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<h1 class="headline">Security officials: Britain now Al Qaeda's No.1 target</h1><h2 class="subhead">Ties with Pakistan seen as key reason.</h2><div class="text"><p>Britain has now become the number one target for a "resurgent" Al Qaeda, according to British intelligence officials. The <b>Guardian</b> reports that Al Qaeda has regrouped and presents "even a greater threat then ever before."</p><blockquote><p>Intelligence chiefs with access to the most comprehensive and up to date information have told the Guardian that Al Qaeda has substantially recovered its organization in Pakistan, despite a four-year military campaign to seek out and kill its leaders. In that time, the organization has become much more coherent, with a strong core and a regular supply of volunteers.</p><p>More worrying, officials say, is evidence of new techniques that would-be terrorists within the UK have adopted. The structure of individual Al Qaeda-inspired groups is much more like the old Provisional IRA cells, with self-contained units comprising a lead organizer/planner, a quartermaster in charge of weapons and explosives acquisition and training, and several volunteers.</p></blockquote><b>The Herald</b> reports that Al Qaeda is recruiting specifically among disaffected Muslim youths. Another important factor is Britain's longtime tie with Pakistan. British citizens make over 400,000 trips to Pakistan each year, and security officials believe that a "radicalized minority" use the trips to maintain connections with Al Qaeda.</div><div class="text"></div><div class="text"><blockquote><p>The security services also believe at least 20 universities and polytechnics across the UK play unwitting host to radical Islamic groups dedicated to radicalizing Muslim students.</p><p>"They start out innocently, targeting those interested in learning more about Islam, and then sifting out the most promising candidates for indoctrination in anti-Western politics," one source said.</p></blockquote><p>The <b>Scotsman</b> reports that these Al Qaeda cells have now spread to every part of Britain, as the network shifts its focus outside of London.</p><p>The <b>BBC</b> reports that the situation has "never been so grim."</p><blockquote><p>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".</p><p>"There is hard evidence behind it, rather than just theories," said our correspondent.</p></blockquote><p>Meanwhile, the Guardian reports that the Blair government is trying to use the recent disappearance of two terror suspects to increase support for a forthcoming plan for a national ID card. The Blair government has come in for heavy criticism from the opposition in parliament for the escapes, and for keeping them quiet for so long. In en effort to try and turn the tables on critics, Home Secretary John Reid slammed his critics for not "voting for every tough measure" brought forward to "combat crime."</p><p>Mr. Reid said the upcoming national ID card vote would be a "litmus test" for the opposition. He called the cards "crucial in the fight against terrorism." But critics point out that the IDs have not worked to prevent terrorism in other countries that currently use them, such as Spain.</p><p><b>The Times</b> of London reports that the British government charged a dangerous Al Qaeda suspect with being an illegal immigrant in order to hold him in the prison where he has spent the last six years. </p><blockquote><p>Abu Doha, whose various aliases include ?The Doctor?, has been in Belmarsh highsecurity jail for almost six years facing extradition to the United States on charges of running a jihad training camp in Afghanistan and plotting to blow up Los Angeles airport. But the US has been forced to drop the case against him after an informer refused to give evidence.</p></blockquote><p>A British judge called the terrorist network created by Mr. Doha as "one of the most significant groups of terrorist in Britain." But since the British government can no longer hold him on terrorist charges, it had to resort to the immigration charge while it attempts to deport him to his native Algeria.</p><p>British police are already preparing for the 2012 Olympics which will be held in Britain. Sir Ian Blair, the head of London's Metropolitan police, says 2012 is "a huge terror target." Undercover officers posing as builders and security officers will spy on fellow workers and a huge 3-D database of Olympic venues. All 200,000 people working at the Olympics will have their passports and fingerprints checked in advance.</p></div>

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