Britain's intelligence services concluded there was no risk of a terrorist attack shortly before the London bombings on July 7, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) said Tuesday.

"At present there is not a group with both the current intent and capability to attack the UK," the Joint Terrorist Analysis Center was quoted as saying in a confidential terror threat assessment report.

The document, issued three weeks before the London attack, had prompted the government to lower the country's threat level from "severe defined" to "substantial," according to BBC.

The Analysis Center is made up of officials from Britain's top intelligence agencies, the police and the customs.

The security services have been under intense criticism for failing to detect and monitor the four bomb suspects before they launched the attacks, which have killed 56 people and injured more than 700 others.

Officials argued that the assessment did not affect the security of the country, although it underlines weaknesses in the security services.

The assessment report surfaced amid critics linking the bombings to Britain's staunch support for the US-led war in Iraq.

The Royal Institute of International Affairs said over the weekend that violence in Iraq was fuelling anti-British sentiment and that Britain's role in the war had made it "more vulnerable" to attacks such as the one taking place on its on soil.

Source: Xinhua