London: Official warns of threat on Sept. 11 anniversary

Lone bombers and gunmen unconnected to the al-Qaida terrorist network could use the Sept. 11 anniversary as a world stage to launch an attack for their own causes, a British anti-terrorist chief said Friday.

David Veness, head of Scotland Yard’s anti-terrorist squad, said there was no known threat to Britain, and encouraged people to carry on as usual. But he said mobile armed road blocks will be in place around London as a first point of defense on Sept. 11.

In France, a terrorism expert said Osama bin Laden’s network could be preparing another major attack on a target in the United States or Europe as soon as the end of this year.

Veness warned that terrorists could be drawn to the anniversary Wednesday of the airborne attacks in New York and Washington because of the publicity it represents.

“We shouldn’t underestimate these individuals,” he said.

Afghanistan: Karzai says nation stable despite assassination try

President Hamid Karzai said Friday that a deadly car-bombing in Kabul and an attempt on his life hours later in Kandahar showed that Afghanistan must improve its security. He denied the country was descending into chaos.

In his first public comments since the twin attacks Thursday, Karzai sought to reassure the international community that despite the bloodshed, Afghanistan is not on the verge of anarchy.

“These incidents do not indicate any problems,” Karzai told reporters. “These are incidents done by terrorists in an isolated manner. This means they are no longer capable of mobilizing as groups so they act as individuals.”

Nevertheless, Karzai said Afghanistan must improve its security.

“We have a long way to go to bring total technical security to the country,” he said. “So it is a job that we have to do in cooperation with the rest of the world.”