UK puts eye in sky over London

2003-02-13 15:29

London - Britain has put a Royal Air Force surveillance aircraft in the skies above London as troops and police ring Heathrow Airport on the third day of a major security alert.

Prime Minister Tony Blair's government was under pressure to explain the exact nature of the threat, which was prompted by fears of a possible al-Qaeda attack coinciding with the Muslim festival of Eid.

A spokesman for the British defence ministry confirmed on Thursday that a Nimrod radar aircraft had been deployed in the cloudy skies over London "supporting the police operation" on the ground.

"We can confirm there were no fighter aircraft or fast jets used with regard to the security operation at London's Heathrow Airport," he added, playing down reports that combat planes had joined the alert.

The security alert came as Britain geared up to join a possible United States-led war on Iraq if a report from United Nations arms inspectors on Friday concluded that President Saddam Hussein was failing to co-operate fully in giving up suspected weapons of mass destruction.

Labour Party chairman John Reid, a minister without portfolio who is close to Blair, said on Wednesday the threat was on a scale equal to the September 11 attacks in the United States in 2001.

Taking every precaution

Speaking at Downing Street after talks with Australian Prime Minister John Howard, Blair said the twin threat of terrorist groups and "rogue, unstable threats" - a reference to Iraq - was a worldwide worry.

"The threat the world faces today is disorder and chaos that comes from these types of groups operating throughout the world," he said.

But he refused to spell out the nature of the present threat.

"We cannot and should not start disclosing details of everything we know or may know," he said.

"It's important we take every precaution we can in order to keep people safe," he added.

"The only way we can be fully safe is not just taking security measures necessary to protect ourselves... but to make sure, along with other countries in the world, we do absolutely everything we can to root out these terrorists."

Blair personally authorised the troops' deployment at a crisis meeting on Monday of his inner cabinet for terrorism issues.

But the exact nature of the threat remained a mystery, despite earlier government assurances that if the public was indeed in danger, they would be told why.

Oliver Letwin, the Conservatives' home affairs policy critic, said: "I absolutely support the government's action, and, indeed, the actions of the agencies that are responsible for operational security, in protecting our security.

"My complaint is we can't carry the public with us over what I fear are going to be many months of considerable danger unless we get into having clear statements," he said.

Security experts said the way in which the troops and police had been deployed at Heathrow - to the west of its runways, in the direction that planes take off - suggested the authorities feared an attempt to shoot down a departing airliner with a shoulder-fired missile.

At Heathrow, several units of soldiers with armoured vehicles were to be seen again on Thursday, stationed by a life-size model of the supersonic Concorde at the main entrance, while Land Rovers were positioned outside key buildings.

Stop-checks on vehicles continued on approach roads in towns and villages around the airport in a bid to eliminate the risk of terrorists firing a missile at any aircraft landing or taking off. - Sapa-AFP

- SAPA