COUNTER-TERRORIST operations in Britain have uncovered a “lattice network” of al-Qaeda-linked cells involved in plotting attacks throughout Europe.

Arrests in Britain have produced crucial leads for further investigations by the police and intelligence services in countries such as Germany, France, Italy and Spain.

The British authorities have also benefited from tip-offs from their European counterparts, underlining the links now exposed between the different cells operating across Europe.

“There are no national boundaries in this lattice network of terrorist operations,” one security source said.

As the search for more al-Qaeda cells continued, Tony Blair promised that the public would be told if there was a specific threat against a known target in this country.

As Iain Duncan Smith, the Conservative leader, led calls for a government statement to clearup confusion about reports of a threat to the London Underground, Mr Blair said he was wary of giving out generalised alerts that might panic the public and do the terrorists’ work for them.

He spoke out after reports that police and MI5 had thwarted a planned gas attack on the Tube. The reports have been denied by ministers.

Mr Blair’s spokesman said that if the Government thought it was necessary to close any part of the country’s infrastructure to protect the public it would do so “without hesitation”.

Investigators have also discovered that groups operating in one European country are often making logistic arrangements for an attack in another country.

Intelligence uncovered in Britain has already led to arrests in Frankfurt, Milan and Madrid. Suspected terrorist activities in other European countries have also uncovered new leads for MI5 and the police in Britain.

The huge amount of material which has now been gathered by the counter-terrorist services across Europe has also pointed to strong links between al-Qaeda and the Algerian terrorist groups the GIA (Armed Islamic Group) and the GSPC (Salafist Group for Call and Combat).

In a new development yesterday it was confirmed that important leads have recently come from Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, which British security officials regard as a soft back-door entry to Britain for asylum-seekers, some of whom, it is feared, could include extremists.

In June it was revealed that 30 refugees escaped from a refugee camp in Slovakia and had headed to the Czech Republic and Austria, from where they were believed to be making their way to Britain.

Some among this group of 30 had been suspected of fighting in Afghanistan or attending al-Qaeda camps. An Interpol report delivered to Slovak authorities just days before they escaped gave warning that a group linked to Osama bin Laden was trying to reach Britain via Bulgaria and Slovakia to set up a new terrorist cell and launch fresh attacks on Britain and Europe.

Jaroslav Spisiak, deputy police chief in Bratislava, confirmed yesterday that information uncovered in the city had recently been passed to the British authorities.

At a private meeting with Mr Blair last night, Mr Duncan Smith is thought to have pressed for a statement from the Home Secretary to allay concern over recent arrests.

Asked on ITV1 by Sir Trevor McDonald if he had personally intervened to order the arrests, Mr Blair said: “Any arrests are obviously a matter for the police and the authorities, that’s not a matter for me.”

He said that if there was a specific threat against a specific target “we of course will warn people”. He added: “We have got to be very wary of acting on general information, of issuing warnings when they are not really justified according to the evidence. The risk then is we unnecessarily alarm people, we end up doing the terrorists’ job for them.”

• AN 18-year-old Frenchman has appeared before magistrates after being arrested at Stansted airport, in Essex, where he had entered the cockpit of a passenger jet and damaged the instrument panel.

  Josef Monti, from Paris, was detained by BAA security staff six days ago after he allegedly entered the country on Eurostar using false papers. He was remanded in custody after being charged with criminal damage and two offences under the Aviation Security Act.

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