Britain facing 30-year battle against extremism: Security chief

LONDON: Britain is facing a generational battle against Islamist extremism that could take up to 30 years to win, a former British Navy chief turned security minister said in an interview published on Wednesday.  

Sir Alan West, who has responsibility for security and counter-terrorism within the interior ministry, told The Sun tabloid that 'we are talking about a generation -- and by that I would say 30 years'.   

"That doesn't mean necessarily that we are going to stay at a severe level of threat for all those years. But to be able to say one has absolutely changed the mind-set and thought of people is going to take a generation."  

West, formerly head of the British Navy, had said in July that he estimated that Britain faced a 15-year clash with Islamist extremism, and his current comments come just days after Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, currently in London on a state visit, accused Britain of failing to act on Saudi intelligence that could have prevented the 2005 London bombings, a claim Britain has denied.

Of the battle against extremism, West said, "It will be in phases. After some years, it will become much better -- and then (the threat) will hopefully go."   

"Perhaps I am being optimistic in thinking that we can get rid of it entirely. But I think we can. I think 15 years is still a good time for reducing it dramatically." "But look at the Cold War. That lasted from 1949 to 1989, which was 40 years."   

In the interview with The Sun, West also conceded that it was "highly likely" that Britain would be the site of another terrorist attack, saying, "We hope they won't be an attack (sic) ... we can't always predict it."   

West's initial estimate of 15 years was made in the immediate aftermath of failed car bombings in London and Glasgow in June, days after Gordon Brown succeeded Tony Blair as prime minister.