LONDON Ñ British officials have acknowledged that Al Qaida and its allied organizations have used the
country as a financial, communications and recruitment base for nearly 10
years. The assessment is shared by Scotland Yard.
Assistant commissioner David Veness, head of special operations at the London police department,
said Tuesday that authorities have "growing, darkening" concerns over
Britain's role in promoting Al Qaida, Middle East Newsline reported.
"London, above all other UK cities, had been a focus of communication
activity for Al Qaida," the police commander said.
Veness said authorities have obtained evidence that Al Qaida used
Britain as a base for communications, recruitment, propaganda and logistical
support. He said these activities began in the mid-1990s.
The British official said the information on Al Qaida was uncovered
during the investigation that followed the Sept. 11 Islamic suicide attacks
on New York and Washington. He said the investigation, the biggest in the
history of his department, did not determine that the attacks in the United
States were planned in Britain.
But the British investigation confirmed assertions by several Arab
countries that Al Qaida used Britain as a logistics base. This included the
purchase of equipment and the delivery from Britain to Al Qaida bases in
Afghanistan and Pakistan. Britain was also said to have been used to recruit
hundreds of people to train in Al Qaida bases.
British officials said authorities are most concerned by the prospect
that Al Qaida has deployed hundreds of sleeper agents waiting for orders to
launch attacks. They said similar cells might also exist in France, Germany,
Italy and Spain.
Several Arab countries, particularly Egypt, have called on Britain to
extradite their nationals linked to Al Qaida. One Egyptian national is now
fighting such an attempt in a London court.
"There were people Ñ I have to choose my words with care Ñ who
essentially we were neither able to detain because we were not able to bring
them in front of the courts to obtain a conviction but, because of the
country from which they had come and the state of affairs there, we could
not return them to that country," State Police Minister John Denham told
parliament on May 22.