LONDON // Why did British security authorities choose to lower the UK terrorist threat level from critical five days after the Manchester bombing on May 27?
It is one question that will be uppermost in the minds of many as details of the latest terrorist attack on British soil unfold.
The decision, taken as members of the cell believed to have supported bomber Salman Abedi were still being identified and detained, appeared premature at the time.
Arrests were still being made as recently as Saturday, when a 24-year-old Manchester man became the 17th person to be detained on suspicion of committing terrorist offences in connection with the attack.
But after the rampage in the London Bridge area of the capital on Saturday night, the decision to dial down the threat level so soon appeared irresponsible.
Days after Manchester, reports were circulating in western media that ISIL was using its social media channels to call for more attacks on the West throughout the period of Ramadan.
“Muslim brothers in Europe who can’t reach the Islamic State lands, attack them in their homes, their markets, their roads and their forums,” read one message, posted on YouTube.
That appeared to be the tragically misguided motive that led to Saturday night’s attack in London.
Witnesses report that one of the attackers was screaming “This is for Allah” as he set about his grisly business.
British voters will be going to the polls in a general election on Thursday, an election for which campaigning has again been suspended, for the second time in two weeks.
Mrs May called the snap vote in the hope that she would be returned to power with an overwhelming majority, in order to lay claim to a popular mandate for her imminent Brexit negotiations with the European Union.
But after a series of political gaffes her Conservative party is losing ground in the polls to Labour and some analysts are suggesting that Mrs May’s majority could be reduced.
The suspicion will be that, with her “strong and stable” government appearing increasingly weak and unstable, the decision to reduce the threat level may have been taken for cynical political reasons.
As for guaranteeing the security of Thursday’s general election, the truth is that there simply are not enough police to protect every one of the 50,000 or more sites across the UK that will serve as polling stations from 7am to 10pm on the day.
The concern is that fear will keep some voters away, especially in high-profile urban centres. For the Conservatives, an additional worry will be that voters will blame them for “allowing” these attacks to take place on their watch, and will vote accordingly.
As random violence threatens to become the new norm, the British are learning on their feet.
The newly issued advice from police for those who find themselves caught up in such events is “Run, Hide, Tell”, an exhortation to “Run to a place of safety … a better option than to surrender or to negotiate” or, “if there’s nowhere to go … Hide – turn your phone to silent, turn off vibrate”, and when it is safe to do so, call the police.
It is also clear that the security response, certainly in the capital, is becoming more finely tuned.
Within minutes of it becoming clear that a vehicle had been driven at pedestrians on London Bridge, police were scouring the Thames for anyone who might have jumped or been thrown into the river. This is a lesson painfully learnt.
A Romanian tourist who remained unseen in the water for some time after the March 22 attack on Westminster Bridge was eventually spotted and rescued by the crew of a pleasure boat, but later died of her injuries.
All three of last night’s attackers were shot dead within eight minutes of police receiving the first 999 call about the incident. But no matter how swift, no matter how many armed police are standing by ready to react to such incidents, no response is going to be enough.
As demonstrated on Westminster Bridge and at the Houses of Parliament, in Manchester and now again in London, the terrorists “win” the moment their first victim falls. Since March 22 these three attacks have killed at least 33 people.
Once again, despite the collaboration of at least three players, the security services apparently failed to pick up any chatter or other clues that might have enabled them to head-off the attack.
Resources are, doubtless, still focused on the Manchester investigation, in which it has emerged that Abedi was on the terrorist radar but somehow slipped through the net. The latest attack will only increase the pressure on MI5, the domestic security service, making further catastrophic errors even more likely.
The ramifications of this latest attack for Muslims, British citizens and visitors to the UK will be widespread. Traditionally London welcomes many visitors from the Gulf during the summer. Will the fear of further attacks – and perhaps of growing suspicion of and animosity towards foreigners – dissuade them from visiting this year?
The Muslim Council of Britain has been been quick to react to the London Bridge outrage, the latest attempt by ISIL supporters to achieve the organisation’s aim of provoking a final confrontation between Islam and the West.
The secretary general of the council, Harun Khan, said he was “appalled and angered by the terrorist attacks … in my home city”. It was those last four words that constituted the key phrase of the message, as mosques and Muslims across the country find themselves once again anxiously striving to distance themselves and their faith from the latest outrage, and to remind other Britons that they too are “us” and not “them”.
Muslims everywhere, Mr Khan’s message continued, “are outraged and disgusted at these cowards who once again have destroyed the lives of our fellow Britons”.
“That this should happen in this month of Ramadan, when many Muslims were praying and fasting only goes to show that these people respect neither life nor faith.”
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
__________________________________
London terror attacks
■ Latest: Seven dead in London terror attack as van mows down pedestrians and people stabbed
■ Witness accounts: Confusion, fear and uncertainty
■ Pictures: Terror strikes London again
■ Video: Seven dead in London terror attack
__________________________________
