LONDON: Britain's top law enforcement official warned Wednesday that Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has attempted attacks inside the UK and is posing an escalating threat in the wake of the attempted Yemen mail bomb strikes. Home Secretary Theresa May said a suspect tied to the Al-Qaeda affiliate was arrested in Britain this year over a plot by the group to carry out an attack on the UK. “He is alleged to have been planning a terrorist attack in this country. Threats such as these are likely to continue,” May said. Officials said the suspect was being held in prison and awaiting trial on terrorism offenses related to the planning of suicide bombings. May said Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula “now has a very substantial operational capability in Yemen,” citing a suicide bomb attack on the British ambassador to Yemen in April and a rocket strike against a diplomatic convoy last month. “But they have also shown the ability to project a threat far beyond the borders of Yemen,” May told an audience of security officials. May said the capability of Al-Qaeda's core leadership was in decline, but threats from Yemen and Somalia were becoming increasingly serious. “Action by our counterparts in Pakistan, by our allies in the US, by our own coalition forces in Afghanistan and of course by agencies here and elsewhere have all made Al-Qaeda weaker than at any time since 9/11,” she said. However, she said Britain believed that the Yemen mail bombs plot had been hatched by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and acknowledged it involved sophisticated bomb
