-->'Attack on London is inevitable'
Rosie Cowan, crime correspondent
Wednesday March 17, 2004
The Guardian
A view of London's skyline from Waterloo bridge. Photograph: Martin Godwin
London's police chief warned yesterday of the ever-widening
terrorist threat to the capital, stressing that bombers could strike
not just on the rail or tube network but virtually anywhere - pubs,
nightclubs, buses or roads.
Sir John Stevens, the Metropolitan police commissioner,
described the huge security effort, with hundreds of officers
working at full stretch to try to prevent an atrocity.
Sir John and the city's mayor, Ken Livingstone, pledged to do
everything in their power to protect the public, but they urged
Londoners to be on their guard, stressing that community
vigilance was the best weapon against terrorism.
Sir John agreed with Mr Livingstone, who said:"It would be
miraculous if, with all the terrorist resources arranged against
us, terrorists did not get through, and given that some are
prepared to give their own lives, it would be inconceivable that
someone does not get through to London."
The threat has not worsened since the Madrid bombings - the
UK has stepped up security since the September 11 attacks on
the US in 2001 and has been on the second highest state of
alert, severe general, since November.
The Met has increased its counter-terrorism officers by 680 in
the past two years and intends to take on another 100 this year.
Sir John said they were working"flat out".
The Spanish atrocity has brought everything into sharp focus.
Plain clothes officers are patrolling the tube and other trains. But
the commissioner said entertainment venues, buses and roads
are all at risk, and people should report any suspicious objects.
"This is not just about the railways, the underground," he said.
"It's about buses, roads, pubs, nightclubs and the like.
Remember al-Qaida attacked a nightclub in Bali."
All kinds of overt and covert policing operations are being carried
out and Sir John also revealed that security had been tightened
along the Thames. The river would be another route to terrorist
targets such as the Houses of Par liament, where bollards have
been put in place and extra police drafted in to deter suicide
bombers approaching by road.
The commissioner would not reveal details of specific plots
police have foiled in recent months, but said al-Qaida was still
active in London and elsewhere in the UK. Police have arrested
520 terrorist suspects since September 11 [2001], of whom half
have been charged and 90 are due in court soon.
Sir John and Mr Livingstone claimed London was one of the
safest cities in the world and everything possible was being
done to ensure it remained so. Mr Livingstone invoked the spirit
of the blitz as he insisted the terror threat must not deflect
Londoners from going about their everyday business, while Sir
John insisted people should"be alert, but not alarmed".
But it is clear both accept the threat is very serious and there
can be no guarantee of safety."There are people out there who
want to take lives, in the hundreds and the thousands," said Mr
Livingstone."These are people who celebrate death. We would
be fools to assume we will always be able to stop terrorists."
Sir John said:"As the prime minister and the home secretary
have said, there is perhaps an inevitability that some attack will
get through. It's my duty to make that difficult, if not impossible."
The mayor has allocated an extra £11m this year for equipment
to cope with an atrocity, with another £7m in the coming year to
pay for 200 more firefighters, and doubling the emergency
response fire units, from five to 10.
Sir John said police were drawing up response plans for various
catastrophes and would stage more"dress rehearsals" such as
September's exercise at Bank tube station.
Intelligence is key in the fight against terrorism; Sir John likened
it to a chess game where the security forces must keep several
moves ahead. He said public vigilance was vital. "We, the police
and security forces, cannot defeat terrorism on our own. The
best weapon against terrorism is the community itself. They
must be our eyes and ears."
France was on the alert last night after newspapers received a
letter from an Islamist group warning that the country would be
"plunged into terror" unless a ban on Muslim children wearing
veils in schools was withdrawn. It called the ban a"declaration
of war to the Muslim world".
A judicial source said the threat from a group named after a
Chechen guerrilla would be taken"very seriously".
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