Western Agencies Had No Warning

As extremists were preparing to attack Mumbai, western intelligence officials were turned not to Asia but to the US.

For weeks there was talk of a possible al-Qaida plot to disrupt the US presidential campaign. On Wednesday the FBI and US homeland security department warned of the possibility of an attack on transport systems in the New York area timed for the start of the Thanksgiving holiday.

But no change was made in the US terrorism threat level and none was made in Britain yesterday following the attacks. "No ripple" was felt in Britain, as one well-placed Whitehall official put it.

The apparent lack of any forewarning was reflected yesterday in statements by officials, who asked not to be identified, that they did not know who was behind the attacks.

The terrorists who took part in the well-coordinated attacks on Mumbai appeared to have slipped under the radar of the world's most sophisticated intelligence agencies, lending credence to the adage quoted by those agencies that there is no such thing as complete security especially in large conurbations.