Britain unveiled plans yesterday to tighten defenses against terrorism at British power plants, shopping malls and transport networks as leaders warned of a 30-year battle against extremists.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown and terrorism minister Alan West outlined proposals to boost protection at airports, rail stations and major public buildings, and to install extra security features at shopping malls, concert halls and large movie theaters.
The review of nearly 900 public spaces was conducted following failed car bomb attacks in London's West End entertainment district and Glasgow airport earlier this year.
West's study highlighted a resurgent threat from car bombs - a tactic once used by Irish Republican terrorists and now adopted by Islamic extremist groups.
At a morning meeting with architects and security experts, West and Brown discussed plans to design new public buildings to reduce the threat from bomb blasts and shrapnel injuries. Brown ordered West's review after the botched bombings in London and Glasgow, Scotland, just days after he took office in June and nearly two years after the suicide bombings on London's transport system that killed 52 people and the four British attackers.
West told the meeting he was certain the current threat of terrorism would fade, but warned it would take a generation. "It will take 30 years to excise that cancer of terrorism, I believe," West said.
Brown said new measures could spell more disruption for airport and rail passengers, who already face strict baggage checks and long lines at security gates.
"While there is some inconvenience in what we propose, there is also a determination on our part to balance the need for security with protection of liberties and minimizing the inconvenience," Brown said. Brown said in addition to new security measures, Britain needs to do more to ensure that young British Muslims feel a sense of belonging to their country.
"We must also build better community relations and a stronger sense of our shared British values - what is sometimes called winning the battle of hearts and minds," Brown wrote in a newspaper.
Brown said work was taking place to isolate radical clerics who "seek to manipulate and divide society."
"It is a battle which we will have to fight street by street, community by community, and year by year," he wrote. Jonathan Evans, head of the domestic spy agency MI5, warned last week that around 2,000 people in Britain were suspected of actively planning attacks. He claimed young teenagers were being radicalized for terror plots.
Source: China Daily/Agencies
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