Al Qaeda plotted to kill Blair, says ex-police chief

LONDON - Police thwarted an al Qaeda plot to assassinate Prime Minister Tony Blair during celebrations to mark Queen Elizabeth's 50 years on the throne, according to the former London police chief.

Ex-Metropolitan Police commissioner John Stevens, who was Britain's most senior officer, said officers had learnt that al Qaeda snipers intended to kill Blair and his wife Cherie in front of a major parade through the capital in June 2002.

In extracts of his new autobiography serialised in Sunday's News of the World newspaper, Stevens, who retired in January, said the plot was foiled after a huge covert operation was carried out to protect the Blairs.

"It was a significant threat," Stevens said. "Mr Blair remained very calm and very pragmatic. He knew there was a specific threat against him and his wife yet he remained absolutely unfazed."

Neither Downing Street nor the police would comment on the claims.

More than a million people thronged through the streets of the capital during the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations, while a parade passed in front of the monarch and other dignitaries including Blair near Buckingham Palace.

Stevens said a large number of secretly-armed elite police officers were deployed around the Blairs, although the prime minister himself refused to wear a bullet-proof vest.

"I felt acutely nervous as the procession approached," Stevens said. "I was constantly scanning faces in the crowd looking for signs of trouble, and thinking, I hope to God nothing comes from somewhere."

- REUTERS