British press fears wave of terrorism

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Images of a blazing car at the entrance of the terminal building at Glasgow airport were splashed across the front pages of Britain's Sunday papers, with many warning that Britain is under attack from a new wave of terrorism.

The Sunday Mirror published dramatic pictures of a burning man trying to ignite explosives in the vehicle while being sprayed with water by an off-duty policeman. The News of the World had a picture of a "hero" police officer pinning down a smoldering bomber.

The Sunday Telegraph newspaper said Britain was feared to be under terrorist attack for the third time in 36 hours after the attack, and following the discovery of two cars packed with explosive material and nails in London.

In an editorial, The Sunday Times newspaper says London and Glasgow appeared to have had a lucky escape.

"The people behind these attempted atrocities clearly have twisted minds. How else to explain an attack directed at "ladies night" at the Tiger Tiger nightclub?

"For Islamists -- and there seems little doubt that Muslim extremists were behind the plot -- young women drinking, dancing and enjoying themselves embodies everything they find repulsive about western society.

"There will be other weekends when we fear we will be commenting not on close shaves but on completed terrorist attacks."

The Observer newspaper said Friday's aborted London bomb attack was "al Qaeda inspired" and may have been linked to five terrorism suspects who have escaped Home Office control orders and are on the run.

The newspaper also reports that former British prime minister Tony Blair had launched a powerful attack on "absurd" British Islamists who have nurtured a false "sense of grievance" that they are being oppressed by Britain and the United States.

Blair warns that Britain is in danger of losing the battle against terrorists unless mainstream society confronts the threat.

"The idea that as a Muslim in this country that you don't have the freedom to express your religion ... I mean you've got far more freedom in this country than you do in most Muslim countries," Blair told Observer columnist Will Hutton.

In an editorial, the newspaper says: "Some believe that the solution to terrorism is to resolve the myriad grievances the terrorists broadcast so violently. This is a mistake. Many such grievances are imagined -- the West does not want to 'dominate the lands of Islam,' for example.

"Many more are simply not Britain's fault; we are not to blame for the parlous economic state of many Islamic countries. Instead, we should remember that it is our way of life, and the attraction it holds, that remains our best weapon.

"The truth is that our democratic structures, our economy, our values and the society we have built upon them are much stronger than we often think." E-mail to a friend