Highlights
– Britain’s top laboratories may be at risk of infiltration
– Radical Islamists likely to continue recruiting well educated and well- integrated Muslims
– Al-Qaeda will continue to work toward acquiring CBRN weapons in the long-term
According to a report by the Guardian, foreign extremists are allegedly posing as postgraduate students in hopes of studying and gaining access to Britain’s top laboratories (Source). British officials say that a new vetting scheme used for background checks, called the Academic Technology Approval Scheme, has helped authorities spot this trend. British authorities have reportedly intercepted up to 100 potential Islamic extremists in the past year, whom authorities believe, may have sought to develop or steal deadly viruses and weapons technology.
Britain currently lacks a national policy restricting foreign nationals from working in high security laboratories. Conversely, draft legislation in the United States supports banning all non-Americans from laboratories that possess potentially dangerous bacteria and viruses. A British Foreign Office spokesman assured that efforts to scrutinize foreign postgraduate students would continue, as only a few of the 20,000 applications they receive are turned away for security reasons.
Still, with the vetting regime enacted in November 2007, the report raises concerns that well educated individuals with connections to terrorist suspects may have already infiltrated Britain’s 800 laboratories in hospitals, universities, and private firms that have access to lethal viruses and technology.
Breaking the Mold
The report claims that the students were denied entry into the United Kingdom (UK) under powers to “prevent the spread of knowledge and skills that could be used in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.” A number of the rejected “students” are thought to be from countries such as Pakistan and Iran, raising concerns about which countries may be seeking to acquire knowledge to develop or expand their biological and nuclear warfare capabilities. Authorities have uncovered traces of extremism present in UK laboratories in the past.
• Prior to the Gulf War 1990, a number of well-educated Iraqi scientists infiltrated several British microbiology laboratories.
• Rihab Taha, who worked on Saddam Hussein’s biological weapons program, studied for her PhD in plant toxins at East Anglia University’s School of Biological Sciences in Norwich, England.
While it may be difficult to detect if extremists have infiltrated Britain’s labs, the report highlights an important profile characteristic. Similar to the June 2007 failed car bomb attacks in London and Glasgow and the July 7, 2005 Tube bombings, the profile of Islamic terrorists goes beyond disenfranchised Muslim youths trapped on the fringe of British society between crime and unemployment. If seemingly well-educated and integrated Muslims continue to commit future attacks, this will make profiling a difficult challenge for British authorities in the long-term.
• Two of the accused assailants in the failed attacks, Jordanian Mohammad Asha and Iraqi Bilal Abdulla, worked as doctors for the National Health Service (NHS). Kafeel Ahmed, the Indian driver of the gas laden Jeep that rammed into the Glasgow Airport, also studied for his PhD in the technology department at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, England.
MoD Scientists Deployments Increase
Less than two weeks ago, director of the Ministry of Defense (MoD) counter-terrorism department, Brigadier Chip Chapman, reported to a parliamentary committee regarding emergency response. While Brigadier Chapman could not disclose specifics, he stated that immediate response teams from the Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL), Britain’s leading biological and chemical defense research center, have been deployed on a number of occasions in the past year.
The lab mainly specializes in nuclear and biological warfare, and also develops a range of technologies for military and civilian use including X-ray scanning equipment and armor. While details on the deployments remain unknown, it is likely the scientists are helping evaluate whether Britain’s emergency services including law enforcement and hospitals are ready for a terrorist attack or other emergency.
Outlook
British authorities have not stated that there is any threat of an imminent biological chemical attack. However, former director-general of MI5 Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller has previously warned that future terror attacks on British soil could involve weapons of mass destruction. Al-Qaeda will likely continue to work to achieve this capability.
• In the past, al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden declared the acquisition of chemical, radiological, or nuclear (CBRN) weapons a religious duty for Muslims. Additionally, abandoned al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan revealed that the group attempted to manufacture chemical and biological weapons in laboratories and al-Qaeda supporters continue to produce propaganda tapes calling for the use of weapons of mass destruction against the West.
Nevertheless, Islamic terrorists in the UK are more likely to carry out a successful attack targeting public places and transportation services in the long-term.
