Al Qaida poses threat to Bush's visit to Britain: report

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, November 12, 2003

Al Qaida poses threat to Bush's visit to Britain: report

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British police have warned that al Qaida terrorists using the cover of huge anti-war protests are a very real threat to the safety of US President George W. Bush during his state visit to London next week, the British Times newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Concerns over an attack on Bush were the reason for the biggest security operation Britain has seen for any visiting head of state, the paper quoted the police as saying, while the threat of demonstrators embarrassing Bush during his three-day stay was a secondary worry.

"We are not so concerned about some anti-war protesters throwing rotten fruit at the president. Our worry now is the more dangerous elements who may be here," a senior police source was quoted as saying.

At the invitation of the British Queen Elizabeth II, Bush and his wife Laura Bush are expected to pay a state visit to Britain, which is believed to be the first state visit of an American President in over 20 years, from Nov. 19 to Nov. 21.

British anti-war groups, including the Stop the War Coalition, have intended to organize a 100,000-strong march through Parliament Square and Whitehall in central London on Nov. 20 yet they suspect that they might be banned to protest around major government buildings in central London during Bush's visit.

The Metropolitan police, which said it would facilitate lawful demonstrations, are reportedly planning a 4 million pounds (about 6.7 million US Dollars) security operation to cope with a large number of anti-war protesters.

The police also said road closures would not be revealed until the last minute for security reasons.

Bush's three-day visit also reportedly prompts a tension between US security agents and London Mayor Ken Livingstone.

According to local reports, US officials are demanding an exclusive zone in central London for Bush's visit, while Livingstone wants to keep the city as "open as possible".

"The ideas of some American security advisers that perhaps we should shut the whole of central London for three days, ignoring the economic consequences of that, I don't think that has got a chance at all," Livingstone was quoted as saying.

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