Brown wants international terror register

London, July 8: British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, said today he wanted a central register of known or suspected terrorists so that information could be shared internationally. He spoke as his new Security Minister, Admiral Alan West, warned the defeat of militant radicalism could take up to 15 years, and urged people to become informers.

''If there is information in one country about the potential recruitment or the actual recruitment of someone to a terrorist group then that should be information that is flowing to other countries,'' Brown told Sky News.

Britain remains on its second highest alert level more than a week after two failed car bomb attacks in central London's theatre and nightclub district and two men smashed a car into the main terminal at Scotland's busy Glasgow airport and set it ablaze.

The attacks came days after Brown took over as prime minister from Tony Blair and were seen in some quarters as a direct challenge to his authority.

They also happened within hours of West taking up his new post as the country faces what security sources said is a proliferation of plots against it.

''This is not a quick thing. I believe it will take 10 to 15 years,'' West told the Sunday Telegraph newspaper. ''But I believe it can be done as long as we as a nation apply ourselves to it and it's done across the board.'' He urged Britons who had knowledge or suspicion of terrorist activities to inform the authorities.

''Britishness does not normally involve snitching or talking about someone. I'm afraid, in this situation, anyone who's got any information should say something because the people we are talking about are trying to destroy our entire way of life,'' he said.

Yesterday Iraqi doctor Bilal Abdulla, 27, was charged with conspiracy to cause explosions in connection with the London and Glasgow attacks.

Abdulla was arrested at Glasgow airport immediately after the fire attack.

He spoke only to confirm his name and address and will remain in high security jail until his next court appearance at London's Old Bailey criminal court on July 27.

Abdulla is the only person charged so far over the suspected al Qaeda-linked plot in which eight Middle Eastern and Indian medics have been arrested, seven in Britain and one in Australia.

Yesterday police were granted an extra seven days to question five of the suspects who are being held in London.

Under Britain's security laws police have a maximum of 28 days that they can hold a suspect without charge.

Another suspect Kafeel Ahmed, 27, has been in hospital with 90 percent burns since the Glasgow attack -- witnesses say he set both himself and the crashed vehicle ablaze.

Yesterday survivors and relatives of victims of four suicide bombers on the London transport system that killed 52 commuters and injured hundreds more on July 7, 2005 held a quiet ceremony to mark the second anniversary of the attacks.

REUTERS

Related Stories