LONDON, Jan 7: It is understood that billing records have been uncovered revealing telephone calls between the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group suspected of being behind the Mumbai attacks and other countries, including Britain.

Jonathan Evans MI5’s new chief, however, told reporters on Wednesday: “But nothing of security significance was found.”

According to The Guardian, the MI5 chief also divulged that there had been indirect connections between the terrorists in Mumbai in November and individuals in Britain but that there was no evidence of any national security issue for Britain.

He disclosed that Al Qaeda’s high command in Pakistan remained intent on using British citizens to carry out attacks on British soil, making necessary the constant surveillance of thousands of suspects. Terrorists were being forced “to keep their heads down” because of relentless surveillance and successful prosecutions.

Breaking with secrecy traditions to express his concerns, Mr Evans also said that 2,000 terrorist suspects in Britain were the subject of constant surveillance. “The strategic intent of the Al Qaeda core, (based) in Pakistan, is to mount attacks in the UK, and their model is to use British nationals or residents to deliver the attacks,” Mr Evans told newspapers invited into MI5’s headquarters in London.

However, in the past 18 months there had been fewer cases where terrorists had moved from facilitating and supporting terrorism to planning attacks.