Al-Qaida thriving despite war on terror - Yard chief

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Al-Qaida thriving despite war on terror - Yard chief

· Group still capable of devastating attacks on UK
· Call for more information from Muslim communities

Vikram Dodd
Wednesday April 25, 2007
The Guardian


The head of Scotland Yard's counterterrorism command said yesterday that al-Qaida had survived the six-year long "war on terror" launched by President George Bush and Tony Blair, and its central leadership had retained the ability to order devastating attacks on Britain.
Deputy assistant commissioner Peter Clarke, the national counterterrorism coordinator, warned in a lecture last night that terrorists "have momentum" and were on an "inexorable trend to more ambitious and more destructive attack planning".

Mr Clarke was giving a lecture in memory of Colin Cramphorn, the deceased former chief constable of West Yorkshire who was in charge of the force when it was revealed that three of the four bombers behind the attacks on London in July 7 2005 came from his area.

Mr Clarke said his wide-ranging lecture was based on his policing experience and he did not intend it to be political.

He said al-Qaida had weathered the assault launched against it after the 9/11 attacks on the United States in 2001. In his assessment of Osama bin Laden's terrorist network, Mr Clarke offered a picture of a formidable organisation. "It is global in origin, reach and ambition. The networks are large, fluid, mobile and incredibly resilient," he said.

"We have seen how al-Qaida has been able to survive a prolonged multinational assault on its structures, personnel and logistics. It has certainly retained its ability to deliver centrally directed attacks here in the UK.

"In case after case, the hand of core al-Qaida can be clearly seen. Arrested leaders or key players are quickly replaced, and disrupted networks will re-form quickly.

"There is no evidence of looking to restrict casualties. There are no warnings given and the evidence suggests that on the contrary, the intention is frequently to kill as many people as possible."

He contrasted al-Qaida with Irish terrorism, saying that republicans had a political agenda that made exploring a negotiated settlement possible, which was not the case with Islamist extremists: "Although perhaps this is not for me to judge, there has not been an obvious political agenda around which meaningful negotiations can be built."

Senior counterterrorism sources say the UK government has not considered negotiating with al-Qaida and Mr Clarke demanded greater community help, warning: "The extremists have a momentum that must be stopped."

He repeated warnings from other senior counterterrorism officials that another attack on the UK was highly likely and that Pakistan had become a popular training ground for camps to equip British-born people to learn the skills and methods to carry out attacks on their own soil.

He dismissed critics who claimed the terrorist threat to the UK was overblown, saying that more than 100 people were awaiting trial for terrorist offences.

Mr Clarke said few convictions had stemmed from information given by Muslim communities: "We must increase the flow of intelligence coming from communities. Almost all of our prosecutions have their origins in intelligence that came from overseas, the intelligence agencies or from technical means [intrusive bugging or video surveillance]. Few have yet originated from what is sometimes called community intelligence."

He stressed the need to build public confidence in the integrity of the police and condemned unauthorised leaks about counterterrorism investigations. "I make no allegations about the source of leaks or about individual cases. What is clear is that there are a number, a small number I am sure, of misguided individuals who betray confidences. Perhaps they look to curry favour with certain journalists, or to squeeze out some short-term presentational advantage ... They reveal sources of life-saving intelligence. In the worst cases they put lives at risk. I wonder if they simply do not care."

Last August arrests were made in the West Midlands over an alleged plot to kidnap and behead a British Muslim serviceman. West Midlands police were furious after details of the operation were leaked after the men were arrested: "On the morning of the arrests, almost before the detainees had arrived at the police stations to which they were being taken for questioning, it was clear that key details of the investigation and the evidence had been leaked. This damaged the interview strategy of the investigators, and undoubtedly raised community tensions."

Mr Clarke said more ways were needed to divert potential extremists away from the lure of the al-Qaida ideology, without them getting a criminal record.

[Spider]

The war on terror is the right move , the war in Iraq`isnt ........ we need to hunt down AL Qadia , but we would have had more of a result invading Canada then Iraq ..........