BRITAIN: Britain's most senior policeman has warned that terrorists linked to al-Qaeda remain at large in Britain. Sir John Stevens' warning came amid a series of incidents underlining Britain's heightened state of security alert and a number of reports renewing fears that international terrorists are determined to launch a chemical or biological attack on Britain.
As memorial services were held for Det Const Stephen Oake, who was fatally stabbed during an anti-terrorist raid in Manchester, American intelligence was said to be linking attempts to manufacture ricin in Britain to a senior al- Qaeda poison expert and, potentially, Saddam Hussein's alleged chemical warfare programme.
As the Blair government came under fresh Conservative pressure to toughen its asylum rules, police were continuing to question three men, believed to be eastern Europeans, arrested following a security alert at GCHQ, the government's electronic listening centre, on Saturday. In a separate development, it was confirmed that another three men, thought to be Algerians, had been arrested at Gatwick on Friday after being detained by immigration officials.
Those arrests came as the Home Secretary, Mr David Blunkett, ordered an inquiry into the case of a Taliban soldier who fought British and American troops in Afghanistan and who was granted asylum in Britain because he fears persecution by the new government in Kabul.
Dismissing calls for all asylum-seekers to be detained on entry to Britain and held in secure units while their applications were processed, Mr Blunkett acknowledged the climate of increased security concerns but said people should not believe what he termed the "wilder myths" surrounding terrorism and asylum-seekers.
However, that debate was further fuelled by a claim that more than 200 Algerian terrorists could have slipped into Britain as a result of what Dr Mohamed Sekkoum described as Britain's "sloppy" asylum system.
Dr Sekkoum, chairman of the Algerian Refugee Councils, told the News of the World: "These killers have blood on their hands, yet are given a haven. It makes no sense. Many abuse the system by preaching war and inciting terror. It is very dangerous."
His comments followed the appearance in court of a 27- ear- old Algerian charged with the murder of Const Oake on Tuesday.
Sir John, the Metropolitan Commissioner, confirmed the continuing danger in an interview with Sky News, in which he said that a large number of people were still being watched by the authorities and that "a number" had still to be arrested.
Asked if Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders were directing operations in Britain, Sir John said they had cleverly locked-in to other terrorist groups to see if they could actually use their potential.
He continued: "We know that there's certain links with al-Qaeda and, of course, the link with north Africa is proven with other groups as well."
Sir John said it was not known whether weapons of mass destruction were falling into the hands of terrorists from rogue states.
But he warned: "We know these people are quite prepared to give their own lives, they are extremely ruthless and they are prepared to use weapons which perhaps people who have been involved in domestic terrorism have not been prepared to use."
Some 8,000 people filled the stands at the Aston Villa football ground in Birmingham yesterday to protest against gun crime in the wake of the shooting dead of two teenagers at a new year's party.
Chart-topping soul stars Ms Dynamite and Beverley Knight performed for the crowd, which organisers said was united against a sharp increase in the use of firearms by urban gangs. - (AFP)