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Al-Qa'eda 'plotted to kill Blair in front of Queen'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/02/26/nalqaeda26.xml
By Andrew Pierce
Tony Blair defied an assassination threat from al-Qa'eda to take part
in the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations in central London, it can
be revealed for the first time.
The risk to the Prime Minister was disclosed to a new BBC documentary
by Lord Stevens, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner in 2002. He
positioned marksmen around Buckingham Palace in readiness for an
attack by bombers or snipers.
Lord Stevens, talking for the first time about the alleged plot, said:
"There was a threat against the Prime Minister over the Queen's
Jubilee period. It was an assassination threat. There was good reason
to believe that the threat was credible."
Mr Blair had become a target after backing the overthrow of the
Taliban in Afghanistan by the deployment of British air power and
troops. He was also using his diplomatic influence to try to generate
support for President George W Bush to invade Iraq.
The climax of the celebrations in the summer of 2002 was a street
party in The Mall attended by the Queen and senior members of the
Royal Family.
The question for Scotland Yard was whether it was advisable for the
Prime Minister to take his seat with the dignitaries in front of the
palace.
"I certainly went to No 10 to speak to the Prime Minister and talked
about public appearances," said Lord Stevens. "He was absolutely
determined that he was going ahead with the public appearances and
said, 'John, I am quite sure that you will do everything necessary as
you have done in the past'."
Lord Stevens, who confessed to not feeling the same degree of
optimism, said that Mr Blair would not countenance withdrawing. "We
went ahead. There were a lot of police officers around. There were
lots of marksmen in the actual vicinity," he said.
"I remember sitting with him three or four along the line outside
Buckingham Palace where I knew we were extremely vulnerable. I just
looked out the side of my eye. There was not a shadow of any kind of
fear. He had a job to do and he did it.
"You have to admire him and Cherie Blair, who also knew about the
threat, for doing that. They showed great personal courage."
The documentary, the second in a three-part series, examines how Mr
Blair moved from expressing the hope in 1997 that in his lifetime the
Armed Forces would not be involved in any armed conflicts to
committing them to fighting in Kosovo, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone and
Iraq within six years.
Clare Short, the former international development secretary, said:
"Tony got the taste for war in Kosovo. It made him an heroic figure. I
think he was right. It could have been better executed. But Tony got
lots of credibility and stature.
"You saw a transformation of Tony. He went on visits. Pictures taken
of him in front of camps of refugees. Lots of babies called Tony were
born. He was on the stage. And it was a more dramatic and powerful
stage than before."
Gen Sir Mike Jackson, who was chief of the Army between 2003 and 2006,
said: "When you have made that decision for the first time to commit
force in pursuit of your political objectives you learn.
"You have a confidence which would not have been there on the first
occasion. Having had the experience of doing it once you can draw on
that and it gives you great confidence if you have to do it a second
or third time."
Peter Hyman, an adviser to Mr Blair from 1994 to 2003, said that the
Prime Minister found it easier to get his way on the international
stage. "It is undoubtedly the case he found less constraints on the
world stage," he said.
"In domestic policy you are always battling the Treasury or other
departments. It is a messy, slow process. It's more clear cut on the
world stage."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/02/26/nalqaeda26.xml
See the ANTI-TERROR AD that the democrat controlled media refuse to
air
http://jednet207.tripod.com/PoliticalLinks.html#terrorism
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/02/26/nalqaeda26.xml
By Andrew Pierce
Tony Blair defied an assassination threat from al-Qa'eda to take part
in the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations in central London, it can
be revealed for the first time.
The risk to the Prime Minister was disclosed to a new BBC documentary
by Lord Stevens, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner in 2002. He
positioned marksmen around Buckingham Palace in readiness for an
attack by bombers or snipers.
Lord Stevens, talking for the first time about the alleged plot, said:
"There was a threat against the Prime Minister over the Queen's
Jubilee period. It was an assassination threat. There was good reason
to believe that the threat was credible."
Mr Blair had become a target after backing the overthrow of the
Taliban in Afghanistan by the deployment of British air power and
troops. He was also using his diplomatic influence to try to generate
support for President George W Bush to invade Iraq.
The climax of the celebrations in the summer of 2002 was a street
party in The Mall attended by the Queen and senior members of the
Royal Family.
The question for Scotland Yard was whether it was advisable for the
Prime Minister to take his seat with the dignitaries in front of the
palace.
"I certainly went to No 10 to speak to the Prime Minister and talked
about public appearances," said Lord Stevens. "He was absolutely
determined that he was going ahead with the public appearances and
said, 'John, I am quite sure that you will do everything necessary as
you have done in the past'."
Lord Stevens, who confessed to not feeling the same degree of
optimism, said that Mr Blair would not countenance withdrawing. "We
went ahead. There were a lot of police officers around. There were
lots of marksmen in the actual vicinity," he said.
"I remember sitting with him three or four along the line outside
Buckingham Palace where I knew we were extremely vulnerable. I just
looked out the side of my eye. There was not a shadow of any kind of
fear. He had a job to do and he did it.
"You have to admire him and Cherie Blair, who also knew about the
threat, for doing that. They showed great personal courage."
The documentary, the second in a three-part series, examines how Mr
Blair moved from expressing the hope in 1997 that in his lifetime the
Armed Forces would not be involved in any armed conflicts to
committing them to fighting in Kosovo, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone and
Iraq within six years.
Clare Short, the former international development secretary, said:
"Tony got the taste for war in Kosovo. It made him an heroic figure. I
think he was right. It could have been better executed. But Tony got
lots of credibility and stature.
"You saw a transformation of Tony. He went on visits. Pictures taken
of him in front of camps of refugees. Lots of babies called Tony were
born. He was on the stage. And it was a more dramatic and powerful
stage than before."
Gen Sir Mike Jackson, who was chief of the Army between 2003 and 2006,
said: "When you have made that decision for the first time to commit
force in pursuit of your political objectives you learn.
"You have a confidence which would not have been there on the first
occasion. Having had the experience of doing it once you can draw on
that and it gives you great confidence if you have to do it a second
or third time."
Peter Hyman, an adviser to Mr Blair from 1994 to 2003, said that the
Prime Minister found it easier to get his way on the international
stage. "It is undoubtedly the case he found less constraints on the
world stage," he said.
"In domestic policy you are always battling the Treasury or other
departments. It is a messy, slow process. It's more clear cut on the
world stage."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/02/26/nalqaeda26.xml
See the ANTI-TERROR AD that the democrat controlled media refuse to
air
http://jednet207.tripod.com/PoliticalLinks.html#terrorism
