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A chilling reminder

Last week’s events in London and Glasgow have been widely described as a baptism of fire for Britain’s new Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, a former Labour chief whip more used to disciplining MPs than fighting terrorism. Mr. Brown was barely into his second day in office and still finalising his Cabinet when the terrorists struck bringing back the nightmarish memories of July 7, 2005 when 52 people died in a series of suicide bo mbings in London. To “7/7”, another date has now been added for Londoners to remember: June 29, 2007 when two Mercedes cars packed with explosives were found in the heart of the capital’s tourist and entertainment district, the West End. Police suspect that the two “car bombs” were planned to go off simultaneously, and the head of Scotland Yard’s counter-terror command Peter Clarke said “hundreds” of people might have been killed if the bombs, primed to be set off through mobile phones, had exploded. Barely 24 hours later, as the government and security agencies were still struggling to make sense of the “29/6” incidents, terrorists launched an even more audacious attack — this time in Scotland. Glasgow international airport was heaving with holidaymakers when a blazing jeep, with two “Asian-looking” occupants, was driven into the terminal building in what the police said was a “suicide bomb” attack. Luckily, the jeep failed to break through the glass front, and a bloodbath was averted.

It is now confirmed that the London and Glasgow incidents were “linked” raising fears that they may be part of a bigger plot. Scotland Yard has warned of “further attacks” and the country has been placed on the highest security alert. There have been allegations of intelligence failure after police admitted that they had no idea about an impending attack. One Sunday newspaper claimed that intelligence agencies had warned of a “possible terror plot” to coincide with Tony Blair’s departure. True or not, there is no escaping that police were caught napping. The London “car bombs” were not discovered by them. One was noticed by a passing ambulance crew; and the other found by chance after the vehicle had been towed to a car pound. Likewise, it was sheer luck that the suicide attack on Glasgow airport failed. It was not “foiled”. There is confusion about the identity of those behind the attacks and much speculation whether they were “British-born” or foreigners. What remains disturbing, as a senior Scotland Yard officer said, is that there are people out there who have the “capability and the intent to carry out attacks in the U.K.” A chilling reminder indeed of the vulnerability and of the persistence of murderous terror.

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