Risk of UK terror atrocity has increased after ‘monstrous attacks’ by Hamas in Israel, head of the MI5 warns
- McCallum said Jewish communities were under threat from Islamic extremists
The ‘monstrous attacks’ in Israel have increased the risk of a terrorist atrocity in the UK, the head of MI5 warned today.
Ken McCallum said Jewish communities in Britain were under threat from Islamic extremists as well as anti-Semites, Neo-Nazis and extreme right-wing terrorists.
Speaking at an unprecedented security summit, the Director General of MI5 also raised the prospect of a heightened threat to Britain from an emboldened Iran.
At the first joint conference by the Five Eyes intelligence alliance comprising the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States, Mr McCallum said he was ‘sickened’ by the ‘outrageous acts’ by Hamas.
‘There clearly is the possibility that profound events in the Middle East will either generate more volume of UK threat and or change its shape in terms of what is being targeted, in terms of how people are taking inspiration’, Mr McCallum warned.
Ken McCallum said Jewish communities in Britain were under threat from Islamic extremists as well as anti-Semites, Neo-Nazis and extreme right-wing terrorists
Mr McCallum said he was ‘sickened’ by the ‘outrageous acts’ by Hamas. Pictured: Pro-Palestanian supporters protest in Birmingham City Centre on October 15
The spymaster revealed the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre was assessing the threat to the UK in light of developments in the Middle East. Pictured: Israeli troops with a variety of military vehicles at a gathering site at an undisclosed location along the Israel-Gaza border
‘Lots of things could shift over time.’
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He suggested MI5 ‘analysts have got their minds open and their eyes and ears open,’ to the risk, adding: ‘Sadly it is the case that in the particular case of Jewish or Israeli individuals or entities, they face risk potentially from those of an Islamist extremist mindset and those of an extreme right-wing, anti -Semitic or neo-Nazi type mindset.
‘We see both those forms of terrorism in the UK.’
The spymaster revealed the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre was assessing the threat to the UK in light of developments in the Middle East.
‘Over the last few years we’ve seen the growth increasingly of self-initiated terrorism, often without meaningful international connectivity, people often inspired by what they’re absorbing and digesting online,’ he said.
‘And so of course in the current climate, we and our partners are particularly attuned to the risk either that terrorist organisations may choose to strike in a new way, or perhaps even more likely that individuals choose to respond often in spontaneous or unpredictable ways.’
He added: ‘Terrorists can draw inspiration not just from things they see happening inside the UK, but things they see happening in the Middle East or on the continent or elsewhere.
‘So we would be silly not to be paying very close attention. And we are.’
Last year Iran plotted the assassination or kidnapping of at least 10 people in Britain. Pictured: Two persons on a motorcycle ride past large Palestinian flags hanging next to Hamas (right) and Hezbollah (centre) logos in ‘Palestine Square’, in Tehran, Iran
Mr McCallum revealed MI5 was working closely with Israel to ‘establish the facts’ and suggested UK intelligence may ‘play a role’ in helping to locate the ten missing Britons presumed to have been taken hostage by terrorists. Pictured: Israeli troops in Armoured Personnel Carriers
Mr McCallum revealed MI5 was working closely with Israel to ‘establish the facts’ and suggested UK intelligence may ‘play a role’ in helping to locate the ten missing Britons presumed to have been taken hostage by terrorists.
But Mr McCallum refused to be drawn on the detail.
‘These were monstrous attacks which saw 1400 people murdered. That includes British citizens, others are still missing,’ Mr McCallum said ahead of the conference at Stanford University.
‘The UK is working with Israel to establish the facts as quickly as possible.
‘My thoughts are with all the innocent people suffering in the region. Today, my fellow Five Eyes agency heads and I are discussing one important issue in public. ‘As you’d expect, we will also use our time together to discuss a range of other issues in private, including what Hamas’ attack means both in the region and in our homelands.
‘I spent the bulk of my career countering terrorism. It never loses the power to sicken me.
‘MI5 will continue to work without fear or favour to protect the UK national security wherever we see threats.’
Mr McCallum also raised the spectre of Iran’s ‘targeting intent’ shifting towards the UK.
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‘We have obviously been concerned about Iran’s behaviour in the UK for a long time,’ he said.
‘In particular, the last 18 months or so, have been a particularly intensive phase of Iran generated threat on UK soil.
‘Plainly events in the Middle East sharpen the possibility that Iran might decide to move into new directions.
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‘I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that could include the UK.’
Last year Iran plotted the assassination or kidnapping of at least 10 people in Britain.
Mr McCallum said the attacks in Israel by Hamas, which are widely seen as Iran funded, may embolden the hostile state.
‘For the most part, the activity we’ve seen backed by Iran in the UK for the last 18 months or so has been targeted at the regime’s own internal enemies, dissidents, Farsi media organisations. Not exclusively, but predominantly,’ he said.
‘Clearly one of the things on our minds is, might the Iranian targeting intent shift in response to events elsewhere.’
FBI Director Christopher Wray also warned at the summit there was the risk that Hamas and other terror organisations could exploit the conflict.
‘Here in the US we cannot and do not discount the possibility that Hamas or other foreign terrorist organisations could exploit the conflict to call on their supporters to conduct attacks on our own soil,’ he said.
‘We are also particularly alert to the potential these events have to inspire violence against Jewish Americans or Muslim Americans, institutions and houses of worship.
‘Over the past week, we have seen an increase in reported threats to these groups here in the United States.’
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