Belfast perfect target for al-Qaida, warn experts

BELFAST port is a perfect target for global terrorists plotting new strikes on the west, security experts warned yesterday.

With al-Qaida believed to be planning to use ships in attacks, experts claim it could attempt to launch a chemical or biological offensive on the city.

Christopher Ledger, of London-based Maritime and Underwater Security Consultants Ltd, urged the authorities to tighten sea controls. “Belfast in many ways would be ideal as the port is right in the centre of town,” he said.

“There is certainly a risk of a bomb or a substance being released from a ship.”

Mr Ledger, a former Royal Marine, detailed the threat at a major conference on coping with terrorist atrocities and disasters.

As top officials from America and Canada gathered for the Emergency Planning Society event in Belfast, he insisted the city’s links with the United States were strong enough to warrant extremists’ attention.

Although he has examined security arrangements at ports in the South, he was unable to give an assessment for those in the North.

But tough new regulations contained in the International Maritime Organisation’s new ship and port security code, due to come into operation on July 1, must be met, he stressed.

“This is a worldwide phenomenon and Belfast is no more immune to it than any other major port,” Mr Ledger said.

“This isn’t alarmist. Containers are a clear and present danger as seen by the bomb in an Israeli port last year. We know al-Qaida has been running exercises to see how they can best either board or attack a ship.

“Any port like Belfast, right alongside a major city, must be vulnerable. Therefore it must have in place proper security measures.”

Patrick Cunningham, the society’s outgoing president, warned that Britain was still not properly prepared for a terrorist assault.

Even though stg£200 million has been spent on decontamination equipment and training fire services and medical staff to cope with chemical attacks, local authorities were still exposed, he claimed.

The three-day conference at Belfast’s Waterfront Hall also heard from the a top member of New York State’s emergency planning office.

Deputy Director Andrew Feeney was at the centre of efforts to deal with the Twin Towers strikes and last August’s blackout when 57 million homes across eastern America lost power.

With hundreds of millions of dollars in grant aid pumped in since September 11, he insisted the authorities were better prepared to cope with another calamity.

Sharing expertise was what the conference was all about, he said. “If, for example, a widespread disaster occurs in Belfast this makes it easier to work together in a crisis,” he said.