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Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6826744.ece
Al-Qaeda's Threat Has Not Gone Away
[Times-UK] Andy Hayman - The magnitude and savagery of the attack eight years ago on Sept. 11 announced the arrival of al-Qaeda on the global stage - a terrorist group with the desire and capacity to mount indiscriminate suicide attacks causing mass loss of life. Between 2003 and 2006, not a year passed without the UK being the target of a serious al-Qaeda-directed plot. Some commentators argue that the worst is over. That is a theory I cannot buy into. The threat level has been reduced because known intelligence is telling the authorities that al-Qaeda is not as potent as it was a few years ago. But that should be seen as a short-term position. This is a lull in hostilities, not a cessation. The writer was Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Operations at Scotland Yard in 2005-08.