MI5 Chief Says ‘Arab Spring’ Breeds Terrorism

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Jonathan Evans, chief of Britain’s MI5, warned more terrorist activity could soon threaten Britain.
(Mark Waugh/AFP/Getty Images)

The “Arab Spring” is creating a “permissive environment” in new parts of the Arab world for al Qaeda to operate and train new recruits, the director general of Britain’s security service, MI5, said June 25.

“Al Qaeda first moved to Afghanistan in the 1990s due to pressure in their Arab countries of origin,” Jonathan Evans said. “They moved on to Pakistan after the fall of the Taliban. And now some are heading home to the Arab world again.”

He continued: “A small number of British would-be jihadis are also making their way to Arab countries to seek training and opportunities for militant activity, as they do in Somalia and Yemen. Some will return to the UK and pose a threat here. This is a new and worrying development and could get worse as events unfold.”

His speech at the Lord Mayor’s Annual Defense and Security Lecture was titled “The Olympics and Beyond” and covered a range of topics including cybercrime and the threat of extremists and anarchists spurred by the economic crisis in Europe.

He also warned that Iran appears to have become more active in terrorism. “The U.S. authorities last year uncovered a plot by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps [irgc] to mount an attack on the Saudi ambassador in America, and of course the irgc leads straight back to the Iranian leadership,” he said. “So a return to state-sponsored terrorism by Iran or its associates, such as Hezbollah, cannot be ruled out as pressure on the Iranian leadership increases.”

With the Muslim Brotherhood, itself a terrorist group with close links to Hamas, rising to power in Egypt, expect a significant increase in terrorism in the area.
https://www.mi5.gov.uk/output/the-olymp ... eyond.html