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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| UK 'number one al-Qaeda target' | UK 'number one al-Qaeda target' |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Al-Qaeda has become more organised and sophisticated and has made Britain its top target, counter-terrorism officials have told the BBC. | Al-Qaeda has become more organised and sophisticated and has made Britain its top target, counter-terrorism officials have told the BBC. |
| Security sources say the situation has never been so grim, said BBC home affairs correspondent Margaret Gilmore. | Security sources say the situation has never been so grim, said BBC home affairs correspondent Margaret Gilmore. |
| They believe the network is now operating a cell structure in the UK - like the IRA did - and sees the 7 July bomb attacks "as just the beginning". | They believe the network is now operating a cell structure in the UK - like the IRA did - and sees the 7 July bomb attacks "as just the beginning". |
| Each cell has a leader, a quartermaster dealing with weapons, and volunteers. | Each cell has a leader, a quartermaster dealing with weapons, and volunteers. |
| According to our correspondent, each cell works on separate, different plots, with masterminds controlling several different cells. | According to our correspondent, each cell works on separate, different plots, with masterminds controlling several different cells. |
| They were often aware they were being followed and so were meeting in public spaces. | |
| In addition, training is taking place in the UK and Pakistan. | |
| 'Indoctrination weekend' | |
| It was thought that five years ago al-Qaeda was a number of "loosely-connected organisations" with common aims, but it is now more organised, she said. | It was thought that five years ago al-Qaeda was a number of "loosely-connected organisations" with common aims, but it is now more organised, she said. |
| Security officials are concerned the group is targeting universities and the community, and are "less worried" about mosques, she added. | Security officials are concerned the group is targeting universities and the community, and are "less worried" about mosques, she added. |
| The network is targeting "carefully selected" new recruits - mainly young Muslim men - according to the Guardian newspaper, which also quotes security sources. | |
| The paper tells how recruits are then put through a "psychologically compelling" indoctrination of weekend and evening briefings. | |
| This starts with religious lectures and prayer, but moves gradually to more radical teachings and political discussions about the position of Islam in relation to the western world. | |
| The leadership of al-Qaeda does appear to ... be more coherent and organised than had been thought in recent years Gordon CoreraBBC security correspondent | |
| BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera said the view was Britain was particularly vulnerable because "it may be easier for al-Qaeda to strike the UK than other targets". | |
| He said these views were "based on activity they are actually seeing. Plots they're disrupting, trials which might be coming up soon". | |
| "There is hard evidence behind it, rather than just theories," said our correspondent. | |
| "That's based partly on what they are seeing, in terms of the types of activity, and partly based on the coincidence, that al-Qaeda's leadership is based in the tribal areas of Pakistan where there are links to the UK and flows of people going back and forwards. | |
| "It makes it easier to make the UK a target than the other countries it might wish to target." | |
| The network also appeared to be better organised, he continued. | |
| "The leadership of al-Qaeda does appear to have been re-grouping and to be more coherent and organised than had been thought in recent years. | |
| "The view is it clearly was an organised group before 9/11, but the campaign in Afghanistan disrupted that leadership very heavily. | |
| It is no longer about looking for a needle in a haystack Crispin BlackSecurity analyst | |
| "But in recent years, particularly in the tribal areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan, the al-Qaeda leadership has been able to re-group and re-organise itself. | |
| "In doing so it's able to open up channels of communication, contact, recruitment and planning around the world, and operate those in a more coherent fashion than maybe we were seeing three years' ago." | |
| However, intelligence analyst Crispin Black said another attack in the UK "was not inevitable", citing the UK's "considerable successes against the IRA". | However, intelligence analyst Crispin Black said another attack in the UK "was not inevitable", citing the UK's "considerable successes against the IRA". |
| He said the security services had a good idea about who they were dealing with, saying: "We still have that expertise and training present within our military forces and intelligence." | He said the security services had a good idea about who they were dealing with, saying: "We still have that expertise and training present within our military forces and intelligence." |
| "It is no longer about looking for a needle in a haystack. We have some pretty good clues and information on where we should be looking." |