Spy who foiled al Qaeda bomb plot appointed Britain’s intelligence chief

PanARMENIAN.Net - A British counterspy who helped to thwart an al Qaeda plot to blow up planes with explosives hidden in soft drink bottles and led the response to the 2005 London transport bombings will be the new head of Britain's domestic intelligence agency, the U.K. government said, according to Reuters.

Andrew Parker has three decades' experience at the Security Service, known as MI5, countering Islamist militants, violent Irish republicans and organized criminals. He has been deputy chief since 2007, and once served as a British security liaison in the United States.

The 50-year-old, a keen birdwatcher and wildlife photographer, will be in charge of 3,800 staff investigating threats ranging from bomb plots and the spread of weapons of mass destruction to espionage and cyber attacks.

One of his first tasks will be to protect U.S. President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron and other world leaders at the Group of Eight summit in Northern Ireland in June.

Parker, who led MI5 teams that disrupted a 2006 conspiracy to attack several passenger jets with bombs hidden in soft drink bottles, said it was a "great honor" to be made head of the agency, also known as the Security Service.