Isis has terror cells in England, says US intelligence chief
The US has evidence of jihadi plots in the UK and other European countries, says National Intelligence director James Clapper
Islamic State has Brussels-style terror cells operating in England, a US intelligence chief has said.
James Clapper raised concerns about the fundamental conflict between national security and freedom of movement across the European Union.
At a briefing with journalists in the US, the director of National Intelligence said that Isis had taken advantage of the migrant crisis in Europe and there was evidence of plotting.
Asked if clandestine Isis cells such those in Brussels existed in England, Germany and Italy, he replied: Yes, they do. That is a concern of obviously ours and our European allies.
He added: We continue to see evidence of plotting on the part of Isil in the countries you name.
Clapper said the US was doing all we can to share information about Isis with its European intelligence counterparts.
EU governments were increasingly aware the jihadists were exploiting the migrant crisis, he said.
They have taken advantage to some extent of the migrant crisis in Europe, something which the nations have a growing awareness of.
Clapper told the Christian Science Monitor event that one of the challenges in tackling Isis was its increasingly sophisticated technological methods.
He added: The obstacles in Europe have somewhat to do with some of the fundamental conflict between, on the one hand, European Union incentives and drives to promote openness and free movement of people and goods, privacy, which is in some ways in conflict with the responsibility each country has as a nation state to protect the security of its borders and its people. Those are sort of countervailing processes.
Labours Keith Vaz, the chairman of the home affairs select committee, told the Daily Telegraph the concerns must be taken seriously.
He said: This is a worrying view that needs to be taken very seriously as it comes from a key ally that works with the UK closely on these matters. There are worrying concerns about free movement across the EU.
