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'High' chance of UK terror attack
LONDON, England -- There is a "high probability" that international terrorists will sooner or later launch an attack on the UK, a senior UK government security official has warned. The official, speaking to reporters at a briefing in London, said attacks were more likely to focus on "transport, particularly using aviation." Use of "good, old-fashioned high explosive" was also more likely than radiological or chemical tactics, he added. The briefing was part of the government's efforts to ensure the public were better informed of the long-term threat of terrorism. It was stressed that the briefing was not the result of a specific threat or immediate danger. Answering questions in parliament on Wednesday, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said the threat posed by Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network against Britain was "real and remains serious." Blair said a number of terrorist attacks had been "thwarted" since September 11 with "significant success" in damaging al Qaeda's capabilities. But he added: "The terrorist threat against the UK and against UK interests remains real and remains serious." In his final Commons question time before Christmas, Blair said "barely a day goes by" without some new piece of intelligence warning of threats to British interests. He dismissed calls for the public to be told of all possible attacks saying it could cause "unnecessary alarm." "So we have to sift it and make a judgment and the judgment we have made so far, I believe to be right," he said. "Of course it is important they are told the truth, it is also important though that we make a balanced assessment about how much information we give and what we say along with that information, because it's not just the information itself, it is the judgment you make, it's the weight that can be attached to it."
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