Britain 'missed warning signs'

2005-12-18 13:34

London - British intelligence had warned the government of a possible al-Qaeda terrorist attack on London's subway system more than two years before dozens of people were killed by suicide bombings of the Underground on July 7, a British newspaper reported on Sunday.

"The UK and its interests remain high in al-Qaida's priorities. ... Plans have been considered to attack Heathrow, the London Underground and other targets," said a four-page report by the Joint Intelligence Committee, which oversees all intelligence information in Britain, The Sunday Times reported. It said the leaked committee document was signed by the British spy agencies MI5 and MI6 and dated April 2003.

On Tuesday, the British government said it was considering publishing some of the intelligence findings about the July 7 London transit bombings.

No plans for public inquiry

Home secretary Charles Clarke is considering whether an account of the bombings - including intelligence and police findings - could be prepared "without the risk of compromising intelligence sources or prejudicing any possible prosecutions", said the home office said.

The attacks on three rush-hour subway trains and a bus killed 56 people, including four bombers.

The government says it has no plans for a public inquiry into the attacks, but it has acknowledged that relatives of the victims and many others seek an account of the attackers' motivation and preparation.

Bombs could have been prevented

The attacks have not been directly blamed on al-Qaeda, but MI5 has been criticised because it lost track of the attack's presumed ringleader, Mohammad Sidique Khan, after placing him under temporary surveillance 18 months before the bombings.

In his book 7-7: What Went Wrong, intelligence expert Crispin Black said muddled thinking about terrorism and political denial about Iraq led British intelligence services to miss warning signs that could have prevented the July 7 bombings.

Black, a former military intelligence officer who advised the government's cabinet office for several years, claimed several signals were missed. He said Khan had been investigated by the security services in connection with an alleged truck bomb plot that was thwarted in 2004.

- AP