By Reuters
at Haaretz
23 January 2010
Britain raised its international terrorism threat level to ‘severe’ – its second highest level of terror alert – from ‘substantial’ on Friday, Home Secretary Alan Johnson said.
“The Joint Terrorism Analysis Center has today raised the threat to the U.K. from international terrorism from substantial to severe. This means that a terrorist attack is highly likely, but I should stress that there is no intelligence to suggest than an attack is imminent,” he said in a statement.
“JTAC keeps the threat level under constant review and makes its judgments based on a broad range of factors, including the intent and capabilities of international terrorist groups in the U.K. and overseas,” the statement said.
The rest of the article is here.
And, in today’s Times of London (25 January 2010), by James Bone:
Fears of new attack as bin Laden reclaims front line of global jihad
Osama bin Laden claimed responsibility yesterday for the failed Christmas Day aircraft bombing above Detroit and vowed further attacks on American citizens.
In a minute-long audiotape purportedly made by the al-Qaeda leader, bin Laden raised fears that a follow-up attack was already in the works.
The taped message, “from Osama to Obama”, was broadcast on al-Jazeera television as new details emerged of the botched Christmas Day attempt by the “underwear bomber” Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, which has already been claimed by al-Qaeda’s affiliate on the Arabian peninsula.
That article continues at the Times.
Other reports suggest women are now being trained to board planes to destroy them. “Non-Arab”-looking women who appear to be pregnant and carrying Western passports are among those authorities say will be used for these future terror missions.
