United Kingdom May be Unable to Counter WMD Attacks, Parliamentary Committee Says

The United Kingdom may be unable to prevent a terrorist attack involving weapons of mass destruction, a British parliamentary committee warned in an annual report released yesterday (see GSN, May 24).

The British government underestimated the threat posed by al-Qaeda prior to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and had not provided adequate funding to British intelligence agencies, according to the Intelligence and Security Committee.

“Terrorist organizations are still attempting to acquire chemical, biological and nuclear materials as well as the technology to produce them,” the report states, according to the Associated Press. “Should they become better able to use these materials, the threat to the U.K., its citizens and its interests would escalate and our ability to cope with such attacks would be in question,” it added.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s office said it would soon respond to the committee’s report, AP reported (Ed Johnson, Associated Press, June 29).

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