Two shuls on target list of alleged British terror cell

Nine suspects arrested were indicted over intention to attack London Stock Exchange, US Embassy, mayor's office; terror alert still "severe."

By JONNY PAUL
British police 311 (photo credit: AP)
British police 311
(photo credit: AP)
LONDON – Court hearings began on Monday for nine men arrested in counterterror raids in Cardiff, London, Birmingham and Stoke-on-Trent on December 20.
Two synagogues and their rabbis were among a wide range of potential targets for the accused, the court heard.
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The Community Security Trust, which monitors anti- Semitism and provides security for the British Jewish community, said it had been briefed by police and discussed the threat with the rabbis concerned, along with those responsible for security at their locations.
For legal and security reasons, CST said it would not disclose the identities of the synagogues and rabbis, unless their names appeared in the media.
“We shall of course be ensuring that the Jewish community continues to implement rigorous security measures at this time,” Mark Gardner, CST’s communications director, said on Tuesday. “There is no information, at this stage, to suggest that this represents a new level of threat to our community.
Rather, it confirms, yet again, the need for our current high levels of security across the community.”
The other sites that were to be targeted reportedly included Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the US Embassy, the London Stock Exchange, London Mayor Boris Johnson’s office, and other tourist sites.