British Intelligence Chief Fears Nuclear Attack

UK spy chief fears nuclear attack
POSTED: 1705 GMT (0105 HKT), November 10, 2006


LONDON, England (CNN) -- Britain's spy chief has said authorities are tracking almost 30 terrorist plots to "kill people and damage our economy" and expressed concern over future terrorist attacks using chemical, biological or nuclear weapons.

MI5 Director Eliza Manningham-Buller said in a speech released Friday the secretive agency had exposed five major plots since last July's London bombings and has witnessed a steady increase in threats since the terror attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001.

"Today we see the use of homemade improvised explosive devices," she said, "but I suggest tomorrow's threat will include the use of chemicals, bacteriological agents, radioactive materials and even nuclear technology."

Manningham-Buller said officials were "aware of numerous plots to kill people and to damage our economy."

"What do I mean by numerous? Five? 10?" she said. "No, nearer 30 that we currently know of."

"What we see at the extreme end of the spectrum are resilient networks, some directed from al Qaeda in Pakistan, planning attacks including mass casualty suicide attacks in the UK," she said.
Of great concern is that many of the attacks have and will be carried out by terrorists who have grown up in Britain.

Currently, authorities are monitoring 1,600 suspects "actively engaged in plotting or facilitating terrorist acts here and overseas." Many have gained training through links to al Qaeda in Pakistan. One task MI5 has been charged with is to figure out what motivates potential terrorists.

"Al Qaeda has developed an ideology which claims that Islam is under attack and needs to be defended," she said. "The extremists are motivated by a sense of grievance and injustice driven by their interpretation of the history between the West and the Muslim world."

Manningham-Buller cited the results of opinion polls that have been conducted since the suicide bombing attacks on London's transportation system July 7, 2005, which killed 52 people and wounded more than 700. The results showed more than 100,000 British citizens considered the attacks justified.

Foiled plots

This August, police said they foiled a plot by a British terrorist cell to attack trans-Atlantic airliners. More than a dozen people, all British, are currently awaiting trial.

And on Tuesday, British Muslim convert Dhiren Barot was jailed for life for plotting to attack key U.S. and UK targets with limousines packed with explosives.

MI5, she said, is looking at past attacks and foiled plots to prevent the continued increase in attacks that may in the future be more advanced and even deadlier.

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair backed his spy chief's warning and said the terrorist threat facing Britain "will last a generation."

"We need to combat the poisonous propaganda of those people that warps and perverts the minds of younger people," Blair added.