London, Feb 4 (IANS) Britain faces the risk of a wave of terror attacks by British-born ‘suicide operatives’ who are not on the intelligence services’ radar, secret US cables leaked by WikiLeaks have revealed.
British spy agency MI6 has warned that the country faces a ‘unique’ threat from a generation of home-grown terrorists, the Telegraph reported, citing the secret embassy documents it obtained from the whistle-blower website.
Radicals who undergo terrorist training and become ‘suicide operatives’ will leave the authorities ‘hard pressed’ to prevent an attack, a top counterterrorism official was quoted as saying.
According to the classified US embassy documents, a senior M16 official alerted a US Congressman who visited Britain in 2008 amid growing fears over the radicalisation of young British Muslims.
In April 2008, a delegation of US Congressmen visited Britain for a secret briefing with MI6 on security threats to the West.
The documents also highlight American concerns that the British intelligence services are struggling to combat Muslim extremists because of budget cuts and a wave of lawsuits from terror suspects.
The leaked files also suggest that Britain faces threats from both foreign and domestic extremists. The documents show mounting US concerns over the inability of British security forces to apprehend terrorists intent on launching attacks on the West.
