Death toll 'will be downplayed to minimise panic'
Posted: Mon Oct 04, 2004 7:00 pm
OCT 4, 2004
U.K. MEMOS ON BIG TERROR ATTACK
Death toll 'will be downplayed to minimise panic'
LONDON - The police, seeking to minimise public panic, would withhold the true death toll if there was a catastrophic attack on Britain by the Al-Qaeda terror group, The Sunday Times claimed. According to the newspaper, secret Scotland Yard plans said that officers should not disclose the 'numbers or seriousness or nature of injuries' immediately after a 'dirty bomb' attack, even if there were thousands of casualties.
One of the memos, titled Communications Strategy For Dealing With A Terrorist Attack, suggested that poor handling of an attack would have 'political implications' that could damage the police and government, the paper said. It added that the instruction to withhold information contrasted with assurances by Prime Minister Tony Blair and Home Secretary David Blunkett that the public would be told the truth about terrorism.
Circulated widely as police and Home Office experts prepare plans to deal with an 'Al-Qaeda spectacular' in the run-up to the next general election, perhaps in May, the document reflected concern that a large-scale attack could turn voters against the Blair government, the Times said. The memo, and another 'restricted' paper entitled Major Incident Contingency Plans, said that an Al-Qaeda assault here was likely to be at least as serious as the Sept 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.
The memos said that a massive chemical or biological attack could endanger people for 'weeks or months'. They warned that Al-Qaeda terrorists might use planes, trucks and cars to carry out simultaneous strikes at several places and cause huge casualties. Senior officials were especially concerned that people might find out the police had failed to act on prior intelligence about an attack. The Times said the memos also warned Britain's 1.2 million Muslims not to retaliate if there was a violent 'backlash' from racist groups.
They said tensions between white people and Muslims would 'increase sharply' and could get worse if Britain or the US took punitive action abroad, the Times said. -- AFP
Source
U.K. MEMOS ON BIG TERROR ATTACK
Death toll 'will be downplayed to minimise panic'
LONDON - The police, seeking to minimise public panic, would withhold the true death toll if there was a catastrophic attack on Britain by the Al-Qaeda terror group, The Sunday Times claimed. According to the newspaper, secret Scotland Yard plans said that officers should not disclose the 'numbers or seriousness or nature of injuries' immediately after a 'dirty bomb' attack, even if there were thousands of casualties.
One of the memos, titled Communications Strategy For Dealing With A Terrorist Attack, suggested that poor handling of an attack would have 'political implications' that could damage the police and government, the paper said. It added that the instruction to withhold information contrasted with assurances by Prime Minister Tony Blair and Home Secretary David Blunkett that the public would be told the truth about terrorism.
Circulated widely as police and Home Office experts prepare plans to deal with an 'Al-Qaeda spectacular' in the run-up to the next general election, perhaps in May, the document reflected concern that a large-scale attack could turn voters against the Blair government, the Times said. The memo, and another 'restricted' paper entitled Major Incident Contingency Plans, said that an Al-Qaeda assault here was likely to be at least as serious as the Sept 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.
The memos said that a massive chemical or biological attack could endanger people for 'weeks or months'. They warned that Al-Qaeda terrorists might use planes, trucks and cars to carry out simultaneous strikes at several places and cause huge casualties. Senior officials were especially concerned that people might find out the police had failed to act on prior intelligence about an attack. The Times said the memos also warned Britain's 1.2 million Muslims not to retaliate if there was a violent 'backlash' from racist groups.
They said tensions between white people and Muslims would 'increase sharply' and could get worse if Britain or the US took punitive action abroad, the Times said. -- AFP
Source