Britain's homegrown terror threat escalating: Police

Sydney, Feb 26: The threat of homegrown terrorism in Britainwas escalating with authorities investigating 1,600 people and 200plots since 2005, London's deputy police commissioner told a securityconference in Sydney today.

The radicalisation of young British men to the point where theyare prepared to become terrorists -- once thought to take years, isoccuring in weeks and months -- said London's Metropolitan PoliceDeputy Commissioner, Paul Stephenson.

''There is no doubt we are all facing an increasing terrorist threat,'' Stephenson told the conference.

''The tempo seems to be increasing. The respite between ops isdisappearing. The demand on our assets and our people isunprecedented,'' he said.

Stephenson said the terrorism threat in Britain had risen sinceJuly 2005 when the country suffered its the worst peacetime attack whenfour British Islamists blew themselves up on London's transportnetwork, killing 52 commuters and wounding hundreds.

''Since then the police and security services in the UnitedKingdom have had to contend with 200 groups or networks totalling 1,600identified individuals who are actively engaged in plotting orfacilitating terrorist acts,'' he said.

The recent arrest of a small number of people uncovered 100,000identities and three terabytes of data, or about one third the contentof the US Congress library, much of it encrypted, Stephenson said,adding London police were currently conducting 17 terrorisminvestigations.

The scale of the threat in Britain was so large that it wasimperative that authorities were open with the community, especiallyMuslims, in order to gain people's confidence and support in the fightagainst terrorism, Stephenson said. ''Numbers do not reveal a weaknessto the enemy because the numbers are so large,'' he said.

''We have a community within which there are some very deepsuspicions of government agencies and police. We can no longer besilent about the scale of the threat if we are to get the support ofthose communities.'' One of the greatest challenges for securityorganisations was to stop the radicalisation of young people to committerrorist acts, Stephenson said.

''That is not a process that takes years, that is a process thatwe think is something around weeks and months. If we are to defeat thecurrent terrorist threat we must understand its nature, strength andweakness,'' he said.

''Terrorism can not be completely stopped but what we can do isreduce the risk to society by making it difficult for terrorists tosucceed.'' Stephenson said the terrorism threat in Britain today wasnot only different, but also greater, than the 30-year threat posed bythe Irish Republican Army (IRA), which engaged in bombing campaigns incentral London.

The IRA warned of attacks, did not engage in suicide attacks andwas infiltrated by authorities, he said, adding this allowedauthorities to play along with plots to gain vital intelligence.

''It was never easy or without risk but the odds were certainlybetter,'' Stephenson said. ''None of these conditions exist in the face
of the current terrorism threat.''

Reuters>