UK car-bomb attacks revive EU terrorist fears[fr][de] 

A day after two bombs were found in London, a car-bomb attack shook Glasgow airport on 30 June. The burning car, loaded with gas canisters, crashed into the entrance of the airport. UK security services have subsequently raised the country's terror alert to its highest level.

"We will not yield, we will not be intimidated and we will not allow anyone to undermine our British way of life," Prime Minister Gordon Brown said. He warned of a "longer-term threat" and added that the UK was "dealing, in general terms with people who are associated with Al Qaeda".

The attacks are reminiscent of the 2005 London bombings, which led to an EU counter-terrorism strategy and the adoption of an Action Plan in 2005. EU interiour ministers immediately accelerated common efforts to implement the European Arrest Warrant, place biometric details on passport, strengthen Schengen information systems and combat terrorist financing.

The British government suspects terrorists with links to Al Qaeda are behind the attack, which had been strategically timed just days after the prime ministerial handover from Blair to Brown on 27 June 2007.

Former Scotland Yard police chief and newly appointed counter-terrorism adviser, John Stevens, said that the car-bomb attacks represented a "major escalation in the war being waged on us by Islamic terrorists". He added: "Al Qaeda has imported the tactics of Baghdad and Bali onto the streets of the UK."

German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble commented: "The international terrorism is very active. Europe is under the crosshairs and we are too."

French Interior Minister Michele Alliot Marie on 1 July said that her country had increased security measures following the Glasgow attacks.

Meanwhile, US President George W. Bush has praised Brown's "very strong response" and said that the failed bombings showed "the war against these extremists goes on". He promised to increase the number of air marshals on flights between the US and the EU. The marshals, introduced after 9/11, are intended to increase protection on passenger flights.