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Terror Threat Level Reduced

On Monday the Home Secretary, Theresa May announced that the Terror Threat to the UK from International Terrorism would be reduced from Severe to Substantial.This means that a terrorist attack is a strong possibility and might well occur without further warning. The Terror Threat level posed by Northern Irish Terrorism remains unchanged at Severe in Northern Ireland and Substantial on the UK Mainland. Prior to this Terror Threat change, the UK was at Severe since the 22 Jan 2010.

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On Tuesday Police arrested a 40 year old dog handler working for a security company on the Olympic site in East London on suspicion of possessing explosives.  2 more arrests have been made in connection with this incident. A43 year old male was arrested in Wales on Wednesday on suspicion of possession of explosives. On Friday a 61 year old male was arrested in East London on suspicion of supplying an explosive substance.

The arrests were made by the OSSU (Olympic Site Support Unit) Police said that site safety had not been at risk

The Security situation is Libya is dyer to say the least. The last Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) chartered flight left Tripoli on Sat 26 Feb at around 1830hrs. HMS Cumberland was due into Benghazi on the morning of 27th Feb to evacuate more British Nationals. Read the rest of this entry »

Well the World has gone mad…………It has been reported that the Police Royal Protection Officers will get X26 Tasers capable of delivering a 50,000 Volt shock at a range of 21 feet as a mobile non leathal option when carrying out Close Protection duties. Until now Taser has only been available at static locations and in light of the student protests when Prince Charles and Camillas Rolls Royce was attacked by students chanting “off with their heads” Taser will now be deployed on Royal Protection duties full stop.

The real fact of the matter in all this is that the police didnt show great restraint in not drawing their weapons on the evening of the student riots, they were probably to scared to because of unworkable rules of engagement which says that drawing and pointing constitutes use of a firearm. If chanting “off with their heads” and poking Camilla with a stick through a broken window does not constitute a risk to life then I don’t know what does.

The police don’t need another weapon and more rules of engagement they need someone with some balls to stand up and tell it as it is, give them proper rules of engagement and above all, sort out the intelligence shambles that put the Royal car in that situation in the first place.

This should have been a wake up call and it would seem it hasn’t woken anyone at all. All it has done is probably brought more policy and high ranking Officers pontificating about things they have no idea about.

On the 20 Jan 2011 under Statutory instrument 2011 No 108 the Home Secretary added Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan to the list of Proscribed Terrorist organisations in the UK. Proscription means that it is illegal to pedal propaganda, recruit or fundraise in the UK. The entry came into force 24 hours after the entry so the 21st Jan 2011. this takes the number of Terrorist Groups proscribed in the UK to 61.

Every Wednesday “Smash EDO” hold noisy demos at the EDO MBM site in Mouselcoombe, Brighton. EDO MBM are an American Defence Contractor who has reportedly made bomb release mechanisms for planes used in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Recent AQ events have suggested that tactics are shifting away from the spectacular to the vulnerable.

Events in Stockholm last weekend have highlighted how easy it is, or can be to cross borders and carry our an attack against innocent people going about their everyday lives. The plotter was not high on the intelligence radar and as such had relative immunity from intrusion by the Security Service. He had been asked to leave his local Mosque in Luton because of his extremist views. The leader of the Mosque when asked admitted that he had not contacted the authorities about the expulsion as he thought it was a view and nothing more sinister. How many of us fall into this trap? How many times have you seen something that you instinctively thought as not being right only to dismiss it and carry on regardless?

Events in Stockholm and Maryland have shown that more attacks are being orchestrated by radicalised individuals who are below the radar of suspicion but  then rise, at a time and place of their choosing to commit or attempt to commit mass murder in the name of a twisted ideology. The security Service and the Met Police Service have launched another campaign highlighting the risk and reminding us that we ALL have a duty to remain vigilant and report activity that is suspicious or out of the ordinary.

The Metropolitan Police Service has launched a campaign to raise awareness of the threat to the UK from terrorism. Public vigilance and awareness is essential in fighting terrorism and the public are being encouraged to call the confidential Anti-Terrorist Hotline on 0800 789 321 if they see any suspicious activity or behaviour.

Assistant Commissioner John Yates, head of MPS Specialist Operations and Chair of the Association of Chief Police Officers, Terrorism and Allied Matters, said:

“The police and security services need the help of the public to protect the country from the threat of terrorism. We cannot do it alone.

“We all have a responsibility to remain vigilant and aware and to report any suspicious activity. We must not become complacent.”

Well, we are well into December and the run up to Christmas has been halted to a certain extent by the weather.

It has been reported that Special Forces teams are working undercover at some of the Countries largest Shopping Centres in response to potential terrorist action.

How absurd even mentioning this. It would be impossible to have such teams in every shopping centre and outlet around the country so to a certain extent the terrorist cells have valuable intelligence and will now divert possible action away from the prominent targets. It is indeed worrying that if the reports are true then it shows not how likely such an attack is but how worried the security services are about the threat.

It has been reported also that up to 60,000 Pakistanis Migrate to the UK every Year. Among them will undoubtedly be extremists with a wealth of terrorist knowledge.

India has seized Maoist material showing that they are experimenting with explosives to make more devastating bombs and devices. AQ will be doing the same and their sophistication was shown during the interception of the toner bombs on US bound aircraft.

Mumbai style attacks are worrying indeed with the terrorist having the upper hand, knowing where and when he will strike. The only way of combatting this is to have Israeli style plain clothes security in towns and cities pro filling and looking for suspicious activity. I think it will be a long time before that is socially acceptable and in the meantime we can only breathe a sigh of relief as we get through another day. Sent via BlackBerry® from BT

It has been reported that 4 men have been arrested in Georgia with a quantity of radio active material believed to be caesium-137.

Caesium-137 has a wide range of industrial uses and is employed in radiotherapy, but it could also be combined with explosives to create a radiological bomb with the potential to spread radioactive contamination.

Two Armenian men were arrested in Georgia in March and accused of smuggling 18g of highly enriched uranium from Armenia into Georgia, both former Soviet republics.