Believed to be the work of The Real IRA, the bomb exploded in Wood Lane just after midnight on Sunday 4 March. It's widely thought to have been a retaliatory gesture following last October's BBC Panorama programme investigating the Omagh bombing of August 1998.
The latest device was packed inside a red London taxi parked outside the BBC's main entrance. The cab had been procured the previous Saturday on an industrial estate in Edmonton, north London, by a man with an Irish accent – sparking police and Government fears that it could be the start of a new terrorist campaign on the mainland.
Alan Fry, head of the Anti-Terrorist Branch, said: "The BBC bombing might well have been a retaliation. We certainly can't rule that out, but it may also have been designed to destabilise and frustrate the efforts of the Government in trying to secure the peace process." The BBC attack follows last June's bombing of the Hammersmith Bridge, and the rocket launcher fired at the headquarters of MI6 in September – the latter representing The Real IRA's most audacious assault in the Capital.
Having called a series of briefings last November, the police distributed a series of posters to Crime Prevention Officers in the Metropolitan area, and to Counter Terrorist Crime Prevention Officers in all other police forces. Now, security staff are urged to be extra-vigilant in the fight against terrorism, and New Scotland Yard is considering reinstating its £160,000 poster campaign to make sure the message sinks in.
Speaking exclusively to SMT, Sergeant Darrell Barber of the National Terrorist Crime Prevention Unit said: "The current threat comes from three sources. First, the dissident republican groups, including The Real IRA and The Continuity IRA. Second, there is a threat from the Middle East in the form of Palestinians as a result of the unstable peace process there, and then there's assorted groups like the Animal Rights movement who are known for their nail bomb attacks." Barber also points to the increased use of telephone bomb threat calls by The Real IRA. "This simple tactic is used to cause widespread disruption and maximum publicity," added Barber. "It's also known as '20p Terrorism'".
The Anti-Terrorist Branch (for the Metropolitan Police area) and the National Terrorist Crime Prevention Unit (nationally) are insistent that security managers must make contingency plans for possible attacks, and make them now. "Well prepared and tested plans may be the key to your team's response to an incident," said Darrell Barber, "and to your client's or employer's immediate recovery in the short term. It's vitally important. Remember that 66% of businesses affected by the Manchester City Centre bombing in 1996 never recovered because they didn't have an effective disaster recovery plan or business recovery plan. Many didn't even think to put a crisis management team in place." With this in mind, New Scotland Yard is calling for security managers nationwide to remain alert at all times to the prospect of further terrorist attacks. They should promote staff awareness of the threat, review their existing security measures and assess – or put in place – well-structured contingency plans.
For those managers unsure of what it is they must do, help is readily at hand. 'Bombs: Protecting People and Property' and 'Business As Usual' are useful reference sources (both can be found on the Home Office web site at www.homeoffice.gov.uk under 'Terrorism').
For further police help call the National Terrorist Crime Prevention Unit on 020 7931 7142, or the Anti-Terrorist Branch on 020 7230 4531 (the latter, as stated, is dedicated to the Metropolitan Police area).
Source
SMT
