By IRNA,
London : Britain has restored the terror threat level facing the country to ‘severe,’ indicating that an attack is ‘highly likely.’
The decision made from an analysis by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC) comes less than a week before an international conference on Afghanistan is being hosted in London, when there will also be discussions on the threat of terrorism in Yemen.
Announcing the decision, Home Secretary Alan Johnson said the level had not been raised to ‘critical’, the highest, and stressed there was no intelligence to suggest a terrorist attack was imminent.
“We never say what the intelligence is.” Johnson said. “It shouldn’t be thought to be linked to Detroit or anywhere else for that matter.”
He said that there was “a real and serious threat to the UK from international terrorism” and urged the public to “remain vigilant and carry on reporting suspicious events to the appropriate authorities and to support the police and security services in their continuing efforts to discover, track and disrupt terrorist activity.”
Severe is the fourth highest of five levels. The threat was reduced to the third level ‘substantial’ last July for the first time in four years. The previous time it was lowered was just two months before the 7/7 London bombings in 2005.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown warned earlier this week that “a number of terrorist cells are actively trying to attack Britain and other countries,” when announcing a suspension of flights to Yemen and the setting up of a new ‘watch list.’
The alleged bombing plot at Detroit on Christmas signalled “the first operation mounted outside Arabia by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.”
Nigerian national Umar Farouq Abdulmutallab, who was arrested, was reported to have told his FBI interrogators that up to 20 “more like me” may be preparing further attacks.
Next Thursday, the conference on Afghanistan is due to be attended by 70 countries and international organisations. The guest list includes UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Afghan President Hamid Karzai as well as many foreign ministers.