New Al-Qaeda chief pledges major attack on London to avenge Bin Laden's death
Read more: dailymail
Osama Bin Laden's replacement as leader of Al-Qaeda is planning a major terrorist attack on London, ordering his followers to 'crush' the city.
Soon after being officially appointed caretaker chief of the terrorist group, Saif al-Adel vowed to avenge the death of his former boss.
'Our new leader has asked for a big plan for London,' Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said. 'He believes the UK is the backbone of Europe and must be crushed.'
Taliban and Al-Qaeda leaders met near Pakistan's border with Afghanistan to confirm the new role for al-Adel, 51, who was once Bin Laden's security chief.
In response to the heightened threat on London, British Transport Police (BTP) are to be given the power to carry weapons on the capital's trains, stations and the underground for the first time.
Transport Secretary Philip Hammond will next week announce the plan, which is aimed at deterring the threat of another terrorist attack.
The BTP, which protects the rail, tube and urban metro system, has 2,900 officers and the proposals involve giving around 100 of them firearms training.
Security officials are particularly concerned about the possibility of an attack like that in November 2008 in Mumbai when gunmen attacked hotels and the city's main railway stations, killing nearly 200 people.
The news comes as the Manchester 'Easter shopping' bomb plot has been linked directly to Bin Laden for the first time.
Files seized by US special forces from the al-Qaeda chief's Pakistani compound reveal that Bin Laden himself masterminded the Manchester terrorist cell. The files have now been passed to M15.
Twelve men - 11 Pakistanis and a Briton - were arrested over the alleged planned attack against Easter shoppers in April 2009.
But authorities were eventually forced to set the alleged plotters free because of lack of evidence against them.
Osama Bin Laden's replacement as leader of Al-Qaeda is planning a major terrorist attack on London, ordering his followers to 'crush' the city.
Soon after being officially appointed caretaker chief of the terrorist group, Saif al-Adel vowed to avenge the death of his former boss.
'Our new leader has asked for a big plan for London,' Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said. 'He believes the UK is the backbone of Europe and must be crushed.'
Al-Qaeda's new leader Saif al-Adel, left, has vowed to make the UK pay for the death of Osama Bin Laden, right
In response to the heightened threat on London, British Transport Police (BTP) are to be given the power to carry weapons on the capital's trains, stations and the underground for the first time.
Transport Secretary Philip Hammond will next week announce the plan, which is aimed at deterring the threat of another terrorist attack.
The BTP, which protects the rail, tube and urban metro system, has 2,900 officers and the proposals involve giving around 100 of them firearms training.
Security officials are particularly concerned about the possibility of an attack like that in November 2008 in Mumbai when gunmen attacked hotels and the city's main railway stations, killing nearly 200 people.
The news comes as the Manchester 'Easter shopping' bomb plot has been linked directly to Bin Laden for the first time.
Files seized by US special forces from the al-Qaeda chief's Pakistani compound reveal that Bin Laden himself masterminded the Manchester terrorist cell. The files have now been passed to M15.
Twelve men - 11 Pakistanis and a Briton - were arrested over the alleged planned attack against Easter shoppers in April 2009.
But authorities were eventually forced to set the alleged plotters free because of lack of evidence against them.
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