| Barack Obama accused of exaggerating terror threat for political gain • Pakistani diplomat launches scathing attack on White House• European intelligence claims raised terror alerts 'nonsensical'A US terror alert issued this week about al-Qaida plots to attack targets in western Europe was politically motivated and not based on credible new information, senior Pakistani diplomats and European intelligence officials have told the Guardian.The non-specific US warning, which despite its vagueness led Britain, France and other countries to raise their overseas terror alert levels, was an attempt to justify a recent escalation in US drone and helicopter attacks inside Pakistan that have "set the country on fire", said Wajid Shamsul Hasan, the high commissioner to Britain.Hasan, a veteran diplomat who is close to Pakistan's president, suggested the Obama administration was playing politics with the terror threat before next month's mid-term congressional elections, in which the Republicans are expected to make big gains.He also claimed President Obama was reacting to pressure to demonstrate that his Afghan war strategy and this year's troop surge, which are unpopular with the American public, were necessary."I will not deny the fact that there may be internal political dynamics, including the forthcoming mid-term American elections. If the Americans have definite information about terrorists and al-Qaida people, we should be provided [with] that and we could go after them ourselves," Hasan said."Such reports are a mixture of frustrations, ineptitude and lack of appreciation of ground realities. Any attempt to infringe the sovereignty of Pakistan would not bring about stability in Afghanistan, which is presumably the primary objective of the American and Nato forces."Dismissing claims of a developed, co-ordinated plot aimed at Britain, France and Germany, European intelligence officials also pointed the finger at the US, and specifically at the White House. "To stitch together [the terror plot claims] in a seamless narrative is nonsensical," said one well-placed official.While Abdul Jabbar, a Briton, and others killed by an American drone strike on 8 September in North Waziristan, in Pakistan's tribal areas, were heard discussing co-ordinated plots, including possible "commando-style" attacks on prominent buildings and tourist sites in European capitals, security and intelligence officials said the plots were nowhere near fruition.The officials did not deny the men, and other foreign-born jihadi recruits who travel to the tribal areas for indoctrination and training, represented a potentially serious threat. "You have discussions about all sorts of things – that does not necessarily mean there is anything concrete. It is not easy to set up groups," said one counter-terrorism official.By making it clear that the US drone strikes were pre-emptive, and were not in any way combating an imminent threat, European officials raised fresh questions – this time directly involving a British national – about the legality of the attacks, which could be viewed as assassinations.They said Washington was the "driver" behind claims about a series of "commando-style" plots and that the CIA – perhaps because it was worried about provoking unwelcome attention to its drone strikes – was also extremely annoyed by the publicity given to them.The plot claims, which western intelligence agencies were aware of for months, were leaked last week to the American media.They were followed by a spate of what security and intelligence officials said were exaggerated claims in the British media, a US state department warning to American citizens to be vigilant when visiting Britain, France, and Germany, a "tit for tat" warning by France to its citizens visiting the UK, and alerts issued by the Swedish and Japanese governments.Thomas de Maizière, Germany's interior minister, publicly expressed his scepticism about the US terror warning, saying he saw no sign of an imminent attack on Germany. He described the danger to Germany as "hypothetical".The sharp rise in US unmanned drone attacks in Pakistan's tribal areas, coupled with several cross-border raids by American helicopter gunships that culminated in the killing of two Frontier Corps soldiers last week, was destabilising Pakistan, Hasan said."Why are they putting so much pressure on us? It is a threat to the democratic system … But people in Pakistan feel Washington does not care." American actions were "obviously" linked to Obama's decision to set a timetable for leaving Afghanistan. The US leader had "jumped the gun" and now "the Americans are in a hurry".He said fears were growing in Pakistan that the US was planning a bombing campaign using fixed-wing aircraft as well as drones in North Waziristan.Hasan said Washington politicians failed to understand how much the US needed Pakistan in the "war on terror". Nor did they realise that public anger over repeated US infringements of Pakistani sovereignty could boil over into attacks on American personnel and interests that the government might not be able to control."The government does not want to go down this road," he said. "But people feel abused. If they [the Americans] kill someone again, they will react. There is a figure that there are 3,000 American personnel in Pakistan. They would be very easy targets."Hasan said American personnel stationed at the Pakistani air force base at Jacobabad, on the border between Sindh and Baluchistan provinces, could be vulnerable if the situation deteriorated further. The US requested the use of Jacobabad, and other bases at Dalbandin and Pasni, after the 9/11 attacks, and has maintained a military presence there ever since.Another Pakistani diplomat said Jacobabad was the main centre of operations for CIA and US army drones, which are ultimately controlled from America. "They have hangars there. That's where they fly from and that's where they return."The drone operations began in June 2004 with the tacit, reluctant agreement and involvement of the Pakistani authorities but were now in effect running beyond Pakistan's control, the diplomat suggested. "We have always denied it in the past. But everybody knows this is happening. We need to wake up," the official said.A US official said: "Our allies have been briefed on the nature of the threat and the intelligence that led to the travel alert and everyone understands this cannot be taken lightly."To try to ascribe any political motivation is misguided and irresponsible."United StatesPakistanal-QaidaFranceGermanySimon TisdallRichard Norton-Taylorguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
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Kenneth Clarke pledges to cut daily prison population Justice secretary says planned sentencing reforms and 'rehabilitation revolution' will 'stem unsustainable rise in UK prison population'The justice secretary, Kenneth Clarke, today made an unexpected pledge to cut the record 85,000 daily prison population in England and Wales by 3,000 within four years.The Treasury endorsed Clarke's claim that his planned sentencing reforms and "rehabilitation revolution" would "stem the unsustainable rise in the UK prison population".Prison numbers have been growing at a rate of more than 100 per week, but Clarke said he could halt the rise without letting any prisoners out before they had served their full sentence or scrapping short prison sentences.The Ministry of Justice said the reforms to cut the current high reoffending rates among ex-prisoners would "stabilise the prison population and then start to reduce it by 2014-15". "We expect that, by the end of the spending review period, the number of prisoners will be around 3,000 lower than it is today," the ministry added.A 3,000 cut in the daily prison population, to 82,000, implies more than 10,000 fewer offenders going to prison each year because most serve short sentences of six months or less.No government in modern times has managed to reduce the prison population without adopting a programme of executive early release.The target to cut the prison population means the government intends to scale back the £2.4bn prison building and maintenance programme. Labour had left plans to build five "supersized" prisons, each holding 1,500 inmates, to provide 96,000 prison places in England and Wales by 2014. The chancellor, Goegre Osborne, today said the programme had now been halved to £1.2bn over the next four years.Clarke said: "We will not abolish short-term sentences, which are an important tool for magistrates, but I do want to provide the judiciary with alternative sentencing options so that short sentences are used only when necessary. "We do not intend to release any prisoners before the completion of their term. These reforms will allow us to slow the extraordinary rate of increase in the prison population and begin to reduce it back to 2008 levels – around 3,000 less than today."Prison reformers welcomed the justice secretary's plans, which they said were practical. Justice ministry sources said the elements that would be used to cut the prison population included:• Speeding up the removal of foreign national prisoners.• Diverting more prisoners with mental illness to facilities largely funded from the protected health budget.• Speeding up the risk assessment and parole of 1,300 inmates serving indefinite sentences for the public's protection who were recommended to serve a tariff of two years but had been in prison for longer.• Reducing the use of remand for defendants charged with crimes that would not normally attract a prison sentence.• Recalling released prisoners only for serious breaches of their licences rather than technical lapses, as happens now.• Increasing the discount for early guilty pleas from 33% to 50%.Juliet Lyon, of the Prison Reform Trust, said the government had recognised that it could not build its way out of the prison crisis."Deferring prison building, together with the justice secretary's determined plan to reduce any needless custody, should benefit victims and society," she said."Proper investment in community solutions and mental healthcare, effective working between departments and greater devolution to local authorities would cut crime and reduce reoffending. This could be the first government to prove that closing prison works."The Ministry of Justice, which faces a 23% cut in its £9bn budget, confirmed that it could see job losses of 14,000 to 15,000 over the next four years in prison, probation and court staff. Plans to close 153 magistrates and county courts are to be finalised by the end of the year.Legal aid is also take one of the deepest cuts. The £2.1bn legal aid budget will be cut by £350m, reducing one third of the overall amount spent on providing free legal assistance and representation. This, however, is smaller than the £650m cut that had been feared.Kenneth ClarkePrisons and probationUK criminal justiceLiberal-Conservative coalitionAlan TravisAfua Hirschguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
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