| Vol. 2 | No. 6 |
November 2003 |
| MI5 chief
prioritises terror threat CHRIS HERBERT The head of Britain's security service said tackling the UK terrorist threat and bringing suspects to trial should be a priority for the police. In a talk at the City of London Police headquarters last week, Eliza Manningham-Buller, director general of MI5, the UK's security service said that 'substantial police resources' are needed to tackle the 'high level of threat' of terrorist attacks on the UK. Ms Manningham-Buller was delivering the annual James Smart Memorial lecture. She told delegates: 'The UK and our interests overseas are under a high level of threat from Islamist terrorism. That level of threat has been constant for several years, but the scale of the problem has become more apparent as the amount of intelligence collected and shared has increased. 'Responding to that level of threat requires the deployment of substantial [secret] service and police resources to investigate the activities of suspected terrorists, and substantial Government effort. She added: 'Action by the police to arrest suspects and put them before the courts is a priority. I am confident that the counter-terrorist effort across Government has improved and is working. The service and the police, the other intelligence agencies and the Government, are working together as never before.' Ms Manningham-Buller gave some details of the threat to the UK, for example, stating the country's food and chemical industry could be subject to attack. She added: 'We have increased the service's security advice to business, but we cannot do it alone. We are therefore strengthening our partnerships with the police, regulatory bodies and commercial organisations.' - Contributed by Suresh Kumar RETNASINGHAM (Sid) PO BOX 10516, Birmingham, B43-6WD, West Midlands England, UK |
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