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24-03-09 U.K. Releases New Antiterrorism Strategy

British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said Tuesday that support for al Qaeda is declining,but warned smaller numbers of terrorists will be able to access deadlier weapons to mount increasingly lethal attacks.Ms. Smith released Britain's new antiterrorism strategy,a public document that describes threats to Britain and details government efforts to protect the U.K."Assuming continued international pressure,the al Qaeda core organization is likely to fragment and may not survive in its current form," the strategy document stated."But it will still have the capability to conduct significant terrorist attacks." Though some Muslims are likely to continue to support extremist Islamist ideology,"fewer will support al Qaeda operational activities," it said.Since the July 2005 attacks on London's transit network that killed 52 people,two other major attempted attacks against Britain have failed.Two weeks after the transit bombings,a group of men attempted a similar strike against the city's transit network -- but their bombs failed to detonate.In 2007,attempted car bomb attacks against London's theater district and Glasgow airport also failed.Intelligence and security officials say more than a dozen other attempted attacks against the U.K. have been thwarted since 2001.Several leading terrorists have been convicted in British courts and jailed in recent years.The new British strategy suggests that the capture -- or death -- of Osama bin Laden or al Qaeda's No. 2 leader Ayman al-Zawahiri may disrupt terrorists,but would do little to stop the flow of attempted attacks against the West