Britain too faces terrorism threats

Britain's new Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Friday's suspected car bomb in central London was a reminder that his country is facing "a serious and continuous threat" due to terrorism.

Stressing the need to protect his country and its people from terrorist activities, the successor to Tony Blair declared that the first duty of a government is the security of the people.

It was an inauspicious start for the 56-year-old Premier who faced a baptism of fire as a powerful car bomb, which could have caused untold carnage among late-night revellers in central London was intercepted by the British Police. Police also discovered a second car bomb in central London hours after defusing an explosive device in a Mercedes Benz car parked outside a busy nightclub. According to reports from London, the first bomb could have caused "loss of life" had it been detonated by the terrorists. Officials said it was a "potentially viable explosive device" in a normally packed tourist district.

"As the police and security services have said on so many occasions, we face a serious and continuous threat to our country. We should allow the police to investigate," Prime Minister Brown was quoted as saying after the bitter experience. He was forced to respond, saying the incident showed that Britain was facing a "serious and continuous security threat".

The high drama in London came just a week ahead of the second anniversary of the July 7, 2005 suicide bombings, when British Islamists killed 56 people on London's public transport system. Following the 9-11 terror attacks in the United States, Britain too has strengthened its anti-terrorist activities.

Though the new premier has not yet outlined in detail his plans to tackle terrorism, media reports said that he would try to extend the 28-day limit on detaining terror suspects without charge to 90 days, allow detectives to question them and boost the security budget.

During the ten-year innings of Tony Blair as the Prime Minister, counter-terrorism operations were a regular and controversial feature in Britain, which also proscribed the LTTE as a terrorist organisation.

According to Britain's new Interior Minister Jacqui Smith, they are currently facing "the most serious and sustained threat to British security from international terrorism".

Sri Lanka is no exception. As the British people, we too are facing the most serious and sustained threat to our national security due to Prabhakaran's merciless acts, targeting innocent civilians. It was only last Wednesday that the first ever LTTE cadre to be arrested under the British Terrorism Act of 2000 were formally charged. Two men, Arunachalam Chrishanthakumar alias A. C. Shanthan (50) and Goldan Lambert (29) were due to appear at the Westminster Magistrate's court. Shanthan is believed to be the head of the LTTE wing in Britain. This was a clear red right to the LTTE which will now be forced to move their main operations out of the UK.

Hence, we cannot rule out the possibility of the LTEE joining hands with another terrorist organisation such as Al Qaeda or any other outfit to work towards their goals.

The LTTE has regularly said that their battle is only against Sri Lanka. This is merely to seek international cover and strengthen their goals. The assassination of Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi is a classic example of how the LTTE reacts when they find an obstacle to their terrorist path.

Terrorism in any part of the world is terrorism and all nations should unite to beat that common enemy.

This was clearly stated by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in his awe- inspiring speech at the Group of Eleven Summit in Amman last May. He said that Sri Lanka, which has suffered heavily due to the LTTE's ruthless acts, was not only seeking to defeat terrorism but was also trying to liberate the people who had become innocent victims of terrorism.

As President Rajapaksa stressed, all terrorist attacks, be it in Amman, Islamabad, London or Colombo, are acts that must be vehemently condemned. There is no difference between such terrorist acts.

It is indeed a crying shame that some organisations in the so-called developed world tend to view certain terrorist organisations leniently. At times, these terrorists are surprisingly labelled as rebels or freedom fighters.

Some countries also allow or turn a blind eye to terrorist organisations operating on their soil. This is precisely how they show their indifference to terrorism.

It is only in developing countries or less developed countries that those acts become liberation moves. In the developed world, they are branded as terrorists.

As a nation which has been severely affected by terrorism, we feel the agony and sufferings of people due to terrorist acts. Hence, Sri Lanka would be amongst the first to join Britain and the US in their endeavour to eliminate international terrorism. Be it the LTTE, Al Qaeda or any other terrorist group, their ultimate objectives bring nothing but suffering to the people.