Major international counter-terrorism exercise to take place in April The exercise will be known domestically as TopOff 3 in the US, Atlantic Blue in the UK and Triple Play in Canada and has the following shared objectives: Incident management: to test the full range of existing procedures for domestic incident management of a terrorist event and improve, through practice, capabilities in affected countries to respond in partnership; Public information: to practice the joint response of the UK, US and Canadian Governments to media handling and public information following a linked terrorist incident occurring in all three countries; Intelligence/investigation: to test the flow of operational time-critical intelligence between US, UK and Canadian agencies in response to linked terrorist incidents occurring in all three countries; and Evaluation: to identify lessons learned and promote best practice. UK Home Office Minister Hazel Blears said: "The threat from international terrorism remains real and serious, and is a worldwide concern. It is vital we make every effort to enhance and develop our resilience to this threat by working closely with our international colleagues. Exercise Atlantic Blue provides an excellent opportunity to do this, through sharing best practice on emergency planning and response procedures. "Training exercises are an important part of countering terrorism. The UK programme of exercises is among the best in the world and a vital part of our work in resilience and contingency planning, ensuring that we are prepared to respond to any kind of terrorist attack and that our counter-terrorism arrangements are tried and tested. "As with all exercises, the lessons learnt from international exercises will be incorporated in future contingency planning arrangements." US Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff said: "By responding realistically to simulated attacks, we are able to identify our strengths and weaknesses and make our national response system stronger. Our partnerships with the UK and Canada will further enhance our ability to deal with terrorism on an international level." The Honourable Anne McLellan, Canadian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness said: "Our participation is another example of our ongoing commitment to working closely with the United States and international allies such as the UK to strengthen our ability to deal with international terrorism and its consequences - key objectives of Canada's National Security Policy and the Smart Border Declaration."
•Date: 18th March 2005 • Region: N.America/UK •Type:
Article •Topic:
Terrorism |
