London tests Olympic security plans for 2012 (AFP)

LONDON (AFP) – Police and key organisations involved in the London 2012 Olympics have launched tests to prepare for any possible terror attack, the police officer in charge of Games security said.

"We recognise the terrorist threat could come from anywhere," London police's Olympic security coordinator Chris Allison told AFP, after a press conference on Tuesday to unveil a series of exercises which will run over the coming year.

The Olympics will see the biggest ever peacetime policing operation in Britain amid fears that terrorists could attack an event which will attract huge attention worldwide.

The threat level from international terrorism is currently ranked at severe, meaning an attack is highly likely. It is only one notch below the top level, critical, which means that an attack is imminent.

Islamist extremists are considered a major threat to London. Al-Qaeda-inspired bombings on the city's transport system in July 2005 killed 52 people.

Northern Irish dissident republicans -- who are seeking to destabilise the province's peace process -- have ramped up their activity in recent months and could also pose a threat to mainland Britain.

The security tests will include a live counter-terrorism exercise, to be held early next year, and meetings between the heads of police, emergency services, Olympic organisers and government departments to ensure they coordinate their response.

"We've looked at the various attack methodologies the terrorists have used in the past and we've used that to inform the plans," said Assistant Commissioner Allison.

Detailing the tests at the Scotland Yard headquarters of London's Metropolitan Police, Allison acknowledged that terrorism "potentially is the biggest" threat facing the Games.

Home Secretary Theresa May insisted that the government would "leave nothing to chance" when it came to security at the Games.

"The testing of our plans, structures and responses to ensure they can deal with any incident is vital," she said at Scotland Yard.

She denied that cuts to the police as part of reductions to public spending would affect the security operation.

"It is possible to make significant changes in budgets without affecting frontline officers," she said.

The government has earmarked ?600 million for Games security, which May pledged would be protected from spending cuts imposed on public services including the police.

The exercises, beginning in the coming weeks and running until shortly before the Games start on July 27, 2012, would also prepare police and key organisations for threats such as large protests and organised crime.

"All the sorts of things that could possibly happen in any event, we are going to test it," said Allison.

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UK, Pakistani leaders hold terror talks in London (AP)

LONDON – Pakistan has agreed to cooperate more closely on counterterrorism issues with Britain after the killing of Osama bin Laden, the prime minister's office said Friday.

David Cameron and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari held their first face-to-face discussions in London since the May 2 raid by U.S. Navy SEALs in Abbottabad during which bin Laden was killed.

Pakistani leaders have denied knowing that bin Laden was in Abbottabad — and U.S. officials have said there's no evidence yet that the upper ranks of the Pakistani military or civilian leadership helped hide him. But Pakistanis are furious that the U.S. staged the raid without any warning or Islamabad's consent.

Earlier this week, it was revealed that Pakistan had ordered Britain to withdraw some of its military training teams from the country. Britain's military said the 18 trainers had been asked to leave over security concerns expressed by Pakistan's government following the Abbottabad raid.

Downing Street did not mention the incident, instead emphasizing cooperation between the two countries.

Cameron angered Pakistani officials last year when, on a visit to India, he said Pakistan must not be "allowed to look both ways" on terrorism. Since Bin Laden's death, he has argued that the West must continue to cooperate with Pakistan.

Cameron's office said the two leaders "discussed terrorism, agreeing that it is a global phenomenon that should be fought by intensifying cooperation at all levels."

It added: "Cameron appreciated Pakistan's full commitment to fight terrorism and stressed that there was now an opportunity to move decisively against al-Qaida."

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London man in court on terror funding charges (AFP)

LONDON (AFP) – A suspected terrorist fundraiser appeared in court on Monday charged with providing money or property for terrorism purposes.

Shabaaz Hussain, 27, from east London, is accused of committing the offences on April 12, July 6 and September 3 last year.

Hussain is also accused of playing a part in preparing for acts of terrorism between January 1, 2009 and October 22, 2010, though there was no suggestion these were to be carried out on UK soil.

In total, he faces five charges under the Terrorism Act 2000 and 2006.

Hussain, who appeared at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court, in central London, was remanded in custody until July 15.

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Bomb threat in London ahead of queen's Irish visit (AP)

By DAVID STRINGER and RAPHAEL G. SATTER, Associated Press David Stringer And Raphael G. Satter, Associated Press – Mon May 16, 10:42 am ET

LONDON – Dissident Irish republican terrorists issued a bomb threat for central London, police said Monday, hours ahead of Queen Elizabeth II's groundbreaking but sensitive visit to Ireland.

Encouraged by the largely successful peace process in Northern Ireland, the queen will on Tuesday become the first British monarch to set foot in the Republic of Ireland, where troops and even ground-to-air missiles were being deployed amid tight security.

When a British sovereign last visited, a full century ago, all of Ireland was still part of the United Kingdom.

The monarch's presence is resented by some in Ireland who bristle at the legacy of British rule, with some predicting violent street clashes and others fearing a terrorist attack.

London's Metropolitan Police said the bomb warning — which was received late on Sunday — did not include a specific location or time.

Officers were conducting sweeps across the city and closed down to traffic parts of the British capital, including roads near the queen's official residence.

"Londoners should continue to go about their business as usual but we encourage the public to remain vigilant," police said in a statement.

A police official, who spoke on customary condition of anonymity in line with policy, confirmed that the warning related to a threat from a dissident Irish republican group.

The bomb warning was the first serious threat to Britain since 2001, the last time republican dissidents made a successful attack in England, exploding a car bomb near a shopping center in west London, wounding 11 people.

It follow fears that escalating violence in Northern Ireland would spread to Britain, and comes after the government raised the threat level related specifically to Irish terrorism.

"The threat level to Great Britain from Northern Irish- related terrorism remains at substantial, which means that an attack is a strong possibility," the Home Office said in a statement. "There is a continuing need for vigilance and the public should report any suspicious activity to the police."

In Ireland, security for the queen's tour will far exceed measures used for the 1979 visit of Pope John Paul II or for the visits of U.S. President Bill Clinton in the 1990s.

The national police force has canceled all leave and drafted in officers from rural areas, boosting the security detail to 8,500. They also have borrowed two mobile water cannons from Northern Ireland's police.

The queen's four-day trip to Dublin, Kildare, Tipperary and Cork comes as a Catholic-Protestant government in the neighboring British territory of Northern Ireland has just been re-elected, marking another peace milestone.

The Irish Republican Army violence of decades past — counting among its victims the queen's cousin, Lord Louis Mountbatten, killed when the IRA blew up his yacht in 1979 — has given way to the group's 2005 renunciation of violence. Only small splinter groups still plot bloodshed across the border.

One of the queen's first actions Tuesday will be to lay a wreath at a Dublin memorial honoring Ireland's rebel dead, a surprisingly direct gesture toward Britain's opponents in the bloody 1919-21 guerrilla war of independence.

The queen's trip will highlight Ireland's many charms, from the Guinness brewery to its Europe-leading horse racing industry, and stunning historical monuments such as the medieval Rock of Cashel. She will be joined by her husband, Prince Philip.

The Irish Defense Forces have deployed ground-to-air missiles at key locations, plan to shut down airspace over Dublin and other locations in tandem with the queen's movements, and are keeping more than 1,000 troops in reserve.

(This version corrects the time element in the first paragraph)

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Irish militants warn of bomb in central London (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) – Irish militants opposed to the peace process with Britain warned of a bomb in central London on Monday, a day before Queen Elizabeth makes a historic visit to Ireland, security sources said.

"A bomb threat ... has been received relating to central London today. The threat is not specific in relation to location or time," London police said in a statement.

A security source said the caller had used a codeword known to the police, lending credibility to the threat.

The warning came on the eve of the first visit to Ireland by a British monarch in a century and a week before U.S. President Barack Obama makes a state visit to London.

Police said earlier that a security alert had led to the closure of the Mall, a broad avenue leading to Buckingham Palace, Queen Elizabeth's residence, but refused to say what had prompted it.

Despite a 1998 peace deal mostly ending Northern Ireland's three decades of conflict, violence by dissident Republicans opposed to the peace process has been increasing in the British-ruled province.

A Northern Irish republican militant group, the Real IRA, told Queen Elizabeth, head of state of Ireland's former colonial master, last month she was not welcome on Irish soil.

'REAL IRA'

British member of parliament Patrick Mercer said last year he believed militants from Northern Ireland hoped to stage attacks on the British "mainland."

The last Irish-related attack in London came in March 2001 when a powerful car bomb exploded outside the BBC's London headquarters. Police say the Real IRA, a republican splinter group opposed to the IRA's ceasefire, was behind the blast. One man was wounded.

The IRA mounted several bombing operations in England during its campaign. Such attacks were more difficult than actions in northern Ireland, since the guerrillas lacked support networks; but they arguably had more impact on the British government.

The IRA staged its most spectacular attack in 1984 when it blew up the Brighton hotel where Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was staying, along with her chief ministers. She narrowly escaped, but five people were killed.

Britain's interior ministry said in a statement: "We face a real and serious threat from terrorism ... There is a continuing need for vigilance and the public should report any suspicious activity to the police."

The police said the threat of Irish-related attacks was considered lower than the overall threat to Britain from international terrorism which remains at severe, the second heighest level on a five-step scale.

(Additional reporting by William Maclean; Editing by Ralph Boulton)

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