26 March 2005. Thanks to A.
Note "MI5 Visits Israel" below.
---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Denica Lundberg <denica@london-first.co.uk> Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2005 18:44:56 -0000 Subject: Message from Metropolitan Police To: Please find below an email received this evening from the Counter-Terrorism section of the Metropolitan Police. We do not have further details but have been asked to forward this message on to our networks. Denica Lundberg
Co-ordinator, Partnership in Policing London First 1 Hobhouse Court Suffolk Street London SW1Y 4HH d: 020 7665 1420 t: 020 7665 1500 f: 020 7665 1501 Denica@london-first.co.uk www.london-first.co.uk -----Original Message----- From: Gurney Martin Sent: 18 March 2005 17:38 Subject: Threat Level As discussed. 'Reporting indicates that dissident Irish republican terrorists are currently planning to mount attacks on the UK mainland. Incendiary and small Improvised Explosive Devices attacks have featured prominently in recent republican campaigns in Northern Ireland, as have postal devices and shooting attacks. Hoax calls have been made to amplify the disruptive effect of such attacks.' Threat from dissident republican terrorists is now judged to be SUBSTANTIAL. Martin GURNEY Inspector CT Section ********************************************************************** It is the policy of the MPS that: MPS personnel (or agents working on behalf of the MPS) must not use MPS systems to author, transmit or store documents such as electronic mail (e-mail) messages or attachments: * containing racist, homophobic,sexist, defamatory, offensive, illegal or otherwise inappropriate material; * for other than official or semi-official MPS purposes; * containing material requiring a protective marking higher than RESTRICTED, (and not higher than NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED across the internet) without the use of approved encryption; * containing personal data for use other than in accordance with the notification(s) under the Data Protection Act, 1998 of the system(s) from which the data originates. * This Email message has been scanned for viruses and contents. ********************************************************************** London First is backing the UK Olympic and Paralympic bid - register your support at WWW.LONDON2012.COM _______________________________________________________________________ The information contained in this e-mail or attachment is confidential to the addressee. If you are not the intended recipient, you must not use, copy, distribute or disclose the e-mail or any part of its contents or take any action in reliance on it. If you have received this e-mail in error, please e-mail the sender by replying to this message. All reasonable precautions have been taken to ensure no viruses are present in this e-mail. London First cannot accept responsibility for loss or damage arising from the use of this e-mail or attachments and recommend that you subject these to your virus checking procedures prior to use. London First. Registered in England No 02756521. Registered office, 1 Hobhouse Court, Suffolk Street, London, SW1Y 4HH _______________________________________________________________________
Subj: RE: Irish Terror Groups 'To Hit London' Date: 21/03/2005 05:40:38 Eastern Standard Time From: Martin.Gurney@met.police.uk To: Sam Rosenfeld Sent from the Internet (Details) Dear Mr Rosenfeld, Thank you for your enquiry. I am unable to forward you the e-mail that you require. If you seek further assistance may I direct you to our Directorate of Public Affairs at New Scotland Yard. Martin Gurney -----Original Message----- From: Sam Rosenfeld Sent: 20 March 2005 09:49 To: Gurney Martin Subject: Irish Terror Groups 'To Hit London' Dear Inspector Gurney, Would you please provide me with a copy of the e-mail you have sent to business regarding the threat from republican terrorists on the mainland and London. Regards Sam Rosenfeld [The Observer, 20 March 2005] http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1441975,00.html Irish terror groups 'to hit London' Police and MI5 issue warning to British businesses 'Substantial threat' from dissident republican groups Martin Bright and Henry McDonald Police have issued a stark warning that mainland Britain faces a 'substantial threat' of an Irish republican bombing campaign, The Observer can reveal. Scotland Yard's counter-terrorism section sent out an email about a new threat to businesses across London on Friday evening, following intelligence received from MI5 about an increase in activity from breakaway groups such as the Real IRA. The chilling note, seen by The Observer, states: 'Reporting indicates that dissident Irish republican terrorists are currently planning to mount attacks on the UK mainland.' It goes on to explain that methods used by dissident groups in Northern Ireland could be transferred to Britain. These include 'incendiary and improved explosive devices' used in recent republican campaigns, 'postal devices' and 'shooting attacks'. The police warning adds that hoax calls have also been made 'to amplify the disruptive effect of such attacks'. The level of the threat is now said to be 'substantial', just one stage below the 'severe general' threat from al-Qaeda. The email seen by this newspaper was sent from Martin Gurney, an inspector from the counter-terrorism section of the Metropolitan Police, to London First, a campaign group that works with 300 major firms to promote the capital. It was received just after 5.30pm on Friday by Denica Lundberg, who co-ordinates the organisation's dealings with the police. Police and the intelligence services warned of an increase in the threat from the Provisional IRA at the beginning of February after strong signals that they would return to the armed conflict following the breakdown of negotiations over arms decommissioning. One Whitehall intelligence source warned of making too clear a distinction between dissident groups and the IRA itself. 'It is often convenient for the security services to talk about "provisionals" and "dissidents", but there are an awful lot of grey areas and blurring of the edges,' he said. Irish police have been concerned about the 'cross-fertilisation' between the IRA and dissident members who have been working together. There were two separate incidents in the Republic over the last month in which supposed dissidents turned out to be members of the Provisional IRA. One officer said it was even possible that dissidents were being used as cover. Police counter-terrorism sources said that existing resources would be sufficient to cope with the heightened risk as anti-terror police were already in a state of readiness to cope with al-Qaeda. In early February the IRA issued a statement to the British and Irish governments saying: 'Do not underestimate the seriousness of the situation.' The note came 24 hours after it withdrew an offer to decommission weapons. The spectre of a new bombing campaign has raised the stakes. It was thought that the Real IRA, which was responsible for the Omagh bomb in August 1998, had been largely dismantled. It is not known if the new threat comes from a newly revived version of the breakaway organisation, another group such as the Continuity IRA or a new splinter group altogether. Dissident groups are thought to be in disarray and heavily infiltrated, although there is some overlap between them and mainstream IRA in South Armagh, Cork and Dublin. Last night, a senior Irish detective said that while it was unclear if the entire IRA organisation had decided to sanction an attack on Britain, there were forces inside mainstream republicanism in favour of a short, sharp attack. A spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Police confirmed that the threat level had been raised on Friday. She said the warning was sent out as part of a system to inform companies and businesses in the City of London to remain vigilant against terrorism. The upgrading of the threat level will raise fears about the collapse of the peace process - already under pressure after allegations of IRA involvement in the murder of Robert McCartney and the raid on the Northern Bank in Belfast last December in which £26 million was stolen. Prior to the collapse of all-party talks in December, a group of republicans still inside the Provisional IRA contacted The Observer. They passed on a statement opposing any moves to decommission weapons as part of a deal to get Sinn Fein into government in Belfast with Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party. Senior detectives in Dublin believe that the Northern Bank robbery was sanctioned by IRA leadership because it was seen as an alternative to a renewed bombing campaign in Britain. The heist has been described as a 'bloodless spectacular' against the British state. On Friday, Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy said that there was 'no hope' of political progress until the question of IRA criminality had been dealt with. Speaking from Washington, where he had celebrated St Patrick's Day, he said the onus was now on Sinn Fein to deal with IRA lawlessness. He added: 'As far as the political process is concerned, to all intents and purposes we are not talking about any future negotiations or discussions until the issue about criminal activity on the part of the IRA is addressed.' ********************************************************************** It is the policy of the MPS that: MPS personnel (or agents working on behalf of the MPS) must not use MPS systems to author, transmit or store documents such as electronic mail (e-mail) messages or attachments: * containing racist, homophobic,sexist, defamatory, offensive, illegal or otherwise inappropriate material; * for other than official or semi-official MPS purposes; * containing material requiring a protective marking higher than RESTRICTED, (and not higher than NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED across the internet) without the use of approved encryption; * containing personal data for use other than in accordance with the notification(s) under the Data Protection Act, 1998 of the system(s) from which the data originates. * This Email message has been scanned for viruses and contents. **********************************************************************
From: Sam Rosenfeld Date: Sat, 26 Mar 2005 05:34:02 EST Subject: Dissident Irish republican terrorists To: Martin.Gurney@met.police.uk Dear Martin, Perhaps you can explain why the Metropolitan Police have selectively chosen to inform the business community about the threat from Irish dissident terrorist. The Met has a duty care to inform everyone and that includes myself and others who face the prospect of being attacked. But it is now very clear that the Met favours business over the lives of individuals, or is it that the Met has a more sinister agenda such as assisting others to cause me harm or lose of life. It is my personal view born-out by the Met's refusal to accept that it has a duty of care to protect me and other former agents from harm. The very fact that the Met has consistently refused to put pen to paper and commit its risk assessments to me in writing says everything. I very much look forward to your response which I will be passing on to others to publish. Regards Sam Rosenfeldl -----Original Message----- From: Gurney Martin Sent: 18 March 2005 17:38 Subject: Threat Level As discussed. 'Reporting indicates that dissident Irish republican terrorists are currently planning to mount attacks on the UK mainland. Incendiary and small Improvised Explosive Devices attacks have featured prominently in recent republican campaigns in Northern Ireland, as have postal devices and shooting attacks. Hoax calls have been made to amplify the disruptive effect of such attacks.' Threat from dissident republican terrorists is now judged to be SUBSTANTIAL. Martin GURNEY Inspector CT Section ********************************************************************** It is the policy of the MPS that: MPS personnel (or agents working on behalf of the MPS) must not use MPS systems to author, transmit or store documents such as electronic mail (e-mail) messages or attachments: * containing racist, homophobic,sexist, defamatory, offensive, illegal or otherwise inappropriate material; * for other than official or semi-official MPS purposes; * containing material requiring a protective marking higher than RESTRICTED, (and not higher than NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED across the internet) without the use of approved encryption; * containing personal data for use other than in accordance with the notification(s) under the Data Protection Act, 1998 of the system(s) from which the data originates. * This Email message has been scanned for viruses and contents. ********************************************************************** London First is backing the UK Olympic and Paralympic bid - register your support at WWW.LONDON2012.COM IMPORTANT NOTICE This email (including any attachments) is meant only for the intended recipient. It may also contain confidential and privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, any reliance on, use, disclosure, distribution or copying of this email or attachments is strictly prohibited. Please notify the sender immediately by email if you have received this message by mistake, delete the email and all attachments.
A. writes 26 March 2005: This is an e-mail from a friend, might be of interest -- any idea what the PET system is? Note his remark on Northern Ireland. ----- I got a call on Thursday from my contact in Mossad, Tel Aviv. He asked, "What's all this business in Northern Ireland?" He has seen a memo that confirms operations on the mainland here may be about to start again, and that our security services are looking at some new technology in Israel concerning a system called PET. A couple of MI5 people have visited a lab to ascertain its value. I don't think it's coincidence.
Cryptome: PET may refer to an Israeli explosives detection technology; here is one citation: http://www.ats.org/newsletters.php?id=71 Technion Thwarts Terrorism [Snip unrelated] ... Prof. Ehud Keinan, dean of the Faculty of Chemistry, who is drawing attention for his own contributions to the fight against terrorism. Prof. Keinan is the leading co-creator of the Peroxide Explosive Tester (PET), a device that can be used to detect TATP (triacetone triperoxide), an explosive commonly used by terrorists-often in suicide attacks-because it is easy to produce and difficult to detect. Resembling a three-color ballpoint pen, the PET detects TATP by releasing three chemical mixtures that change color in the presence of the explosive. How's your court MOD-counteroffensive proceeding? Would the bastards attempt to silence you with extreme measures?
A. writes: That is a very good question, "Would the bastards attempt to silence you with extreme measures." Sometime back I received what I feel is a threatening e-mail, from what I believe to be senior rating Intelligence Corps officer, possibly holding the rank of Brigadier - the person stated that I knew who he was. There is also the possibility that it is one of the applicable persons identified and protected by the MoD in the injunctive proceedings, but I would think this is not likely, but I have not discounted this possibility. This individual has threatened to link me with Al Quaida in Pakistan. And has threatened to have me locked up without access to a solicitor. I made a formal complaint (upon receiving solicitor's advice) and the MoD said they would investigate the matter, but some weeks later they have fallen silent -- one can only assume that they know the identity of the individual and are protecting them -- or they have done absolutely nothing about looking into the matter. But of course I'm now very concerned that any government employee civilian or military is able to make a threat of this nature, as it would seem that they are quite happy to abuse their position of authority to cause harm. The fact that the MoD are quite happy to allow the person to make such threats is absolutely disgusting.