Europe Doesn't Buy "Al Qaeda in Our Midst" Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit [Another psy-war operation gone wrong: The europeans aren't falling for the "al Qaeda in our midst" hoax. A bad month all in all for the Pretender in Chief.] source - mango The Guardian - May 23, 2002 UK plays down attack reports Fears of mission to Britain rejected by Richard Norton-Taylor Security and intelligence sources last night poured cold water on a report that a group of al-Qaida terrorists were on their way to Britain to carry out attacks on targets here. A German newspaper said more than 30 al-Qaida and Taliban fighters plan to smuggle themselves into the UK "where they want to regroup and plan possible action." The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said Interpol and Europol had warned the German security services about a group of terrorists who had apparently gathered in Bulgaria, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Austria. But British sources said they had had no warning from the German authorities. One described the report as "not credible," and another well-placed official called it "cobblers." Another source said the story appeared to be a conflation of reports about immigrants, refugees gathering in Slovakia, and FBI claims that al-Qaida had been meeting Hamas terrorists in Lebanon. A spokesman for the German federal criminal office (BKA) declined to comment on the report. But he said police were on alert . "If we were to receive such information we would not comment on it," a BKA spokesman said. There was no specific intelligence that al-Qaida-linked terrorists were planning operations in Britain, the sources said. Al-Qaida's main focus was the US, with Britain at the "top of the second division." A Home Office spokesman said: "We do not believe the overall level of threat to the UK has increased beyond the heightened levels following the events of September 11." Whitehall officials have consistently criticised other countries, including the US, for exaggerating reports of terrorist threats. One said yesterday that Dick Cheney, the American vice president, who has warned of attacks on apartment buildings and other targets in the US, was "back-covering." However, a group of Scotland Yard officers, led by the deputy assistant commissioner, Barbara Wilding, visited Israel and Sri Lanka recently for advice on strategy to cope with suicide bombers. Leaders of Britain's Jewish community were due to meet privately last night to consider the possibility of such attacks. (c) Guardian Newspapers Limited 2002 FAIR USE NOTICE: This post contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material. ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytmid-05.23.02-15:38:23-12682