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The new weapon against terror: ‘tramps’

MI5 and Special Branch agents pose as vagrants to gather intelligence
By Liam McDougall and Neil Mackay

BRITISH intelligence agents are disguising themselves as down-and-outs in “key terrorist target areas” as part of a nationwide surveillance operation to foil attacks by al-Qaeda

Senior intelligence and police anti-terror sources revealed that the ploy has been sanctioned for use in areas considered to be potential terror targets – such as around Westminster and the Scottish parliament – and in areas with large Muslim populations. Major tourist attractions such as Edinburgh Castle and the Tower of London are also being surveilled by officers posing as tramps.

One British intelligence source said the agents, dressed as vagrants, were being used as “spotters and intelligence gatherers”. He said: “We are using agents in the field in a variety of ways. Some adopt the guise of the homeless or vagrants in key target areas.

“A vagrant is perfect for long-term surveillance or just picking up interesting tidbits in the street. They blend in and become almost invisible to the public. They are our eyes and ears in key locations.”

The astonishing admission comes just days after Kamel Bourgass, a suspected al-Qaeda operative living in London, was jailed for 17 years at the Old Bailey for plotting attacks in Britain using the deadly poison ricin. Police and MI5 believe the 31-year-old Algerian, a failed asylum seeker, had been picked for training in one of Osama bin Laden’s camps in Afghanistan and was part of a network of terrorists that stretched across Europe.

He was convicted on Wednesday after a raid on a north London flat in 2003 found recipes for poisons, including ricin and cyanide, written out in Arabic in Bourgass’s handwriting. Bourgass stabbed Special Branch officer Stephen Oake to death after police cornered him during a later swoop at an address in Manchester.

A British intelligence source revealed that there were “20-plus key Islamic terrorist suspects in the UK”, many of whom had not been arrested before.

The Sunday Herald understands that the none of the 20-plus group relates to the Muslims detained in Belmarsh. These suspects are understood to be “sleepers” connected to al-Qaeda cells who live in the UK until called upon to carry out an attack.

The source also confirmed that undercover anti-terror teams were being sent incognito into “key areas” of the UK. Some were dressed as vagrants.

“The areas that we are targeting are obviously of interest to us, to the ongoing war on terror and Britain being a prime terror target. We’ve got these guys keeping watch in city centres for any suspicious activity or terrorist planning.”

The teams have been ordered to monitor anyone who maybe acting suspiciously around key tourist sites, “high-profile” buildings or mosques. Currently, the UK has been placed on high alert for terror attacks. Possible targets include next month’s general election and the meeting of the G8 leaders, including US President George Bush, at Gleneagles, Perthshire, in July.

http://www.sundayherald.com/49168

Report: Schools likely terror target.

SAN DIEGO - In the post-Sept. 11 world, U.S. schools need to realize they are potential targets for attacks not only from mentally unstable students, but from terrorists looking to strike at the heart of the American fabric, a leading school security expert told a meeting of school board administrators Friday.

Kenneth Trump, president of National School Safety and Security Services, said many school districts have neglected to prepare for terrorism because of limited money, pressure to spend more time on raising test scores and, in some cases, denial of the risk.

"People are reluctant to talk about schools as terror targets because of fear," he told members of the National School Boards Association. "And yet we'll talk about protecting bridges, monuments and Capitol Hill. Where is the logic?

"If you want to strike at the heart of America, you'd strike at America's children."

The seizure of a school in Beslan, Russia, by Chechen rebels in September was one example Trump used to remind school officials of the reality of the threat. More than 330 people, most of them children, died in the raid.

Too often, U.S. schools are too loose with security, allowing easy access to vendors or anyone "who seems to belong" on campus, he said. Some continue to post campus maps on Web sites that could help potential attackers plan their assaults.

The anthrax mail attacks of 2001 should have halted the practice of having student aides open mail, but the practice is common, he said. And many school employees who could spot a threat, such as custodians or bus drivers, are not involved with emergency planning. Parents, likewise, are often left out.

Several administrators in the audience at the San Diego Convention Center agreed with Trump's assessment and said their schools are beginning to look at the variety of threats they face, including potential terrorism.

Trump credited schools with tightening security after the Columbine shootings, in which two students killed 13 people and themselves at their campus near Denver in 1999. And many re-evaluated safety plans after a student killed nine people and ended his own life last month in Red Lake, Minn. But over time, he said schools grow lax and fail to keep up their crisis team training or update emergency incident plans.

Trump said federal funding for emergency preparedness also ebbs when the shock of a mass assault wears off. Congress' proposed 2006 budget would cut $437 million in state allocations for safe and drug-free school projects.

http://www.montereyherald.com