For months, security services had been expecting a vehicle bomb in London. As the hunt continues, questions arise about whether the attack that came so close could have been stopped long ago
As Jacqui Smith left the Cabinet Office yesterday afternoon, she must have pondered the question most Londoners have over the past 48 hours. How, almost two years after the 7 July attacks, had the capital's defences almost been breached by terrorists again? As the new Home Secretary left the meeting of Cobra, the government's emergency response committee, she knew that how many times, if any, al-Qaeda extremists strike again will define her record. She issued a statement urging that Britons 'must not let the threat of terror stop us getting on with our lives'.
Meanwhile, hundreds of police officers patrolled rain-drenched streets in the investigation to ascertain how a suspected British-based al-Qaeda cell had infiltrated the heart of the West End. Two Mercedes primed with a potentially catastrophic stockpile of petrol, gas and nail bombs had been left in the city centre in the early hours of Friday morning. Fortunately, neither had detonated.
With the vulnerability of the capital again exposed, focus has switched to the type and scale of the ever-changing terror threat facing the police and security services. Most worrying, concede police sources, is that despite close monitoring of hundreds of suspects nothing on the radar suggested central London, the prized target of al-Qaeda, was on the verge of fresh attack. Initial concerns suggest that the security services may have switched surveillance from the car bombers on to other suspects, leaving them at liberty to hastily create, plan and target London clubbers early on Friday morning.
| Security services concede it was 'possible' they had been monitoring those involved in the double car bomb cell at some stage. Only those whom they believe are involved in 'attack planning' are accorded serious attention, with a continual 'managing of risk' between the danger posed by individuals. |
The security services concede it was 'possible' they had been monitoring those involved in the double car bomb cell at some stage, which will also fuel the debate on whether MI5 has sufficient resources. Police candidly accept that they cannot monitor everyone they believe is a threat. In reality, only those whom they believe are involved in 'attack planning' are accorded serious attention, with a continual 'managing of risk' between the danger posed by individuals. People can move in and out of surveillance, depending on that analysis.
| Around 50 Islamic extremist cells are 'active' in the UK, with about 300 extremists under constant surveillance. |
These are classified as 'primary investigative targets' and involve individuals the security services have reason to fear are actively seeking to carry out an attack. Some of those categorised as the most dangerous can have up to 24 security service officials monitoring them round the clock. About 1,500 Britons are known to the police and security services as possible terror suspects, many registered on a database of radicalised individuals regarded as peripheral but susceptible to al-Qaeda's message of terror.
Last week was the first time Islamic extremists have deployed car bombs in Europe, but MI5 and Scotland Yard had been expecting such an attempt on the capital for months. The 'viable' devices would have been relatively cheap and quick to construct. MI6 is examining if there is an international dimension by looking at travellers to and from Iraq, where car bombs have killed hundreds.
In May, MI5 circulated a 42-page document to businesses detailing different types of car bombs and what to look out for. Documents disseminated just a fortnight ago by the National Counter Terrorism Security Service warned bars, clubs and pubs they were potential terrorist targets.
As the manhunt continued for the cell responsible, attention focused on terror suspects on the run from control orders, which will raise fresh questions over the value of the government's controversial tool for trying to protect the public. Among those being urgently sought are Lamine Adam from London, who, it was alleged during the Crevice terror trial, discussed attacking a night club. His brother Ibrahim, 20, and Cerie Bullivant, 24, have also escaped their control orders and are now said to be 'people of interest' to the police.
Others being sought are Zeeshan Siddiqui, 26, who, it was alleged also during the Crevice trial, has links to members of a cell jailed for plotting fertiliser bomb attacks in the south-east of England and which ihad connections to Dhiren Barot. Other suspects include Bestun Salim, who vanished from his Manchester flat last summer and is alleged to have links to Ansar al-Islam, a group linked to the Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Iraq's most notorious insurgent leader, who was killed in a US airstrike last year.
Officers will also continue investigating claims on the al Hesbah chat forum, frequently used by al-Qaeda supporters, which had predicted 'London shall be bombed' hours before the discovery of the first car bomb in Haymarket.
| It is already likely that the suspects' getaway route will have been trailed using the hundreds of cameras in central London. |
Yesterday, the biggest global terrorist investigation since 21 July 2005 continued apace. The US, Pakistan and Iraq were among the first countries contacted for assistance. With all MI5 leave cancelled, more than 1,000 officers are involved. It is understood that good-quality CCTV images of the suspect who ran from the Mercedes in Haymarket at 1.30am on Friday have been obtained. It is already likely that the suspects' getaway route will have been trailed using the hundreds of cameras in central London. Details of the driver, the numberplate and the vehicle will already have been checked, but the likelihood is that the cars were stolen. Sources say it is highly unlikely that the cell members have fled the country.
As fears that there might be more car bombs parked in London receded, the two Mercedes will continue to be examined in the hi-tech forensics laboratory at Fort Halstead, Kent. |
Three terror suspects, including two brothers of an Islamic fanatic jailed for plotting mass murder, are on the run tonight. They had all been under control orders requiring them to report to the authorities every day.