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Security officials and workers at the site of the suicide car boombing in Lahore Wednesday

Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Wednesday blamed the Taliban for the attack outside the ISI headquarters in Lahore, saying the strike could be a retaliation of the Government's military offensive against the militant outfit.

"It appears to be a fallout of the ongoing military operations in Swat, Dir and other areas of NWFP," said Malik. There would be no let up in the crackdown on these "anti-national elements", he added.

"They want to destabilise Pakistan.

Threats have been held out by Tehrik-eTaliban chief Baitullah Mehsud," the Interior Minister told reporters in Karachi.

"We are in a state of insurgency. There is a war inside the country and there were two options before the Government... either to cave in... or to confront and crush them," Malik said. "We have opted to flush them out," Malik said and sounded a warning to radical groups to lay down arms as they had no other option left. The Government has geared up intelligencesharing with the provincial Government, the Interior Minister added.

The attack at the ISI headquarters on Wednesday that killed 35 and injured 390, is the third major strike to rock Lahore in less than three months, following the March 3 attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team and the March 30 attack on the Manawan police academy.

The attack came a day after Taliban spokesperson Maulvi Mohammad Omar threatened attacks across Pakistan if the military operation in Swat was not stopped. However, no group immediately took responsibility for the attack. According to reports, some suspects picked up in connection with the terror attack on the Lankan cricket team here being interrogated inside the ISI office when the blast took place.

The site is also close to the Lahore High Court where Jamaat-ud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed, detained in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attack, was scheduled to appear for a hearing on Wednesday.

Last year in March, some suspects involved in the Naval War College attack were interrogated at the Federal Investigation Agency building when a mini-truck loaded with huge explosives ran into it, killing 30 people, mostly FIA officials.

— April 29 — Twin car bombs tear through Baghdad's Sadr City, killing 41.

— April 24 — Back-to-back suicide bombers strike near Shiite shrine in Baghdad, killing 60.

— April 23 — Baghdad suicide bomber hits Iraqis collecting humanitarian aid, killing 31.

— April 23 — Suicide bomber strikes restaurant north of Baghdad in Muqdadiyah, killing 57.

— April 6 — Series of bombings within four hours in Baghdad kill 37 people.

— March 26 — Car bomb tears through market in Shiite area in east Baghdad, killing 20.

— March 23 — Suicide bomber strikes Kurdish funeral north of Baghdad in Jalula, killing 27.

— March 10 — Suicide bomber targets tribal leaders at market in Abu Ghraib, killing 33.

— March 8 — Suicide bomber strikes police academy in Baghdad, killing at least 30.

— March 5 — Car bomb tears through livestock market in Hillah, killing 13.

— Feb. 13 — Female suicide bomber targets Shiite pilgrims in Musayyib, killing 40.

— Feb. 11 — Twin car bombs explode at a bus terminal and market area in Baghdad, killing 16.

— Jan. 4 — Female suicide bomber strikes Shiite pilgrims in Baghdad, killing 38.

— Jan. 2 — Suicide bomber hits luncheon at a tribal leader's home in Youssifiyah, killing 23.

2009.04.20 Afghanistan Khost 2 8 Islamists bomb a passenger bus, killing two civilians.
2009.04.20 Afghanistan Uruzgan 1 2 Religious extremists kill a civilian with a roadside bomb.
2009.04.19 Somalia Merka 1 0 Islamic gunmen murder a humanitarian worker.
2009.04.19 Ingushetia Sunzhen 1 1 Mujahideen stage a grenade attack on a home, killing a woman.
2009.04.19 Afghanistan Zabul 2 3 Three local police are murdered in a Taliban ambush.
2009.04.19 India Pulwama 1 0 A former terrorist who renounced violence is shot to death by Islamists.
2009.04.19 India Doda 2 0 Lashkar-e-Toiba militants open fire on local security forces, killing two.
2009.04.19 Iraq Mussayib 2 0 Two Sunnis are gunned down by suspected al-Qaeda.
2009.04.19 Iraq Baghdad 1 0 Terrorists assassinate a government official.
2009.04.19 Pakistan Hangu 2 0 A man and woman are executed by the Taliban for having relations outside of marriage.
2009.04.18 Pakistan Khyber 4 0 Four men are killed in a remote-controlled bomb attack.
2009.04.18 Pakistan Hangu 27 55 A Holy Warrior rams an explosives-laden truck into a local checkpoint, sending at least twenty-seven souls to Allah.
2009.04.18 Afghanistan Kandahar 2 4 A woman is among two people blown to bits by a planted bicycle bomb.
2009.04.17 Afghanistan Parwan 5 5 Five security guards are gunned down by suspected Sunni radicals.
2009.04.17 Iraq Baghdad 7 15 Seven people are killed when Jihadis lob mortars into a residential neighborhood.
2009.04.17 Afghanistan Nimroz 3 3 A suicide bomber takes out three civilians.
2009.04.16 Pakistan Lahore 1 0 An 18-year-old woman is shot dead by her brother-in-law for trying to leave the marriage.
2009.04.16 India Anantnag 1 1 A woman is murdered, and her son wounded, when Mujahideen intrude into the home and open fire on the family.
2009.04.16 Pakistan Mardan 1 0 A woman is killed when Islamic militants bomb the offices of a humanitarian organization.
2009.04.16 Iraq Baquba 1 4 One person is killed in an al-Qaeda bombing.
2009.04.15 Pakistan Charsadda 18 5 A suicide bomber drives an explosives-laden car into a police checkpoint, killing both officers and civilians.
2009.04.15 Iraq Kirkuk 11 22 Eleven Iraqis are murdered by a Fedayeen suicide bomber near an oil facility.
2009.04.15 Philippines Elian 2 0 Moro Islamists ambush and kill two locals.
2009.04.15 Somalia Mogadishu 1 0 A government official is assassinated by al-Shabaab terrorists.
2009.04.15 Pakistan Jacobabad 1 0 A young girl is killed by her uncle on suspicion of sexual immorality.
2009.04.15 Pakistan Karachi 1 0 A lawyer is gunned down in a suspected sectarian attack.
2009.04.14 Thailand Yala 1 0 A villager is murdered by Mujahid gunmen.
2009.04.14 Pal. Auth. Gaza 1 0 A 28-year-old woman is murdered by her family in an honor killing.
2009.04.13 Philippines Basilan 1 0 Abu Sayyaf terrorists behead a kidnapped Christian.
2009.04.13 Afghanistan Herat 4 0 Four civilians are blown to bits when Sunni hardliners bomb a passenger bus.
2009.04.13 Afghanistan Khost 2 0 Two construction crew guards are murdered by Islamic militants.
2009.04.13 Pakistan Jandola 2 0 Two people are kidnapped and shot to death by Mujahid.
2009.04.13 Afghanistan Nimruz 2 0 A man and woman are publicly executed by the Taliban for eloping.
2009.04.13 Iraq Baghdad 0 4 Fundamentalists toss a grenade into a liquor shop.
2009.04.13 Somalia Mogadishu 1 5 Terrorists send a rocket into a Red Cross building, killing one civilian.
2009.04.13 Somalia Mogadishu 1 3 A woman is among the casualties as Islamists set off a bomb along a city street.
2009.04.12 Jordan Basira 1 0 A 28-year-old pregnant woman is stabbed to death by her younger brother in an 'honor killing.'
2009.04.12 Iraq Yathrib 2 0 al-Qaeda terrorists murder two Iraqis with a roadside bomb.
2009.04.12 Iraq Mosul 3 2 Mujahideen gun down a civilian and two policemen.
2009.04.12 Pakistan Peshawar 1 7 Islamic militants attack a trucking terminal, killing a security guard.
2009.04.12 Afghanistan Kandahar 1 0 A women's rights activist is murdered by four fundamentalist gunmen.
2009.04.11 Iraq Iskandariya 12 32 A dozen innocents waiting in line for pay are blown apart by an al-Qaeda suicide bomber.
2009.04.10 Iraq Mosul 7 20 Five Americans are among seven murdered by a Fedayeen suicide bomber.
2009.04.10 Afghanistan Helmand 6 7 Religious extremists attack a police post, killing six local officers.
2009.04.10 Philippines Basilan 1 8 Muslim terrorists attack a Christian village, killing one and kidnapping several young children.
2009.04.10 Thailand Narathiwat 1 2 Mujahideen gunmen fire into a passenger train, killing one railway worker.
2009.04.10 Pakistan North Waziristan 2 0 Two civilians are kidnapped and beheaded by Taliban militants.
2009.04.10 Pakistan Bannu 1 2 Islamists bomb a tribal elder meeting, killing one member.
2009.04.10 Somalia Mogadishu 2 9 The 'Mujahideen Youth Movement' take out two civilians in a mortar attack.
2009.04.09 Afghanistan Lashkar Gah 5 17 Two children are among five Afghans blown apart by a Shahid suicide bomber.
2009.04.09 Algeria Jijel 3 0 Three brothers are massacred by Islamic fundamentalists at a fake checkpoint.
2009.04.09 Pal. Auth. Gaza 3 0 A 5-year-old boy is among three family members gunned down over immoral behavior.
2009.04.09 Thailand Pattani 1 0 A teenager is kidnapped and beheaded by Mujahideen.
2009.04.08 Algeria Kabylie 1 0 A cop is killed in a Mujahideen bombing.
2009.04.08 Pakistan Lahore 1 0 A Muslim man guns down his niece to keep her from marrying against the family's permission.
2009.04.08 Pakistan Buner 5 0 Taliban fighters attack a local village, killing five people.
2009.04.08 Iraq Baghdad 7 19 Jihadis bomb a marketplace, murdering seven patrons.
2009.04.07 Iraq Baghdad 7 14 Mujahideen blow seven people to bit with a car bomb.
2009.04.07 Iraq Fallujah 3 7 A suicide bomber takes out three Iraqis.
2009.04.06 Iraq Baghdad 37 100 Six coordinated terror bombings leave thirty-seven Iraqis dead.
2009.04.06 Iraq Jalawla 3 0 Three civilians are gunned down in a Sunni drive-by.
2009.04.06 Pakistan Mansehra 4 0 Three female aid workers and their driver are brutally murdered by suspected Muslim militants.
2009.04.06 Afghanistan Khost 2 1 Taliban bombers take out two local security personnel.
2009.04.06 Philippines Basilan 3 9 Three laborers are cut down by automatic weapons at point-blank range by Abu Sayyaf militants.
2009.04.06 Pakistan Mingora 1 1 A village guard is murdered by Islamic gunmen.
2009.04.05 Pakistan Chakwal 24 35 Two dozen innocents, including four children, are blown to bits in a religious center by a Shahid suicide bomber.
2009.04.05 Jordan Sahab 1 0 A 22-year-old woman is stabbed to death by her brother for 'spending too much time out of the house.'
2009.04.05 Iraq Mosul 2 1 A child and his mother are among three casualties of two terror attacks.
2009.04.05 Somalia Mogadishu 1 6 A child is killed in an Islamist mortar attack.
2009.04.05 Iraq Abu Ghraib 1 2 A civilian is taken out in an al-Qaeda bombing in a residential area.
2009.04.04 Pakistan Islamabad 8 4 Eight embassy guards are blown to bits by a Shadid suicide bomber.
2009.04.04 Pakistan Miranshah 7 30 Children are among seven people murdered by a Fedayeen bomber.
2009.04.04 Iraq Mosul 1 0 A Christian repairman is shot to death by Muslim gunmen in front of his workshop.
2009.04.04 Thailand Pattani 2 0 A 60-year-old man and his teenage son are shot to death outside their home by Islamic terrorists.
2009.04.03 Philippines Basilan 2 8 A woman is among two people killed when Islamic militants bomb a fast food shop near a Catholic cathedral.
2009.04.03 Afghanistan Ghazni 4 0 Four construction crew workers are killed in a Taliban bombing.
2009.04.03 Iraq Baghdad 2 5 Jihadi bombers successfully kill two Iraqis.
2009.04.02 Iraq Baghdad 2 0 Two homosexuals are killed by their tribes in a bid to "restore family honor."
2009.04.02 Israel Bat Ayin 1 1 A 45-year-old Muslim slips into a Jewish settlement, stabs a 7-year-old and axes a 13-year-old to death.
2009.04.02 Iraq Baghdad 2 0 Two older Christian sisters are murdered by Mujahideen gunmen.
2009.04.02 Pakistan Koral 1 0 A Muslim man stabs his sister to death for marrying without the family's permission.
2009.04.02 Afghanistan Heart 4 0 Sunni fundamentalists kill three civilians and a local cop in an ambush.
2009.04.02 Iraq Baqubah 3 0 Terrorists plant a bomb at a car dealership, killing three people.
2009.04.02 Daghestan Khasavyurt 3 0 A local cop and his two brothers are kidnapped and murdered by Islamic separatists.
2009.04.01 Pakistan Upper Dir 5 2 Five police are slaughtered in a brutal Taliban ambush.
2009.04.01 Iraq Mashtal 1 0 A Christian man is gunned down in front of his restaurant by Islamic terrorists.
2009.04.01 Afghanistan Kandahar 13 17 A Fedayeen attack on a government office leaves thirteen people dead.
2009.04.01 Somalia Mogadishu 1 1 A civilian is killed when al-Shabaab terrorists fire at a vehicle carrying a lawmaker.
2009.04.01 Iraq Mosul 4 0 Two bombings and a shooting leave four dead, including a schoolteacher and a 7-year-old child.
2009.03.31 Iraq Mosul 7 40 A suicide truck bomber takes out seven Iraqis.
2009.03.31 Iraq Kirkuk 1 0 An elderly Christian is gunned down by Muslim radicals.
2009.03.31 Philippines Alamada 1 3 Moro Islamists gun down a local soldier guarding a town square.
2009.03.31 Pakistan Samundri 1 0 A father of four young children is murdered by suspected Islamists.
2009.03.31 Iraq Kirkuk 1 0 A 71-year-old Christian man is killed in his own home by Muslim intruders.
2009.03.30 Iraq Baqubah 3 9 Mujahid bombers murder three people outside a real estate office.
2009.03.30 Pakistan Bannu 5 3 A Shahid rams an explosives-laden vehicle into a police checkpoint, killing five officers.
2009.03.30 Afghanistan Paktia 3 0 Three local cops are killed by a Taliban roadside bomb.
2009.03.30 Afghanistan Kandahar 9 8 A Fedayeen bomber calmly walks into a government office and detonate, leaving at least nine dead.
2009.03.30 Thailand Pattani 2 0 A married couple is brutally shot to death by Islamic extremists.
2009.03.30 Pakistan Lahore 9 93 Civilians are among at least nine innocents slain in a Fedayeen attack on a police academy.
2009.03.30 Iraq Hillah 3 0 Three al-Qaeda victims are found dead in a car.
2009.03.30 Thailand Narathiwat 1 0 Muslim gunmen murder a civilian as he is walking home.
2009.03.30 Somalia Saydhelow 3 10 A woman is among three people killed in an al-Shabaab ambush.
2009.03.30 Thailand Pattani 1 1 A vendor is murdered by Muslim gunmen while riding on his cart with his 14-year-old son.
2009.03.29 Iraq Basra 5 6 Five Iraqis are blown apart by a Jihad roadside bomb.
2009.03.28 Thailand Yala 1 0 A 51-year-old man is gunned down in his home by Muslim radicals.
2009.03.28 Iraq Fallujah 2 0 Two farmers are murderd by Muslim extremists while working in their fields.
2009.03.28 Afghanistan Paktia 7 5 Seven local security personnel are killed by Sunni hardliners in two separate attacks.
2009.03.27 Philippines Maguindanao 7 2 Moro Islamists ambush a security patrol, killing seven members.
2009.03.27 Thailand Pattani 3 0 Mujahdieen gunmen murder three civilians in two attacks.
2009.03.27 Pakistan North Waziristan 3 0 Three civilians are shot to death by armed fundamentalists.
2009.03.27 Iraq Jalawla 1 1 A cleric is gunned down by al-Qaeda assassins.
2009.03.27 Thailand Narathiwat 1 16 A local farmer is shot to death as he returns from work and sixteen others injured in a separate bombing.
2009.03.27 Pakistan Jamrud 71 115 Over seventy people are slaughtered by a horrific Taliban suicide attack on a rival mosque.
2009.03.26 Pakistan Dera Ismail Khan 3 3 Three Sunnis are shot to death in a sectarian drive-by attack.
2009.03.26 Afghanistan Helmand 9 6 Nine local police are gunned down when armed religious extremists attack a checkpoint.
2009.03.26 Pakistan Tank 11 25 A Shahid suicide bomber detonates at a restaurant, killing a dozen patrons.

The children, who were detained in a village near the northern city of Kirkuk, were part of a cell known as the "Birds of Paradise" and were being specially trained to avoid detection as they carried out attacks, security officials said.

"Special forces units have arrested an organisation of children consisting of four individuals under the age of 14 who call themselves the 'Birds of Paradise'," said General Abdelamir al-Zaidi, the commander of the Iraqi army division in Kirkuk. "The group relies on children and is connected to al-Qaeda. It works to recruit children and young people to carry out suicide attacks and to aid the terrorist groups in detonating roadside bombs."

Al-Qaeda groups have previously used Iraqi children to carry out attacks on US and Iraqi security forces, even using them in one instance as a cover to sneak a car bomb past a Baghdad checkpoint before detonating the device with the youngsters still inside. Militants have also been accused of using mentally disabled women as suicide bombers.

Other insurgent groups have used children to fire rocket-propelled grenades and set roadside bombs, knowing that they were less likely to be shot at by soldiers.

The newly discovered children's cell appeared to derive its name from the Islamic belief that when children die they become birds of paradise.

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk Iraqi children trained by al-Qaeda to be suicide bombers

Accepting reports of its two committees -- one headed by Justice K T Thomas and the other by noted jurist Fali S Nariman -- a bench comprising Justices Arijit Pasayat, L S Panta and P Sathasivam also laid down guidelines for authorities to recover the cost of damaged property from the delinquent protesters. While the Justice Thomas committee suggested radical measures to give teeth to the existing lenient law -- Prevention of Destruction and Loss of Public Property Act -- the Nariman committee suggested fresh guidelines, which make the protesters liable for the damage caused by them.

The Justice Thomas committee's recommendation to make the leaders of the protests, who most of the time do not come to the forefront but operate behind the scene, liable as abettors to the destruction of property could prove to be a major deterrent against protests turning violent. The bench, while putting the suggestions of the two committees as guidelines, said its directions would operate till Parliament or assemblies enacted suitable laws replacing the apex court's directions for prevention of vandalism of the kind seen during the Gujjar agitation in 2007.

The new guidelines include a provision that says those seen indulging in violence in video footage would be presumed to be the offenders and the onus would shift on them to show that they are innocent.

Focusing on compensating the people whose properties were damaged by the protesters, the apex court said not only should the violent protesters pay the cost of damaged property, but they be also saddled with exemplary cost.

However, the court did not direct implementation of the guidelines relating to sensitizing media and regulation of its coverage of incidents relating to violent agitations. The Nariman Committee's suggestion for a National Broadcasting Authority would serve as an advisory opinion for the authorities, the bench said.

Hakimullah Mehsud, a deputy to Baitullah Mehsud who is the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, said in a telephone interview on Sunday that the Taliban were responsible for the suicide attacks in Pakistan's Islamabad and Chakwal, the New York Times reported.

There have been three suicide attacks in Pakistan in the past two days.

Mehsud said the Islamabad bombing on Saturday was in "retaliation" to an attack by a remotely piloted American aircraft on Wednesday in Orakzai in which at least 10 people were killed.

He said the Pakistani Taliban plan to carry out two bombings a week within Pakistan, the report said.

He did not specify whether the attacks would be by suicide bombers or in-commando-style assaults, a technique used against a police training school in Lahore last week, in which eight police officers were killed and more than 100 were wounded.

Hakimullah Mehsud said the attack in Chakwal on Sunday was carried out by a group known as the Fidayeen-e-Islam, part of the broad alliance known as the Tehrik-i-Taliban.

He said he would release a video showing that the recent attacks were being conducted by "Pakistanis and Muslims", and not by foreigners, as the Pakistani government has asserted.

A suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance to a Shia mosque in Punjab province's Chakwal city on Sunday, killing at least 22 people.

A suicide bomber struck in Islamabad on Saturday night, killing eight paramilitary security personnel.

On Saturday morning, a suicide bomber drove his vehicle into a group of civilians in North Waziristan, killing at least eight people.

Claiming responsibility for the terror attack on a police academy in Lahore, barely 10 kilometres from the Indian border, Mehsud threatened to launch more strikes within Pakistan as retaliation for a series of attacks by US drones in tribal areas. The attacks in Pakistan, he said, will continue till Islamabad withdraws troops from tribal areas.

The Taliban chief, who is wanted in connection with the assassination of former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto, told foreign news agencies, "we will keep on taking revenge ...and finally a major attack will prove to be an arrow aimed at the government.

Afghanistan and Pakistan have become a nightmare for the United States and Mehsud's chilling warning would have added to the American discomfiture. American news agency Associated Press quoted Mehsud as stating, " I will deal with the US. It will take some time but I will teach a lesson to the US. By the grace of Allah, we will take revenge inside the US."

Mehsud made the claim from an undisclosed location, even as the prime suspect in the Lahore terror strike yesterday confessed that all his accomplices were from Pakistan's tribal areas.

The Director-General of Pakistan Rangers said three more arrests had been made on the information provided by the captured militant Gul Khan alias Ishrat Khan. While reports yesterday had spoken of six terrorists having been captured alive, Pakistani authorities today claimed there were only five attackers. Three blew themselves up, one managed to escape and the fifth one was Khan.

Khan came to Lahore from Afghanistan a few months ago and carried out the attack with his fellow countrymen in connivance with local facilitators, said DIG of police, Mustaq Ahmed Sukhera. Khan and his accomplices had rented a house in Manawan to prepare for the attack, he added.

Meanwhile, a less known group called Fedayeen al-Islam also claimed responsibility for the attack on the police academy. Its spokesman Umar Farooq claimed that his group had carried out a similar attack against the Sri Lankan cricket team earlier in March.

The group also put forth similar demands as Mehsud but added one of its own. It demanded the release of Maulana Abdul Aziz, who was the cleric of Islamabad's famous Red Mosque which was stormed by security forces under former President Pervez Musharraf's rule.

As news of the Lahore attack came in, the Indian side of the Attari border immediately went on alert. "A high alert has been sounded on the Indo-Pak Attari border and its surrounding areas,'' inspector general, Border Security Force (BSF), Himmat Singh said. He added that security had been enhanced at the Wagah checkpost, the land transit route that leads to Pakistan.

Pakistani policemen collect weapons belonging to the gunmen who attacked the police academy near Lahore on Monday

A witness said the assault started at 7.30 am when police recruits were undergoing their morning drill. The gunmen attacked in groups of three or four from various sides, opening fire and hurling grenades. Some of them were clad in police uniforms.

"A man in light-coloured clothes stood in front of us, firing at us. They wanted to do as much damage as possible,'' a wounded recruit said at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Lahore.

The gunmen then went on to occupy the academy's main building. Another wounded policeman recounted how he jumped from a second-floor window to escape when the gunmen burst into a room and began firing.

At about 4 pm, the army, paramilitary rangers and a crack police squad launched a joint operation to retake the building. "Our forces stormed the top floor where they were holding positions,'' Major-General Shafqaat Ali said. "The operation is over and the building is in our control.''

Three of the terrorists blew themselves up during the final assault, and commandos rescued ten police recruits who had been taken hostage.

The siege lasted nearly nine hours, with security forces firing from therooftops of nearby buildings and gunmen returning the fire and throwing grenades. At one point, an armoured personnel carrier was forced to retreat. Before the siege ended, the police chief said one of the suspected attackers had been caught.

Former England cricketer Dominic Cork, who was caught up in today's attack, called for international cricketers to avoid Pakistan in the future and, just three months ago, the English team flew home from India early following the Mumbai attacks which killed about 170 people on November 26

The order came from the mountains of North Waziristan, the bleak, lawless tribal area of Pakistan which borders Afghanistan, where the leaders of Al Qaeda have spent the past five years hiding, rebuilding and planning their next atrocities.

It was given by the leader, known to his followers as The Sheik  -  a tall, slender figure with long beard and soft brown eyes  -  whose ruthless tactics had become known, and feared, the whole world over.

The plan was made possible by the 40kg of enriched, weapons-grade uranium 235 that The Sheik's most trusted associates had bought, at a cost of $150 million, with the profits of the opium trade that was flourishing once more.

This week the Government's terrorism adviser, Lord Carlile QC, warned there was 'real anxiety' that private jets might be used as 'vehicle bombs' in terrorist attacks on Britain

As for the origins of 'the cargo', there was dispute even among the best-informed rumour-mongers of Waziristan.

Some said the uranium had come from the Iranian nuclear plant at Natanz. Others believed it was from North Korea, or even dissident elements in the Russian Federation.

Whatever the source, though, the outcome was the same.

The 'real and imminent' threat to which Mohammed al Baradei, chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, had alerted the world in June 2004, had finally come true.

Al Qaeda had acquired the means, and the technical know-how, to build a crude, simple, but brutally effective nuclear bomb.

And now they intended to deliver it.

Before the bomb had even been completed, rumours of its existence had reached MI6, and been considered, analysed and then dismissed.

This was to prove a catastrophically foolhardy decision, but it was not an irrational one.

Rumours of rogue nukes had been doing the rounds for almost 20 years since the breakup of the old Soviet Union. Yet no bomb had ever been uncovered, let alone detonated.

For policy makers, forced to work with limited resources, the key consideration was the balance of probability.

And the most probable scenarios, in terms of attacks on the UK mainland, involved disaffected British citizens, using conventional weapons, delivered by groundbased vehicles.