Briton killed in drone strike was terror group leader

A terrorist suspect killed in a drone attack in Pakistan last month was a British man tasked with leading an al- Qa'ida group in the UK.

A senior Pakistani security source told BBC's Newsnight programme last night that Abdul Jabbar was a British citizen who has a British wife and was living in Punjab, Pakistan.

According to the source, he was chosen as the leader of a new group, to be called The Islamic Army of Great Britain, at a meeting in the North Waziristan region of Pakistan three months ago.

But there was dissent at the meeting, which was attended by 300 militants and monitored by the intelligence agencies, about appointing Jabbar who was relatively new to the group.

A second meeting was called but the Briton was killed before it could take place.

The source said the new group was set up to organise synchronised terrorist attacks in the UK, France and Germany.

It was this intelligence that led to the missile strike by a US unmanned aerial drone on September 8 which killed Jabbar and three others.

The suspects, who are also said to have included a number of German nationals, were hiding in the tribal areas of North Waziristan at the time.

An intelligence official told the Associated Press news agency that Jabbar's brother was conspiring with him to commit the Europe terrorist atrocity.

The Home Secretary Theresa May, speaking on Newsnight, said: "None of us must under-estimate the seriousness of the threat the UK is under.

"We do recognise the level of terrorist threat there is here in the UK and we must still be vigilant."

The reports about Jabbar follow the disclosure that intelligence agencies in Europe, Pakistan and the US intercepted a credible Islamic plot to launch raids on European cities, in a similar style to the attacks in Mumbai, India, two years ago.