Warning of 'lone terrorist' threat

Small-scale attacks featuring "self-starter" terrorists are becoming the new modus operandi of jihadists, according to intelligence specialists.

The warning comes after the senior al-Qa'ida commander Fazul Abdullah Mohammed was killed earlier this month.

It is understood that files on his laptop included proposals to attack London hotels, starting fires on a lower floor to block off and burn the upper floors.

He had been recruiting militants with EU passports, according to the specialist intelligence company Executive Analysis.

It warns: "The intelligence is significant in that it suggests senior al-Qa'ida militants are supporting the trend of jihadist attack tactics that require low or even no capability, but are designed to evade detection by security forces."