Sun, 22 Mar 2009 17:06:45 GMT
 British Prime Minister Gordon Brown |
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the initiative is vital for safety in the UK. According to him, tens of thousands of civilians have already been trained for the purpose.
Brown said Sunday that the individuals range "from security guards to store managers" who know how to "deal with an incident and know what to watch for as people go about their daily business in crowded places such as stations, airports, shopping centers and sports grounds."
British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said the strategy, called Contest Two, would be more open than past counter-terrorism efforts. In the last two years, the UK has imprisoned over 80 suspected terrorists.
Brown went on to claim that more than two-thirds of the plots threatening the UK are linked to Pakistan, saying al-Qaeda members in northern Pakistan and in alleged UK networks are attempting to organize attacks in Britain.
The British prime minister concluded by saying that by 2011, Britain will be spending £3.5 billion a year on counter-terrorism activities.
RSM/HGH/AA
Κυριακή, 22 Μάρτιος 2009
ΑΣ ΔΟΥΜΕ ΕΝ ΣΥΝΤΟΜΙΑ ΤΟ ΒΙΟΓΡΑΦΙΚΟΥ ΤΟΥ IAN BLAIR ΤΗΣ SCOTLAND YARD Ο ΟΠΟΙΟΣ ΕΧΕΙ ΕΡΘΕΙ ΣΤΗΝ ΕΛΛΑΔΑ ΓΙΑ ΝΑ ΜΑΣ ΣΩΣΕΙ ΑΠΟ ΤΟΥΣ ΤΡΟΜΟΚΡΑΤΕΣ...
Στις 2/10/2008,δηλωνει την παραιτηση του,καθως Βρετανοί αστυνομικοί πυροβόλησαν και σκότωσαν νεαρό βραζιλιάνο, θεωρώντας τον τρομοκράτη...πραγμα για το οποιο δεχτηκε εντονοτατη κριτικη...Ειναι ο ανθρωπος ο οποιος γεμισε το Λονδινο με καμερες ασφαλειας...γι'αυτο το λογο αλλωστε η Ντορα Μπακογιαννη,εκανε λογο την εβδομαδα που μας περασε για την χρησημοποιηση των καμερων που εχει στη διαθεση της η Ελλαδα απο τους Ολυμπιακους Αγωνες του 2004,με το προσχημα της ασφαλειας των πολιτων...Οπως βλεπουμε..τιποτε δεν ειναι τυχαιο...
Την δεκαετια του 1990,ειχε κατηγορηθει για θεσμικο ρατσισμο,με αφορμη την δολοφονια ενος μαυρου νεαρου...καθως επισης και για αλλες υποθεσεις...
Καταλαβατε τωρα με το τι ειδους ανθρωποειδες εχουμε να κανουμε;;;;
Καταλαβατε σε ποιον εκανε εκκληση
ο ιδιος ο Πρωθυπουργος της χωρας μας,
Κωστας Καραμανλης;;;
ΤΟ ΠΑΡΑΚΡΑΤΟΣ ΚΑΙ ΟΙ ΜΥΣΤΙΚΕΣ ΥΠΗΡΕΣΙΕΣ ΖΟΥΝ ΚΑΙ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΟΥΝ ΣΤΗΝ ΕΛΛΑΔΑ...
ΜΙΑ ΖΩΗ Η ΤΥΧΗ ΤΟΥ ΛΑΟΥ ΜΑΣ,
ΘΑ ΕΙΝΑΙ ΠΙΟΝΙ ΣΤΑ ΧΕΡΙΑ ΤΟΥΣ...
ΜΕ ΤΗΝ ΥΠΟΓΡΑΦΗ ΤΩΝ ΠΟΛΙΤΙΚΩΝ ΜΑΣ ΗΓΕΤΩΝ,
ΟΠΟΥ ΔΗΘΕΝ ΨΗΦΙΖΟΥΜΕ ΔΗΜΟΚΡΑΤΙΚΑ...
ΠΡΕΖΑ TV
22-3-2009
Sir Ian Blair's siege mystery
By STEPHEN WRIGHTLast updated at 22:32 30 März 2007
Sir Ian Blair has been accused of exaggerating his role in a notorious IRA shoot-out in the 1970s in a desperate attempt to improve his image.
The beleaguered Scotland Yard Commissioner is alleged to have 'gilded the lily' to display his credentials as a 'copper's copper'.
Scroll down for more...
Then and now: Sir Ian Blair in his younger days, left, and today, right
Police train weapons on the flat at Balcombe Street where the gang held their hostages
In an interview last year Sir Ian, 54, claimed he was targeted by IRA terrorists in the run-up to the Balcombe Street siege in London in 1975.
He said that after responding to a radio call about a 'bandit car' being used by a group of IRA men fleeing the scene of an attack, he and a sergeant had found themselves confronted with the terrorists.
"We turned the corner, and there is the car," he told the Guardian. "It was a very defining moment. I think I spent the next half an hour pretending to be a bush. They got out of the car and started firing at us. It is an interesting experience being fired at when you have absolutely nothing to fire back with ... I loved it. I loved the job."
But Sir Ian's account has been challenged by Steve Moysey, a U.S.-based British academic, who read the interview this month while researching a book about the siege.
Mr Moysey identified a number of apparent inconsistencies between the commissioner's account and what he had discovered during a year spent investigating the case.
One aspect of Sir Ian's story was particularly bemusing, he said. "The statement that as they [the IRA men] got out of the car "they started shooting at us" is just inconsistent with what I know to have occurred. It just didn't add up."
The four IRA men - Martin O'Connell, Edward Butler, Harry Duggan and Hugh Doherty - had just carried out a drive-by shooting on a West End restaurant and were headed for Balcombe Street where they would take a couple hostage in their flat for six days before surrendering.
Mr Moysey contacted John Purnell, a detective inspector at the time who with his fellow officer Phil McVeigh were the first policemen to confront the Balcombe Street gang.
Mr Purnell recalled how he and Mr McVeigh commandeered a taxi and gave chase. After the IRA men abandoned their car, the officers followed on foot, and the gang opened fire on the pair. Despite the salvo, Mr Purnell stayed in pursuit - later earning him a George medal for his courage.
He could not recall Sir Ian being present that night.
Mr Purnell said: "I've never for one second associated Ian Blair with Balcombe Street in any shape or form and his account of seeing [the terrorists] get out of the car and being shot at as they got out of the car is totally impossible."
Yesterday Sir Ian said that in the original interview he had been trying to discuss "what the excitement and thrill of the job was as a young cop. This is me with less than a year's service, so it's 31 years ago."
He acknowledged that he had not personally seen the IRA men getting out of their car and opening fire but had become aware that they had done so after arriving in the Balcombe Street area on the night of December 6, 1975.
Though he says he is not completely sure when he first arrived, he insists he was present while shots were being fired. But he says he was never 'in the thick of it' and did not imply that he was.
An interesting part of Sir Ian's fuller account of his involvement concerns his part in the pursuit of the stolen Ford Cortina driven by the IRA gang before they abandoned it near Regents Park.
Sir Ian said he had briefly joined the chase after encountering the IRA car near the original shooting. Asked about Sir Ian's latest account of the pursuit, Mr Purnell said: "There was no chase. It was just going along at a normal speed. [The IRA men] actually said later they didn't know they were being followed."
Mr Purnell added: "I'm not irritated. Nothing surprises me. I know of other people who have put that they were involved in Balcombe Street and they happened to man a cordon."
Sir Ian is regarded by many in the police service as a politically correct bureaucrat. His style in stark contrast to his predecessor Sir John (now Lord) Stevens, a swashbuckling career detective who received a total of 27 commendations.
Scotland Yard said: "These events took place 31 years ago. The commissioner recounted his memory of the incident when he was a young PC in the form of a short anecdote and far too much emphasis is being put on it.
"He has certainly not sought to put himself forward as a hero."
