London, January 24: The bid to blow up a US plane marks a “new phase” in al-Qaeda’s campaign against the West, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said on Sunday, before this week’s London talks on Afghanistan and Yemen.
Miliband also said there remained a “very real” danger from violent extremists who will “stop at nothing” after Britain raised its terror threat assessment level from substantial to severe on Friday.
In an interview with the BBC, he refused to comment on why Britain had taken the step following a media report that al-Qaeda is training female suicide bombers and India’s decision to warn airlines about a possible hijack attempt.
But Miliband spoke of the threat posed by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) operating in Yemen.
It has been linked to an alleged attempt by a 23-year-old Nigerian man to blow up a Detroit-bound plane with explosives hidden in his underwear who is believed to have trained in Yemen.
In a new audio statement Sunday, al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden claimed the foiled attempt, threatening further strikes on US targets.
“The heart of the al-Qaeda senior leadership remains on the Afghan/Pakistan border,” Miliband said.
“But there is a real issue in Yemen – the fact that al-Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula should have tried to strike in Detroit marks a new phase in the campaign and that’s why there’s an important meeting on Yemen on Wednesday”.
He said the Detroit incident was the first time the group had attempted to strike in the West rather than within the Middle East and added that Yemen “has been rising on our radar for the last 18 months to two years”.
As well as the Yemen meeting on Wednesday, Britain is hosting an international conference on Afghanistan on Thursday.
—Agencies