British queen on al-Qaeda hit list?
AFP, London
Intelligence services have warned that Britain's Queen Elizabeth II could be the target of an Al-Qaeda terrorist attack during a visit to Nigeria later this year, the Sunday Telegraph reported.A warning to the British government indicated that terrorists hoped to strike during a Commonwealth Heads of Government conference in December, the London-based paper said. It added that Chris Mullin, the Foreign Office minister responsible for Africa, had told colleagues he was prepared to offer Nigeria the use of British forces to bolster security. Ministers insisted that there was no suggestion that the queen would not go to the conference, which she is due to attend as head of the 54-nation Commonwealth, according to the Telegraph. One unnamed minister told the paper: "We are worried about the security of the queen. She could be an al-Qaeda target. We will be talking to the Nigerians about their security plans and we are prepared to offer our security forces if necessary." Al-Qaeda is the terror network headed by Osama bin Laden and blamed for the September 11, 2001, hijack plane attacks on New York and Washington.
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