The Deputy British High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Stephen Bridges, in a keynote speech to mark the opening of the Security Management Stage 1 Course in Dhaka, warned delegates of the dangers of complacency over the threat posed by the Al Qaeda network. In particular the Deputy High Commissioner drew delegates’ attention to the level of ingenuity of those who have taken up arms in support of the Al Qaeda cause. “These people are often a lot smarter than we give them credit for, and this poses significant challenges for security managers”, remarked the Deputy High Commissioner.Having been the target of a terrorist plot while previously an ambassador, the Deputy High Commissioner - a political analyst by training - understands the threat better than most.
His warning comes amidst reports of a consolidation of the Al Qaeda presence in Europe’s soft underbelly, US legislation imposing strict physical antiterrorism security standards on the US petrochemical industry and comments by Lord Stevens, the former Metropolitan Police Commissioner, that the number of Al Qaeda operatives and active supporters in the UK may be as high as 4,000 - twenty times higher than Lord Stevens' 2005 estimate.
