LONDON — Britain is bracing for clashes with right-wing extremists and possible copycat terror attacks after the brutal slaying of a young soldier. London's Metropolitan Police said more than 1,000 officers will be sent to potential trouble spots with armed response units. Only a fraction of Britain's police officers are armed. Meanwhile, Britain's newspapers on Friday demanded that the preacher suspected of radicalizing suspect Michael Adebolajo be jailed. Terror analysts say the attackers wanted the publicity to inspire copycat attacks, and that they are already seeing an increase in chatter on extremist sites calling for such attacks. “We can see the tempo being raised,” said Maajid Nawaz, a former extremist who is now with the London-based anti-extremist Quilliam Foundation. “One of the reasons why these guys acted in this theatrical way was because of the propaganda effect so others would be inspired to do the same thing. The nature of these attacks are that they are so easy to do, and we have definitely seen an increase in chatter calling for such things since the attack.” A British government official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the ongoing investigation, confirmed the increase in chatter since Wednesday's attack but said no specific or credible plots had been detected at this point. Right-wing extremists, meanwhile, said they would be holding demonstrations over the coming weeks. Several dozen gathered the night of the slaying to protest. Britain's domestic spy agency of MI5 has long warned of the difficulties in predicting self-starter attacks, or attacks that are inspired — not necessarily organized — by larger groups. With the weakening of Al-Qaeda's leadership structure in Afghanistan and Pakistan, there has been an increase in lone-wolf attacks, which are low-tech and relatively easy to pull off. Both suspects in the soldier's killing were on the agency's radar for as long as six years. Video footage showed one of the men at a 2007 rally with Anjem Choudary, the former leader of the banned extremist group Al-Muhajiroun. But the men weren't necessarily the focus of any specific investigation, said the British official who spoke on condition of anonymity. There has to be compelling intelligence to suggest a real threat before suspects are put under surveillance. “It is a democratic right to protest in this country,” said the British official. “Not everyone who shows up at a demonstration, even though they may say or believe in things that we don't, will turn to violence.” British newspapers on Friday launched a scathing attack on Anjem Choudary, the Islamist who is believed to have inspired 28-year-old Adebolajo following his conversion from Christianity. The paper branded the cleric the “epicenter of evil” and called for his prosecution. “Choudary remains free to spew his bile — his every utterance a defiant two fingers to our anti-terror laws,” it said. “They (police) already have the powers to arrest and charge those promoting terrorism. They must stop pussy-footing around and use them.” Center-right broadsheet the Daily Telegraph criticized intelligence services, who reportedly tracked Adebolajo for eight years, asking “Why was he free to kill?” across the front-page. The Daily Mail similarly targeted intelligence officials, calling it a “betrayal of a hero father” on its front-page. “Most disturbing of all is the way hate-peddlers like Choudary are allowed to deliver their sermons of murder with such impunity,” said the Mail's editorial. — Agencies Islam the victim of London attack – See P10
