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Royal wedding prime target for Al-Qaida: Muslim cleric
Says the event may see a biological, nuclear or 9/11 type of attack
KEEPING A CLOSE EYE: Armed police officers patrol a side street near Westminster Abbey
ahead of the royal wedding in London on Tuesday. — Reuters |
London, April 26
A British Muslim cleric has warned that the upcoming royal wedding is a prime target for Al-Qaida operatives, and aspiring ‘jihadis’. The cleric, Anjem Choudary, who plans to protest outside the ceremony said that top Al-Qaida operatives like Ayman al-Zawahiri and Anwar al-Awlaki are “actively encouraging people to carry out (‘do-it-yourself’ operations)” similar to the attempted attack by alleged ‘Underwear Bomber’ Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab on a Christmas Day flight from Amsterdam to Detroit in 2009, ABC News reports. “There’s nothing really which is outside of the realm of a possible attack, from biological to nuclear to very high profile events like 9/11. So I think it’s a case of all-out war,” Choudary, whose extremist Islam4UK organisation was recently banned by the British government under counter-terrorism laws, added. He also claimed there is a “very real possibility” that attackers “will come into [Britain] via the sea or via ports where they can slip the security.” Choudary is reportedly intending to take part in a planned protest by the activist group “Muslims Against Crusades” outside Westminster Abbey during the wedding on April 29. — ANI
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World media swoops on London
Journalists from across the world have swooped on London to capture the pomp and pageantry of the royal wedding and cover the finale of the fairytale romance between Prince William and commoner Kate Middleton. Every vantage point around Westminster Abbey has been taken up by television cameras and temporary studios, while an entire media village has sprung up near the Buckingham Palace. On Friday, there will be blanket coverage from early morning on major global television channels, including the BBC, which has made arrangements for coverage on radio and online as well, apart from television. — PTI
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‘The event will generate 6,765 tonnes of carbon’
The wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton is likely to generate more than 10 times as much greenhouse gases the Buckingham Palace emits in a whole year, a carbon footprint analysis has predicted. The event is expected to generate 6,765 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents, 12 times the annual emissions from the London palace or 1,230 times the annual emissions of the average UK household. — PTI
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