, the jury
heard. Four men, of Crawley, West Sussex, one of Horley, Surrey, one of Ilford,
east London, and one of Luton, Bedfordshire, deny conspiring to cause explosions.
Four of the men also deny having chemicals suitable for bomb-making. The second
day of the trial heard claims that one suspect had talked of bombing the Bluewater
shopping centre in Kent, and allegations that two men had been trained in
the use of the ricin poison in Pakistan. The court heard that in 2001, when
Salahuddin Amin had been in Pakistan, he had been asked by Abu Munthir, a
man he had met at a mosque in his hometown of Luton, to contact a man named
Abu Annis about a "radio-isotope bomb". Mr Amin later told police
he did not believe the offer could be genuine.
- An RAF doctor who refused to serve in Iraq because he thought the war illegal
is to go before a court martial. Flt Lt Malcolm Kendall-Smith, 37, will face
trial, ruled a judge advocate at Aldershot Court Martial Centre, Hants. The
officer faces five charges of failing to comply with a lawful order after
refusing training and deployment to Basra, southern Iraq, last June. Moray,
he had served in Iraq but would not return after studying legal advice to
ministers. Judge Advocate Jack Bayliss, delivering his ruling, said UK troops
had full justification under United Nations resolutions to be deployed in
Iraq at the time of the charges against the defendant - June to July 2005.
He added that the question of the legality of the 2003 invasion was not relevant
to the court martial because it predated those charges.
- Six Red Caps killed by a mob in Iraq in 2003 should have been better equipped,
but their deaths could not have been avoided, a coroner has said on March
31, 2006. The military policemen's relatives said Scotland Yard should investigate
and that officers who did not obey orders should be court-martialled. Coroner
Nicholas Gardiner said the men should not have been given antiquated radios
and little ammunition. He recorded a verdict of unlawful killing over the
deaths. The coroner will write to Defence Secretary John Reid about army equipment
and procedures "to prevent the recurrence of fatalities". The families
are calling for a public inquiry and believe the Army failed in its duty of
care to the men. The soldiers had 50 rounds rather than the standard 150 rounds
and had left base without an iridium satellite phone. But the coroner said
having and using better communications would not have saved the men on that
day.
- US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has started her visit to the northwest
of England on March 31, 2006, saying she had "no problem" with people
protesting. At a school in Foreign Secretary Jack Straw's constituency she
entered using a side entrance, avoiding protesters. A planned visit to a mosque
in the town was scrapped because of fears of protests in the building.
- The first official recognition that the Iraq war motivated the four London
suicide bombers has been made on April 3, 2006, by the British Government
in a report into the 7 July attacks. Despite attempts by Number 10, Downing
Street, to play down suggestions that the conflict has made Britain a target
for terrorists, the Home Office inquiry into the deadliest terror attack on
British soil has conceded that the bombers were inspired by UK foreign policy,
principally the decision to invade Iraq.
- On April 28, 2006, five men, Ibrahim Muktar Said, 27, Ramzi Mohamed, 23,
Yassin Omar, 24, and Hussain Osman, 27, all from London, have denied charges
at the Old Bailey over the alleged London bombing attempts on 21 July last
year. They also denied attempted murder of transport users and having improvised
explosives with intent to endanger life. The trial is due in October.
- On May 9, 2006, a radical Islamic cleric who has been accused of being a
leading figure in al-Qaeda was a risk to UK security, a deportation hearing
has been told. Abu Qatada is trying to persuade the Special Immigration Appeals
Commission that he should not be sent to Jordan.
- A lack of resources prevented security services from intercepting the 7
July London bombers, a report claimed on May 11, 2006. Security officers knew
two of the bombers, but the threat they posed was not realised. Home Secretary
John Reid, separately gave the government's official account of the bombings
to the Commons, saying there would be no public inquiry. But politicians and
relatives of those who were killed have renewed their calls for a full independent
inquiry.
- Tony Blair was under pressure to begin pulling troops out of Iraq on May
13, 2006, amid claims their presence causes more problems than it solves.
Lieutenant-General Sir Rob Fry, the deputy coalition commander and the most
senior UK general in Iraq, said a phased withdrawal was likely to begin "in
the pretty near future". Fry said he believed the incoming Iraqi government
would be "extremely keen" to see a withdrawal because this would
show it was in charge. At the same time Mohammed al-Waili, the governor of
Basra, said British control of security was preventing the provincial government
from purging the security forces of militia members. He added that a boycott
on co-operation with the British had been suspended last Sunday only after
British commanders promised agreement on "a timescale for the execution
of future plans". His comments came as a senior member of the Mahdi army,
the militia of the radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, claimed it was behind
the shooting down of a Royal Navy Lynx helicopter in which five British service
personnel died.
- Seven people are being held following an anti-terrorist police operation
across England on May 24, 2006, to target people they suspect of plotting
attacks abroad. The raids involving 500 officers are believed to relate to
activities in Iraq. Eighteen properties were raided and nine arrests made,
but two people were later released. The police forces involved are Greater
Manchester, West Midlands, Cleveland, Metropolitan Police and Merseyside.
- Ministers are failing to meet their legal duties to investigate claims that
the CIA is flying terror suspects through the UK, say MPs and peers on May
26, 2006. Parliament's joint committee on human rights says the government
should take "active steps" to find out more details about certain
flights. The government insists there is no evidence of secret prisoner flights.
And the committee says it should require chartered civil aircraft to provide
staff and passenger lists when they use UK airports or fly through British
airspace.
- The number of servicemen deserting has tripled since the invasion of Iraq,
raising fears of a growing refusal to serve on dangerous missions abroad.
More than 900 troops have gone permanently "absent without leave"
(AWOL) since the start of 2003, and the number leaving is rising.
- The figures were disclosed on May 28, 2006, after a Commons debate over
a law that would mean military personnel refusing to take part in a foreign
occupation could face life jail sentences.
- Poor communication and a lack of basic medical supplies hampered the 7 July
bombings rescue operation, a London Assembly report found on June 5, 2006.
While recognising their heroic efforts, the report found rescuers underground
could not use radios and some relied on mobile phones, which were overwhelmed.
The report calls for digital radios for emergency services as soon as possible.
- A computer expert said on June 23, 2006, that he warned police about the
activities of two of the 7 July London bombers in 2003. Martin Gilbertson
was concerned by material Mohammad Sidique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer produced
at a West Yorkshire bookshop. He also told the BBC he wrote to local police
to express his concerns about the "anti-Western" material but that
no action was taken. A West Yorkshire police spokesman said it was impossible
to track the letter. Mr Gilbertson, who is a former Hell's Angel, said he
came into contact with the two when he worked on computers at the Islamic
bookshop in Beeston, Leeds, where both the men lived. They may have trusted
him because they perceived him to be anti-government, Mr Gilbertson told BBC's
Newsnight programme.
- On July 7, 2006, the UK is paying tribute to the victims of the London attacks,
one year after suicide bombers killed 52 people and injured more than 700.
The country fell silent for two minutes at noon. The day will culminate in
a service at London's Regent's Park for the public, survivors and the bereaved.
- The video of London bomber Shehzad Tanweer shown on al-Jazeera TV on July
6, 2006, the eve of the attack's first anniversary, provides more evidence
linking the bombers to al-Qaeda. But questions still remain, and the answers
to many of those questions lie in Pakistan.
- On July 10, 2006, we were told that a second independent inquiry will be
conducted into last month's anti-terror raid in Forest Gate. It will investigate
claims by neighbours of the raided house that they were assaulted. One man
claims he was hit with a machine gun. The new investigation is separate from
an inquiry launched last month into how a man was shot in the shoulder during
the east London raid. Brothers Abul Koyair, 20, and Mohammed Abdul Kahar,
23 - who was shot during the 2 June raid - were freed without charge after
the 250-strong police operation at their home, 46 Lansdown Road, and adjoining
house, number 48.
- On July 17, 2006, we were told that no police officers are to be prosecuted
over the fatal shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes at a Tube station last
July. The Metropolitan force will be charged under health and safety laws.
The Crown Prosecution Service said there was "insufficient evidence"
to prosecute any individual over the death at Stockwell, south London, on
22 July. Alex Pereira, a cousin of Brazilian Mr Menezes who was shot seven
times in the head, said the decision was "unbelievable" and "ridiculous".
Mr Menezes was shot by police officers after being mistaken for a suicide
bomber. Reacting to the CPS decision over health and safety, the Met Police
said in a statement it was "concerned and clearly disappointed".
- On July 22, 2006, four cousins of Jean Charles de Menezes have visited the
Tube station where he was shot by police, to mark the first anniversary of
his death. They held a minute's silence in front of a tableau of pictures
and poems at Stockwell, in south London. Mr Menezes was shot the day after
a series of attempted bombings in London. Prosecutors said on Monday that
no officers would be charged over the shooting, which happened when police
mistook him for a suicide bomber. However, the Metropolitan Police are to
be prosecuted under health and safety laws in connection with the death of
the 27-year-old Brazilian electrician, who was shot seven times in the head.
His family attacked the decision not to prosecute any officers as "unbelievable"
and "ridiculous".
- Two police firearms officers involved in the fatal shooting of Jean Charles
de Menezes have been cleared on July 28, 2006, to resume "full operational
duties". The officers were taken off firearms duty as a matter of routine
while their conduct was being investigated.
- A British soldier died in Iraq because he was not wearing the enhanced body
armour he had had to give up because of shortages, an Army report has found
on August1, 2006. Sgt Steven Roberts was accidentally shot dead when UK troops
opened fire during a disturbance near Basra in March 2003. The board of inquiry
said bulletproof plates on his Enhanced Combat Body Armour (ECBA) would have
saved him. The MoD says ECBA is now issued to all personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan.
- A plot to blow up planes in flight from the UK to the US and commit "mass
murder on an unimaginable scale" has been disrupted on August 10, 2006.
It is thought the plan was to detonate explosive devices smuggled in hand
luggage on to as many as 10 aircraft. Police are searching premises after
21 people were arrested. Home Secretary John Reid said they believed the "main
players" were accounted for. High security is causing delays at all UK
airports. The threat level to the UK has been raised by MI5 to critical after
the arrests in London, High Wycombe and Birmingham.
- On August 11, 2006, anti-terror police are continuing to quiz 22 people
over an alleged plot to blow up transatlantic jets. The Metropolitan Police
has been granted warrants for the further detention of the suspects until
next Wednesday
- British Muslim groups have written to the prime minister on August 10, 2006,
calling for "urgent" changes to UK foreign policy. In an open letter
they said British policy is putting civilians at increased risk in the UK
and abroad. Three Muslim MPs, three peers and 38 groups signed the letter;
it points to the "debacle" of Iraq and the UK's stance over the
Middle East crisis. The letter urges the prime minister to redouble his efforts
to tackle terror and extremism, and change foreign policy to show the UK values
the lives of civilians.
- On Sunday August 13, 2006, Home Secretary John Reid has revealed that "at
least four major plots" have been thwarted since the 7 July attacks in
London last year. He added that the government believes the first al-Qaida
plot in the UK was in 2000 in Birmingham, preceding the war in Iraq and the
9/11 attacks. Police are currently quizzing 23 people over an alleged plot
to blow up planes.
- The terror threat to the UK has been downgraded from "critical"
to "severe" on Monday August 14, 2006. Home Secretary John Reid
said the change was made because an attack was "highly likely" but
not "imminent".
- On Tuesday August 15, 2006, all UK airports have relaxed the restrictions
on hand luggage introduced in the wake of Thursday's alert over a possible
terror plot. The new guidelines - which allow one item of hand luggage the
size of a laptop computer bag - were delayed until Tuesday at Heathrow and
Gatwick. Most airports have reported business as usual, while 45 flights were
cancelled at Heathrow, the worst-affected. Airport operator BAA has said searches
mean delays are likely to continue.
- Police have found several martyrdom videos in the course of their searches
we were told on August 19, 2006. The recordings -discovered on laptop computers-
appears to have been made by some of the suspects being questioned.
- Eleven people have appeared in court on Tuesday August 22, 2006, in connection
with an alleged plot to blow up several transatlantic airliners. Eight were
charged with conspiracy to murder and preparing acts of terrorism. Two were
accused of failing to disclose information and a 17-year-old was charged with
possessing articles useful to a person preparing terrorism acts. All 11 people
were remanded in custody. They all deny the charges.
- Police said on Wednesday August 23, 2006, it would seek more time to quiz
some of 11 suspects held over an alleged plot to blow up transatlantic jets.
Eleven other suspects, who have been charged, appeared in court in London
on Tuesday and were remanded in custody. Anti-terror police searched a wood
at Lane End, Buckinghamshire, overnight following a previous search of woods
eight miles away in High Wycombe.
- Armed police on Saturday September 2, 2006, have arrested 14 men following
anti-terror raids in London, including 12 arrests at a restaurant in the Borough
area. Two people were held elsewhere in the city. Police said the arrests
were not connected to the alleged transatlantic jet bomb plot or the 7 July
attacks.
- On September 19, 2006, a soldier was facing a lengthy jail term after becoming
the first British serviceman to admit a war crime. Corporal Donald Payne pleaded
guilty to inhumanely treating civilians detained in Iraq. The offence carries
a maximum penalty of 30 years in jail. At the centre of the case is the death
in custody of Iraqi hotel worker Baha Musa, 26, in Basra in September 2003.
Post-mortem tests found 93 injuries on his body. Among seven defendants standing
trial is Colonel Jorge Mendonca, former commander of the Queen's Lancashire
Regiment (QLR), the most senior UK serviceman ever to face a court martial.
The Iraqi civilians arrested at a hotel in Basra were held for 36 hours in
a disused building. When the civilians were arrested in a planned swoop at
the hotel, on September 14 2003, it was believed they were dangerous insurgents.
A stash of weapons and apparent bomb-making equipment was found in the hotel
by a QLR patrol. While admitting inhumane treatment, Payne, formerly of the
QLR now of the renamed Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, denies Mr Musa's manslaughter
and perverting the course of justice. His six co-defendants all pleaded not
guilty to the charges facing them.
- Al-Qaida has become more organised and sophisticated and has made Britain
its top target, counter-terrorism officials said on October 19, 2006. Security
sources say the situation has never been so grim. They believe the network
is now operating a cell structure in the UK -like the IRA did- and sees the
7 July bomb attacks "as just the beginning". Each cell has a leader,
a quartermaster dealing with weapons, and volunteers. Each cell works on separate,
different plots, with masterminds controlling several different cells.
- On November 6, 2006, a court was told that a Muslim convert planned to detonate
a dirty bomb and launch an attack on the London Underground. Former Hindu
Dhiren Barot, 34, from London, plotted "massive explosions" in the
US and UK, aiming to kill hundreds. Barot, who last month admitted conspiracy
to murder, wanted to pack limousines with gas cylinders and also use a radioactive
"dirty" bomb.
- MI5 knows of 30 terror plots threatening the UK and is keeping 1,600 individuals
under surveillance, the security service's head said on November. Dame Eliza
Manningham-Buller warned the threat was "serious" and "growing"
adding that future attacks could be chemical or nuclear and that many of the
plots were linked to al-Qaida. Prime Minister Tony Blair said the terrorist
threat was "very real" and spoke of "poisonous propaganda"
warping the minds of young people. MI5 has increased in size by nearly 50%
since 9/11 and now stands at roughly 2,800 staff.
- On November 19, 2006, the UK and Pakistan have agreed to strengthen their
ties to fight terrorism following talks between the countries' two leaders
in Lahore. Mr Blair praised Pakistan's co-operation. The president said his
country was doing all it could to help. But he added that defeating the Taliban
could not be done by force alone and said a "broader strategy" was
needed. He urged a "massive inflow" of development aid to rebuild
the southeast of the country -the centre of the Taliban insurgency.
- On November 19, 2006, UK police are investigating the poisoning of a Russian
former security agent and critic of President Vladimir Putin living in exile
in Britain. Alexander Litvinenko, a former colonel in the KGB, told the BBC
he fell ill after meeting a contact at a London sushi bar on 1 November. The
43-year-old is in a serious but stable condition in University College Hospital,
London. Clinical experts said he was poisoned with the highly toxic metal
thallium. Mr Litvinenko fled Russia and was granted political asylum in Britain
in 2001. It is reported he was granted British citizenship this year, although
this has not been confirmed by the Home Office that does not comment on individual
cases.
- The Russian dissident ill in a London hospital may have been poisoned with
a radioactive substance, an expert toxicologist said on November 21, 2006.
Professor John Henry said Alexander Litvinenko, 43, had symptoms consistent
with thallium poisoning but other symptoms linked to other substances.
- There has been a "dramatic deterioration" in the condition of
former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, doctors said on November 23, 2006.
Mr Litvinenko, 43, is now critically ill in intensive care at University College
Hospital in London, after suffering a heart attack overnight. Critical care
head Geoff Bellingan said it was unlikely the ex-KGB agent was poisoned by
thallium. The Kremlin and Russian security services have denied any involvement.
Friends of Mr Litvinenko have claimed he was poisoned in London earlier this
month because of his criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
- Mr Litvinenko, 43, died in a London hospital on Thursday evening November
23, 2006, and is thought to have been poisoned. The Russian ex- KGB spy has
accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of involvement in his death, in a
statement dictated before he died. Protest from around the world "will
reverberate, Mr Putin, in your ears for the rest of your life," he said.
Scotland Yard said officers were now investigating "an unexplained death".
Anti-terror police are leading the investigation, and it is still unclear
what killed him.
- On November 25, 2006, tests are to be carried out on people who may have
come into contact with Russian ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko. His death has
been linked to the presence of a "major dose" of radioactive polonium-210
in his body. Radioactive traces were found at a London hotel and sushi bar
he visited on 1 November.
- A coroner hearing the case of a Royal Marine killed by "friendly fire"
in Iraq on November 27, 2006, ruled his death was caused by serious failings
by the military. Christopher Maddison, 24, from Scarborough, was killed by
his own side during a river patrol in 2003. An initial investigation carried
out into Mr Maddison's death found that the marine had been killed in an enemy
ambush. That finding was called into question by a BBC documentary and the
case was reopened.
- Traces of polonium-210 radiation have been found at two more central London
addresses on November 27, 2006. One address, in Down Street, reportedly houses
the offices of his friend, exiled billionaire Boris Berezovsky. The other
location, in Grosvenor Street, is the headquarters of security and risk management
company Erinys. Traces of the substance have already been found at a sushi
restaurant, hotel and Mr Litvinenko's north London home. Three people who
have either been to the venues or had contact with him are to undergo radiological
tests.
- On November 30, 2006, British Airways is trying to contact 33,000 passengers
after radioactive traces were found on two of its planes. A third plane, currently
in Moscow, is to be flown back to the UK for tests. The low-grade radiation
was found by scientists investigating the death of ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko.
BA has named 221 affected flights on its website and passengers are urged
to contact NHS Direct or their own doctor. The health risk is thought to be
low.
- A contact of ex-Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko is to meet British detectives,
the BBC has learned on December 6, 2006. Former KGB bodyguard Andrei Lugovoi
will talk with Scotland Yard investigators. The meeting would be at the clinic
where he says Mr Lugovoi is undergoing medical checks. Russian officials are
expected to conduct the interviewing of Mr Lugovoi but British detectives
will be in attendance. He had previously given a statement to the British
Embassy in Moscow after seeing his name appear in the media in association
with investigations.
- On December 23, 2006, the Archbishop of Canterbury has accused the UK government
of placing Christians in the Middle East at risk through its actions in Iraq.
Dr Rowan Williams, head of the Anglican Church, said there had been a growing
number of attacks on Christians. The government said its policy in Iraq was
not the cause of such attacks.
- In a Christmas message, the Queen acknowledged on December 23, 2006, the
"great personal risk" British servicemen and women face in Iraq
and Afghanistan. The Queen said their "courage and loyalty are not lightly
taken" and she was "grateful to you all". She also said her
thoughts and prayers were with the families of servicemen and women who had
been killed.
- On December 29, 2006, the Archbishop of Canterbury said he might yet regret
not doing more to oppose the Iraq war. Dr Rowan Williams said that taking
a stronger position before the invasion may have made a difference. The archbishop
repeated his criticism of the decision to go to war, calling it morally and
practically flawed. This put the lives of troops at risk, he said, although
he had no doubt the government had acted in good faith.
- The Six men who planned "murderous suicide bombings" on public
transport in London on 21 July 2005 went to court on January 15, 2007. The
prosecution has told Woolwich Crown Court of their alleged "extremist
Muslim plot" targeting London two weeks after the 7 July bombings killed
52. Muktar Ibrahim, Manfo Asiedu, Hussein Osman, Yassin Omar, Ramzi Mohammed
and Adel Yahya -all originally from Africa- deny conspiracy to murder. The
six also deny charges of conspiracy to cause explosions.
- Five men have been arrested on January 23, 2007, under terrorism laws in
two separate operations. Police arrested two men in Halifax, West Yorkshire,
another two men were arrested in Cheetham Hill, Manchester, and a fifth man
was held after his arrest in that city's Longsight area.
- A ninth person has been arrested in Birmingham on January 31, 2007, over
what senior security sources say was an alleged plot to kidnap a member of
the armed forces. Eight men were arrested earlier following a series of morning
raids.
- The Ministry of Defence (MoD) failed on February 2, 2007, to provide an
inquest with a recording of a "friendly fire" incident in which
a British soldier, Lance Corporal of Horse Matty Hull, died in March 2003.
Oxfordshire Assistant Deputy Coroner Andrew Walker criticised the MoD for
delays and gave officials until Friday to produce the tape. But the MoD said
authorisation from the United States was needed to hand over the video. The
cockpit video was taken as a US aircraft opened fire on British troops.
- Religious leaders are calling for calm among Birmingham's Muslims on February
2, 2007, as police investigate an alleged kidnapping plot. Chairman Dr Mohammed
Naseem said Muslims felt "persecuted unjustly" by the government
for political ends but urged them to control their anger.
- A woman has received minor injuries in a "small" explosion at
an office building in central London February 5, 2007. Scotland Yard said
a letter bomb was found in a post room of the Capita building in Victoria
Street, Victoria.
- The US has agreed to make the cockpit video of the "friendly fire"
death of a British soldier available to an inquest, Downing Street has said
on February 6, 2007. The tape, obtained by the Sun show an American aircraft
attack on a British convoy in Iraq in 2003.
- Two men have received minor injuries in a "small explosion" at
an accountancy company in Berkshire on February 6, 2007.
- The excitement of two American fighter pilots turned to panic and finally
despair after their planes shot and killed a British soldier during a friendly
fire incident in Iraq four years ago, according to a leaked video released
Tuesday by a British newspaper on February 6, 2007. The Pentagon finally agreed
Tuesday to release the video to the family of Lance Corporal Matty Hull, who
was killed when US jets fired on his convoy in the southern Iraqi city of
Basra on March 28, 2003. The US authorities said they would allow the coroner's
inquest to view the cockpit video. The pilots "followed the procedures
and processes for engaging targets," said the Pentagon. No disciplinary
action was taken against the American pilots after the US military's own investigation,
which concluded that the death had been an accident. Four other British soldiers
were wounded.
- A woman has been injured on Wednesday February 7, 2007, by a letter bomb
that exploded at the main DVLA centre in Swansea, the fourth mail blast incident
in five days. A Berkshire accountancy firm was hit on Tuesday, and the London
congestion charge operator Capita on Monday. Police are also investigating
a letter bomb that injured a man at his home in Folkestone, Kent, on Saturday.
- Two of the nine men arrested during anti-terrorism raids in Birmingham last
Wednesday have been released without charge by police Wednesday February 7,
2007. The two said in a statement after their release that police had made
no mention to them of an alleged kidnap plot.
- On February 9, 2007, a man has been charged with plotting to kidnap and
kill a UK soldier, following last week's anti-terror raids. Parviz Khan, 36,
is accused of devising the plot between 1 November last year and his arrest
on 31 January. He also faces charges, along with four others, of supplying
equipment and funding for a terrorist act. The five men, who were arrested
during a police operation in Birmingham, will appear before City of Westminster
magistrates in London shortly.
- On February 17, 2007, we were told that Prince Harry, the third in line
for succession to the British throne, will serve on the front line in Iraq
by the end of this month. He will head for Basra and will then probably be
deployed along the border with Iran. Second Lieutenant Harry, who insisted
on going, is likely to be in charge of a troop of 12 soldiers in light armoured
vehicles. They are expected to be set on reconnaissance missions, spending
days or even weeks out in the desert.
- On February 18, 2007, the Army is making preparations to protect Prince
Harry as he prepares to deploy to Iraq. Harry is due to leave for a tour of
duty with the Household Cavalry Regiment in early Juner. The Metropolitan
Police protection officer assigned to him has already flown to Iraq to discuss
his security while in a war zone.
- A man has been arrested on February 19, 2007, in connection with the recent
spate of letter bomb attacks.
- Prince Harry and his squadron from The Blues and Royals have received their
marching orders on February 21, 2007, to deploy to Iraq in May. Second Lieutenant
Prince Harry will be leaving with A Squadron The Blues and Royals, Household
Cavalry, as part of the next rotation of troops for Operation Telic.
- A man who was charged over letter bombs sent to addresses in England and
Wales has been remanded in custody February 23, 2007. Miles Cooper, a school
caretaker from Cambridge, faces 12 charges under the Explosive Substances
Act and the Offences Against the Person Act. He appeared at Banbury Magistrates'
Court in Oxfordshire in connection with seven devices posted over three weeks.
Nine people were hurt in the attacks in London, Swansea, the West Midlands,
Berkshire, Kent and Oxfordshire.
- Thousands of anti-war protestors took part in demonstrations In London's
Trafalgar Square and Glasgow on Saturday February 24, 2007, calling for British
troops to be withdrawn from Iraq. The Stop The War coalition, who organised
the demo along with CND and the British Muslim Initiative, estimated up to
60,000 people were taking part in the London event. But the Metropolitan Police
said their latest figure put the number at 10,000.
- The probe into the poisoning of former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko
should end within weeks we were told on February 23, 2007. The UK government
would push for any Russians charged over the case to be extradited. Meanwhile,
one of the chief suspects, Andrei Lugovoi, said he was a witness not a suspect.
- The death of a UK soldier when a US pilot fired on his convoy in Iraq was
unlawful, a coroner ruled on March 15, 2007. The "friendly fire"
incident, which killed Lance Corporal Matty Hull, 25, amounted to a criminal
act, he said. Andrew Walker said the 2003 death was "entirely avoidable"
and L/Cpl Hull's widow said the verdict was "right". The Ministry
of Defence apologised for a delay in releasing film from the US A-10 plane.
The Pentagon offered the Hull family its "deepest sympathies".
- Schools in England will be able to ban pupils from wearing full-face veils
on security, safety or learning grounds under new uniforms guidance issued
by ministers on March 20, 2007. It says efforts must be made to accommodate
religious clothing, but stresses the importance of teachers and pupils being
able to make eye contact.
- One of three men arrested over the 7 July bombings is a 30-year-old taxi
driver from Leeds, it has emerged on March 23, 2007. Mohammed Shakil, recently
handed in his notice, saying that he was going to visit his father in Pakistan.
He was held at Manchester Airport with a man named Shipon Ullah. A third man
held in Leeds is Sadeer Saleem.
- On April 7, 2007, three men charged over the 7 July 2005 London bombings
have been remanded in custody until 20 April. Mohammed Shakil, Sadeer Saleem,
and Waheed Ali, were accused of conspiracy to cause explosions likely to endanger
life. The three men -who are the first to be charged in connection with the
bombings- appeared before Westminster Magistrates Court. Fifty-two people
were killed in the suicide attacks on the Tube and a bus.
- A coroner called it "inexcusable" on April 16, 2007, that US authorities
failed to release evidence about the first UK casualties of the Iraq war.
Andrew Walker was speaking at the reopening of an inquest into the fatal helicopter
crash in March 2003. The eight servicemen died along with four US marines
in Kuwait. American authorities would not give evidence or provide relevant
videotape to the court despite all efforts by the MoD, the coroner said. The
coroner has invited the US ambassador to attend the hearing. Now he wants
the ambassador to explain the apparent lack of co-operation -denied by the
US Defence Department.
- The death of eight British servicemen in an American helicopter crash at
the start of the Iraq war was due to mechanical failure, and not pilot error
as the US has claimed, an Oxford coroner ruled on April 19, 2007. The helicopter,
an American Sea Knight, crashed south of the Kuwait border in March 2003 on
the first day of the Iraq invasion. Four US marines also died. An American
inquiry found pilot error was to blame. It concluded that "spatial disorientation"
suffered by the US Marine Corps pilots led to the helicopter plunging nose
first to the ground. It was suggested at the Oxford inquest that the US explanation
for the crash might have been designed to avoid grounding its Sea Knights
to correct any mechanical failure.
- Six men have been arrested on April 24, 2007, on suspicion of incitement
offences by anti-terror officers from the Metropolitan Police. They include
Abu Izzadeen, also known as Omar Brooks, who made headlines when he heckled
Home Secretary John Reid at an event last year. Five arrests took place in
London and the sixth in Luton, Bedfordshire. Scotland Yard said the arrests
related to allegations of inciting others to commit acts of terrorism abroad
and fund-raising for terrorists.
- The government "cannot guarantee 100% success" in its fight against
terrorism, the home secretary said on April 25, 2007. John Reid said he could
only promise "100% commitment" from police, security services and
the Home Office as it shifts its focus to security. He said the "struggle"
against terrorism would "be unrelenting and of lengthy duration."
- The decision to send Prince Harry to Iraq is being reviewed by senior army
officers we were told on April 26, 2007. The Ministry of Defence said his
deployment had always been under "constant consideration" and it
remained its intention to send him. The prince is said to be determined to
serve in Iraq, but his friends denied he would quit if he was not sent.
- On April 26, 2007, we were told that Prince Harry would be deployed with
his regiment, the Blues and Royals of the Household Cavalry, on the frontline
in southeastern Iraq next month despite concerns among military commanders
that he might attract fire from insurgents and rogue elements within Shia
militias.
- On April 27, 2007 two Libyan terror suspects have won an appeal against
deportation from the UK in a major defeat for the government. The men, known
only as DD and AS, argued they could be jailed and tortured if sent home,
despite a special deal between the countries. But in the first test of the
case, the Special Immigration Appeals Commission said the men could not be
sent back. The government said it was "very disappointed" by the
defeat and would immediately appeal the ruling. Under international human
rights law, the UK does not deport people to regimes where they may face persecution
or torture.
- The al-Qaida leader who is thought to have devised the plan for the July
7 suicide bombings in London and an array of terrorist plots against Britain
has been captured by the Americans in Iraq we were told April 28, 2007. Abd
al-Hadi al-Iraqi, a former major in Saddam Hussein's army, was apprehended
as he tried to enter Iraq from Iran and was transferred this week to the "high-value
detainee programme" at Guantanamo Bay. Abd al-Hadi was taken into CIA
custody last year, in a move which suggests that he was interrogated for months
in a "ghost prison" before being transferred to the internment camp
in Cuba. Abd al-Hadi, 45, was regarded as one of al-Qaida's most experienced,
most intelligent and most ruthless commanders.
- A mix-up led to the remains of British airmen killed in a crash in Afghanistan
were returned home in the wrong coffins, the Defence Ministry said Sunday
April 29, 2007. The incident was regrettable, but it had been sorted out before
the airmen's funerals. The error occurred after a Nimrod reconnaissance aircraft
crashed near Kandahar in September, killing 14 airmen, a soldier and a Marine.