Eliza Manningham-Buller, director general of MI5, said young British Muslims were being groomed to become suicide bombers and that her agents were tracking some 1,600 suspects, most of whom were British-born and linked to al Qaeda in Pakistan.
"We are aware of numerous plots to kill people and damage our economy. What do I mean by numerous? Five? Ten? No, nearer 30 ... that we know of," Manningham-Buller said in a speech in London on Thursday evening.
She said her warnings were not intended to alarm but to paint a frank picture of the al Qaeda threat, which she described as sustained and growing.
Britain suffered its worst peacetime attack in July last year when four British Islamists blew themselves up on London's transport network, killing 52 commuters and wounding hundreds.
"My officers and the police are working to contend with some 200 groupings or networks, totalling over 1,600 identified individuals who are actively engaged in plotting or facilitating terrorist acts here and overseas," she said.
Manningham-Buller said the number of cases being pursued by security services had risen by 80 percent since January.
"Today we see the use of home-made improvised explosive devices. Tomorrow's threat may -- and I suggest will -- include the use of chemicals, bacteriological agents, radioactive materials and even nuclear technology," she said.
Earlier this week Dhiren Barot, a British Muslim convert, was jailed for 40 years for planning to blow up the New York Stock Exchange and carry out attacks in Britain using a "dirty bomb" and gas-filled limousines.
A growing number of people are moving "from passive sympathy towards active terrorism" through being radicalised or indoctrinated by friends, families or organised training events in Britain and abroad, Manningham-Buller said.
2006-11-09
22:51:36
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