November 18, 2003	Tuesday	Ramazan 22, 1424

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LONDON, Nov 17: Armed police turned the British capital into “Fortress London” on Monday amid heightened fears of a guerilla attack on the eve of US President George W. Bush’s visit.

The White House, wary of an Al Qaeda strike, has insisted on tight precautions. Traditional events such as a horse-drawn carriage ride with Queen Elizabeth will not be staged.

Weekend suicide bombings against two synagogues in Istanbul that killed 23 people served as a reminder that militants could strike anywhere, at any time, without warning.

Britain had already moved to a higher state of alert after warnings of a possible Al Qaeda attack received days ago.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Bush’s staunchest ally in his “war on terror”, insisted: “Now is not the time to waiver. Now is the time to see it through.”

“This is the right moment for us to stand firm with the United States in defeating terrorism wherever it is and delivering us safely from what I genuinely believe to be the security threat of the 21st century,” he told business leaders in Birmingham, central England.

BUCKINGHAM PALACE: A lone anti-war protester dodged tight security on Monday and scaled the gates of Queen Elizabeth’s Buckingham Palace on the eve of US President George W. Bush’s state visit to Britain.

The woman, wearing a fluorescent jacket, climbed the six-metre-high wrought-iron gates in front of the palace in central London and unfurled an upside-down US flag with the inscription “Elizabeth Windsor and Co. He’s not welcome”.

Police said the woman began her protest just before 4pm (0900pm PST) and they were trying to talk her down.

A police spokesman declined to comment on whether the woman’s protest had breached security.—Reuters