A foiled plot in Britain may signal chilling tactic

If confirmed, the plot's use of kidnapping would amount to a significant departure in strategy.

from the February 1, 2007 edition

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Tackling home-grown terrorism

At least some of those arrested Wednesday were believed to be young Britons of south Asian origins. The local member of Parliament, Shahid Malik, said he had been told they had been under surveillance for six months. Some of the arrests connected with the alleged planes plot were also made in Birmingham.

Pakistan, which crucially cooperated with Britain over the aviation threat last year, was again in contact with British security agencies in the run-up to the latest arrests. British media reports claimed that the target was a British Muslim soldier, though police did not confirm this.

The sudden emergence of homegrown terrorists and suspected plotters has forced domestic security services to improve their game, spread the recruiting net wider, and accelerate efforts to infiltrate the cells believed to be planning attacks.

Recently, signs have emerged that counterterrorist forces tracked radicals subsequently involved in plots without detaining them. One of the 7/7 perpetrators, Mohammad Sidique Khan, was known to security services as a radical intent on waging jihad. In the ongoing trial in London of the suspects involved in an alleged plot to bomb the mass transit network two weeks later on July 21, 2005 – a plot that failed – evidence has emerged that suspects were under police surveillance as early as 2004.

Balance of rights and security

Though police believe that the raids and multiple arrests of recent years have foiled major terror attacks, Britain's Muslim minority often complains that rights are trampled over during the police action – and that often charges are not even brought. Two suspects were roughly arrested, and one shot, during a police raid last summer; both were later released without charge. Some in the Muslim community argue that the police action is just driving more disaffected youths into the arms of radicals.

Last year, the head of MI5, Dame Eliza Manningham Buller, warned that the security services had identified 30 major terrorist plots in Britain and more than 1,600 individuals actively engaged in promoting attacks.

New tactic?

But after the 7/7 attack and the failed 7/21 attack, heightened security and a greater police presence, particularly on the London Underground, has arguably persuaded radicals to change their targets. Experts say that mass-transit systems, even airports and aircraft, are easier to defend against than the threat of abduction.

"Kidnapping is a highly cost-efficient strategy for terror groups to deploy because no expensive bomb-making materials or detonators are needed, no skill or training is necessary – all that is required is a terrorist willing to wield a knife on a defenseless hostage," Gohel says.

Terrorism experts said that it was important to establish whether the kidnapping plot, if confirmed, was a one-off action or a new tactic.

Patrick Mercer, Conservative homeland security spokesman, said: "If this proves to be accurate, this is a disturbing departure.

"We have got to learn the lessons of this," he added, "to see what we can do to thwart future attacks."

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