Spy who foiled jet bomb plot to be MI5 intelligence chief

By Peter Griffiths

LONDON (Reuters) - A British spy who thwarted an al Qaeda plot to blow up planes with explosives hidden in drinks bottles and led the response to the 2005 London bombings will be the new head of Britain's domestic intelligence agency, the government said on Thursday.

Andrew Parker has three decades' experience at the agency, known as MI5, countering Islamist militants, Irish republicans and organised criminals, and was deputy head since 2007.

The 50-year-old, a keen birdwatcher and wildlife photographer, will be in charge of 3,800 staff investigating threats ranging from bomb plots and the spread of weapons of mass destruction to espionage and cyber attacks.

One of his first tasks will be to protect U.S. President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron and other world leaders at the Group of Eight summit in Northern Ireland in June.

The last time Britain hosted the annual G8 meeting in 2005, four suicide bombers killed 52 commuters in London in co-ordinated attacks. Parker was in charge of the agency's reaction to the bombings and oversaw a significant expansion of its role.

Parker, who led the MI5 team that disrupted a 2006 conspiracy to attack multiple passenger jets with bombs hidden in drinks bottles, said it was a "great honour" to be made head of the agency, also known as the Security Service.

"I look forward to leading the Service through its next chapter," he said in a statement.

The bespectacled father-of-two will replace the current head, Jonathan Evans, when he steps down in April after six years in the job during which Britain suffered no significant attacks.

SECRECY

In contrast to the secrecy that defined its work for decades, MI5 published Parker's name and picture on its website. The government did not acknowledge the agency's existence until 1989 and its head remained anonymous until 20 years ago.

Based in an imposing white stone building near parliament on the River Thames, MI5's role is to fight "espionage, terrorism and sabotage, from the activities of agents of foreign powers, and from actions intended to overthrow or undermine parliamentary democracy".

Parker takes over at a time of pressure on public spending, a persistent threat from al Qaeda and worries about a small group of Irish nationalists who refuse to accept a 1998 peace deal in Northern Ireland.

Outgoing MI5 chief Evans warned last year that al Qaeda militants were using the countries which toppled their leaders in the Arab Spring protests as bases to train radical Western youths for potential attacks on Britain.

Prime Minister Cameron said in January that Britain and other western countries face a "large and existential threat" from Islamist militants that could last for decades.

(Editing by Pravin Char)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/spy-foiled-jet-bomb-plot-mi5-intelligence-chief-201443893.html

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