London terror bid 'inevitable'

www.channel5.co.uk A successful terrorist attack on London is inevitable, the city's mayor Ken Livingstone has warned. But he says they will never manage to replicate the scale of destruction seen in Washington and New York on September 11. Mr Livingstone claimed that while every counter-terrorist measure was being taken to thwart potential attacks, one small group would inevitably achieve their aim as the IRA had done in the past. Describing the terror alert currently gripping Britain as a tragedy, Mr Livingstone said: "Someone will one day get through with something but I don't think we will see an attack on this city on the scale of September 11. "There is clearly a danger but I don't believe that al-Qaeda has the resources to do the sort of massive co-ordinated attack it managed on Washington and New York. "We are much more likely to see a small group of people succeed with something like a car bomb with devastation in one small area. "We would be lying to say that we will always be able to nip the terrorists in the bud. One day they will get through as the IRA did." Mr Livingstone also accused Labour Party chairman John Reid of being "alarmist" and going "over the top" when he compared the seriousness of the current threat to Britain with that on September 11. A total of nine suspects have been arrested near airports in England over the past week, while Heathrow's terminal two was evacuated after a security alert yesterday. Six of the suspects were subsequently released from arrest under anti-terror laws. Five were later handed over to the immigration service. One man caught with a hand grenade getting off a jet at Gatwick airport on Thursday was today still being questioned by anti-terrorism officers. Police in West Yorkshire arrested two men aged 25 and 26 on Thursday, and seized a car near the perimeter fence of Leeds/Bradford Airport. The men have been released without charge. Roads have been closed around Stansted in Essex while security has been beefed up at airports in Manchester, Bristol and Birmingham since high-profile security measures were launched on Tuesday. Scotland Yard Deputy Assistant Commissioner Andy Trotter said the Metropolitan Police was doing all it could to protect the capital. "We're taking every measure necessary to keep London safe and the evidence of our activity is out there on the streets. We'll do everything that is required to deal with the threat that we perceive at the moment," he said. Passengers were evacuated in a security alert at Heathrow's terminal two, which was closed for 90 minutes yesterday. It reopened in the afternoon after a suspect package was found. It turned out to be a false alarm. Scotland Yard revealed yesterday that four men in their 20s were arrested on Thursday afternoon in Langley, Berkshire, four miles from Heathrow. They were later released from arrest under anti-terrorism laws but were kept in custody and handed over to immigration officials. Two other arrests made in the Hounslow area, near Heathrow, were described as not significant. One man was released yesterday and one handed over to the immigration service. Anti-terror squad detectives were still questioning the 37-year-old man from Venezuela caught with a live hand grenade in his luggage at Gatwick. At Stansted, the access road to the terminal was closed for five hours amid heightened security measures. It is understood the action was taken due to the arrival and departure of flights by the Israeli airline El Al to Tel Aviv, which are considered a potential target for terrorists. The road was guarded by armed police.