U.S. Department of State Country Reports on Terrorism 2004 - United Kingdom

The United Kingdom has been and remains one of the United States' strongest partners in the global fight against terrorism. In what was reportedly the largest counterterrorism operation in the UK since 9/11, police in March arrested eight men, all British citizens of Pakistani descent, and seized a half-ton of ammonium nitrate. The men were charged under the Terrorism Act for involvement in a plot to manufacture and deploy an improvised explosive device. The UK has not commented publicly on the eight plotters' likely target. Their trials are expected to begin in 2005. In an unrelated case, police arrested eight men in August for planning a terrorist attack in the UK. All eight were charged with terrorism-related offenses, and at the time of their arrests, it was widely reported that police suspected them of having links with al-Qa'ida. Their trials are expected to begin in late 2005. The first trials for individuals arrested in connections with the 2003 "ricin plot" began in September. A second group of trials related to the ricin plot are likely to begin after the first group concludes.

UK law enforcement authorities may detain without charge individuals suspected of having committed a terrorism-related offense for up to 48 hours. Until January 2004, this period could be extended by court order to seven days. In January, a new law came into force allowing court ordered detention without charge for up to 14 days. In December, the UK's highest court ruled that special immigration powers that allowed the Home Secretary to detain indefinitely certain foreign nationals were incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). In response to the ruling, the detention powers were allowed to lapse and Parliament adopted the Prevention of Terrorism Act. The Act gives the Home Secretary powers to make control orders that impose a range of conditions, including a ban on Internet or mobile phone use, restrictions on movement and travel, restrictions on association with named individuals, curfews, and tagging. These may be applied to both UK citizens and foreign nationals suspected of involvement in international terrorism.

The UK continued to assist with the US request for the extradition of Khaled al-Fawwaz, Adel Abdel Bary, and Ibrahim Eidarous for their involvement in the 1998 bombings of two US embassies in East Africa. However, all three have exercised their legal right to make representations to the Home Secretary against their surrender to the United States. The United States has also requested the extradition of Abu Doha in connection with the December 1999 plot by Ahmed Ressam and others to attack Los Angeles International Airport. As in the case of the Embassy bombers, his case is before the Home Secretary. In May, British officials arrested the radical cleric, Abu Hamza, on a US extradition warrant. The UK Government subsequently arrested Hamza on separate terrorism-related charges and in October the Crown Prosecution Service charged him with 16 criminal offenses, including soliciting murder, inciting racial hatred, and possessing a document that contained information "of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism." The British case against Hamza takes legal precedence over the US extradition request, which has been suspended until the British case is settled. In August, the United States requested the extradition of Babar Ahmed, an alleged terrorist recruiter.

UK law enforcement and intelligence authorities work closely with their US counterparts. The regular exchange of law enforcement reporting and intelligence has resulted in the successful disruption of several significant plots to commit terrorist attacks against unspecified targets in the UK and the United States. The Metropolitan Police have also assisted other international partners with terrorism-related investigations, including Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, and Iraq.

The United States and the United Kingdom are also strong allies in combating terrorism finance. Both work closely together and with other partners within the United Nations and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the G8 Counterterrorism Action Group to promote initiatives to deny terrorists and their supporters access to the international financial system.The UK has strong legal provisions for freezing assets related to terrorist financing.

In 2004, the United States and the UK co-sponsored a proposal to the UN 1267 Sanctions Committee to include on its consolidated list the Jama'at al-Tawhid wa'al-Jihad (subsequently renamed al-Qa'ida of the Jihad Organization in the Land of the Two Rivers), the organization which was responsible for the bombing of UN headquarters in Baghdad and the brutal abduction and execution of seven civilians in Iraq.

In Northern Ireland, Republican and Loyalist paramilitary organizations have increasingly shifted their activity from political actions to criminal racketeering. This shift began with the 1994 ceasefires of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA), the Ulster Defense Association (UDA), and the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), and has accelerated since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. Two relatively small "dissident" Republican paramilitaries – Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA) and Real Irish Republican Army (RIRA) – are not observing a ceasefire, and continue to advocate the use of armed violence to support their goal of uniting the northern and southern parts of Ireland. The activities of Loyalist paramilitaries take place almost exclusively within Northern Ireland, while Republican paramilitaries also have a presence in the Republic of Ireland.

In December, unknown persons suspected of being linked to PIRA robbed a Belfast bank of some $50 million dollars.