Thread: Bomb warning received in London

Bomb warning received in London

A bomb threat for London has been issued by Irish dissidents in the first coded warning outside Northern Ireland in 10 years, officials say.

Streets around the Mall were closed for five hours on Monday morning amid a major security alert.

Whitehall officials said the call with the warning came from a number in the Irish Republic on Sunday evening.

The threat level for Northern Ireland-related terrorism, which stands at severe, has not been changed.

The warning comes ahead of the Queen's historic visit to the Republic of Ireland on Tuesday, amid a massive security operation.

The Metropolitan Police said the threat was not specific regarding location or time.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said in a statement: "All officers have been advised to be highly vigilant to ensure the safety of London."

The public were urged to go about their normal business but to look out for "unusual activity or behaviour".

BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera said: "My understanding is that this may have come because of a coded warning, which is why there is more concern about it than normal. Threats come in and out all the time.

"But if it was a specific code word warning, that would suggest something more serious and that would be why we have had this alert."
Threat level

He added it was significant that the threat level from dissident Irish terrorism had not been raised.

"Officials I have spoken to are trying to stress that it is not as if they have concrete intelligence of a specific attack at a particular time, or that would have gone up high in terms of the threat."

Earlier on Monday, The Mall and Carlton House Terrace were closed after a security alert was sparked by a break-in at Carlton Gardens.

Whitehall officials said the bomb warning call was not directly related to the break-in but had been taken very seriously in the light of the bomb threat.

The break-in is thought to have taken place at 2 Carlton Gardens, which houses the Institute for Government think tank.
'Real and serious threat'

That is adjacent to the foreign secretary's residence, where William Hague is believed to have been at the time.

BBC pictures from the scene showed a van of search dogs, and the Met's underwater and confined spaces search team.

Roads around Northumberland Avenue were also closed while a bag was destroyed in a controlled explosion. The roads have now re-opened.

Our correspondent, Gordon Corera, said the level of security in the Republic of Ireland would make it difficult for dissidents to disrupt the Queen's trip there.

"There was always a concern that timed with the visit there was the possibility of something happening in Northern Ireland, or perhaps in Britain," he said.

A Home Office spokesman said the UK faced a "real and serious threat from terrorism".

"The threat level to Great Britain from Northern Irish-related terrorism remains at substantial, which means that an attack is a strong possibility.

"There is a continuing need for vigilance and the public should report any suspicious activity to the police."



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13412871

Wow. I thought the conflict between the Irish and the English was down to a dull roar, if not gone altogether.