Suspect's arrest may be linked to al-Qaeda threat at security HQ (AQ targeted UK Gov. Comm. HQ)

The Scotsman ^ | Nov. 28, 2003 | DAN MCDOUGALL

[FairOpinion]

AN AL-QAEDA plot to target GCHQ was last night suggested as the possible trigger for the arrest of a suspected terror agent in Gloucester.

GCHQ - the Government Communications Headquarters - has been at the centre of the fight against terrorism, providing vital intelligence to authorities, particularly in the wake of the 11 September atrocities.

GCHQ’s Cheltenham offices, which are about ten miles from yesterday’s first arrest, were created to streamline the task of monitoring countless phone calls and e-mails around the world to aid the fight against terrorists.

Housed in an elaborate circular building, Britain’s £1.6 billion spying centre could easily serve as the backdrop to the finale of a James Bond film.

Featuring Europe’s most advanced surveillance system, GCHQ also has its own underground train network and an open-plan building the size of 17 football pitches, which is surrounded by electrified fencing and armed police.

Although seemingly exposed to terrorist attack because of its relatively open position, the mini-city of steel is surrounded by bomb-proof reinforced concrete and bulletproof glass. The structure’s armour-plated roof has even been toughened to repel aircraft smaller than a 747, after concerns about a local flying school.

The "inner core" of the building is designed to act like the keep of a medieval castle, a safe haven in case of attack. An electric train, like a chain of giant golf buggies, is used to take all mail and packages from a nearby depot after they have passed through bomb and motion detectors at the perimeter gate.

Inside the building "the Street", as the thoroughfare around the internal ring of the building is known, is clad in reinforced, angled glass - stronger than stone - that is easy to see out of, but almost impossible to see into or penetrate.

Professor Paul Wilkinson, a leading terrorism expert at St Andrews University, said terrorist cells could be operating in any street in the country and that GCHQ would be an attractive target for terrorists.

He said: "It doesn’t matter where you are in the UK, the possibility exists that there will be some militants using your area as a base.

"There are many high-profile targets for terrorism outside London like GCHQ, and some members of the public don’t seem to have got the message, which is that al-Qaeda is still very much in business.

"It is clear that they want to target Britain and that can be done overseas or in the UK - it is very difficult to protect an open country like ours," Prof Wilkinson said.

"We shouldn’t be complacent about the dangers in the UK - we know from al-Qaeda’s previous track record that they have been successful in recruiting people here, and the network is very good at blending into its surroundings.

"We have seen in Turkey that they are capable of attacking British targets in a brutal way overseas.

"I don’t think we should discount the possibility of an attack in the UK homeland, because undoubtedly al-Qaeda would like to do that."

[FairOpinion]

Looks like another plot foiled, thank God.

[Criminal Number 18F]

If they are really targetting GCHQ, then they know who's hurting them... the combat forces kill them when they form up into large groups but the individuals and small cells are being hunted by intelligence agencies working hand in glove with special operations forces.

They started this war two years ago, with the murder of Massoud on 9 September, so that they'd fear no attack after they hit the Towers... heh. Who is it now that looks over his shoulder and fears things that whisper in the night?

We're coming....

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F

[tubavil]

Deporting their muslims would be infinitely more effective in preventing terrorism than sigint.

[Lion in Winter]

I wholly agree.

[tubavil]

QUICK QUIZ

1. The sniper that killed 10 people in Maryland (Oct. 2002) is:
   a. A Canadian rock star
   b. A Muslim

2. The Chechnians which held 700 hostages in Russia (Oct. 2002) are:
   a. South American explorers with a sense for adventure.
   b. Muslims

3. The terrorists who blew up a disco in Bali killing 202 civilians (Oct. 2002) were:
   a. Cartoon characters from an upcoming Disney feature
   b. Muslims

4. Over 1000 Israelis, men, women and children, have been murdered by snipers and homicide-suicide-bombers who were:
   a. Little green people from a planet far far away
   b. Muslims

5. The 19 men who crashed 3 airliners against the World Trade Center and Pentagon killing more than 3000 people (Sept. 2001) were:
   a. Buddhist monks who wanted to stop being 'One with nature'
   b. Muslims

6. Out of the 14 current world conflicts 11 involve:
   a. Enraged battered housewives vs. Madona wanna-be's.
   b. Muslims

7. In Kashmir and Butan, Indians are being slaughtered by:
   a. Hindus who can't get Baywatch on cable-tv
   b. Muslims

8. The dude who wanted to blow up an airplane with a bomb in his shoe (December 2001) is:
   a. A disgruntled employee of Payless shoe stores.
   b. A Muslim

9. The country which finances Al-Quaeda, the Chechens, the Palestinian Al Aqsa Brigades, The Hezbollah, the Indonesian terrorist cells, home of Bin Laden, and whose leaders have been invited to George Bush's farm in Texas is:
   a. The imperialist regime of Costa Rica (those thugs!!)
   b. Saudi Arabia - Home of Islam

10. Saudi Arabia's only permitted religion is:
   a. Dianetics or Jamaican weed-worship
   b. Islam including the old time favorite "Female Circumcision"

11. The United Nations is controlled by countries who believe in:
   a. Jews who are into Saddo-masochism and self-condemnations
   b. The rule of Islam

12. Israelis who believe in co-existence with fellow Muslim Palestinians are:
   a. Intellectuals and free-thinkers that are a step above the rest of us.
   b. Those that have pierced way too many body parts and gray matter
       has begun to leak out.