MI5 Tracks 2000 Terrorists

Via Security Managment Weekly & Washington Post:

Around 2,000 terrorism suspects are being monitored by British authorities,
and an equal number of individuals are suspected of also being involved in
insurgent or malicious activity, according to remarks from MI5 Director General
Jonathan Evans in a rare public address. Britain's Security Service has recorded
a rise in the number of terrorism-related arrests, including foiled plots to
bomb international jets and detonate car bombs in public places, but attributes
this growth in part to heightened security efforts. Evans and Prime Minister
Gordon Brown both underscore the threat of Islamic terrorist activity in the
country, and Evans has named al-Qaeda as one group with a "clear determination
to mount terrorist attacks against the United Kingdom." The MI5 head says while
the attacks are mainly carried out by Britons, citizens are being influenced and
trained by militant groups in Pakistan and Somalia. Evans adds, however, that
non-extremist agents from Russia and China also pose a threat to the country by
attempting to steal civilian and military technology, and by placing undercover
operatives within Britain.