MI6 Chief: Nukes Greater Threat than Terrorism

Britain's top spy, in the first public speech by a serving U.K. espionage chief, said Thursday that terrorists could hit the West again "at huge human cost" but that nuclear proliferation by states is a more far-reaching danger.

MI6 chief John Sawers, also known by the code name "C," spoke to a group of senior British journalists, stressing that the risks of failure in tackling proliferation by countries like Iran are "grim."

"Terrorism is difficult enough, and despite our collective efforts, an attack may well get through. The human cost would be huge. But our country, our democratic system, will not be brought down by a typical terrorist attack," he said. "The dangers of proliferation of nuclear weapons and chemical and biological weapons are more far-reaching. It can alter the whole balance of power in a region."

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Improving intelligence collection, coordination and analysis has been a major focus for Western governments since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the 2003 Iraq invasion, events involving profound faults in preparedness.

Sawers emergence from the shadows did come with a tinge of irony as he stressed the importance of official secrecy.

He said that though Cold War-era secrecy had lifted and intelligence agencies were working to become more accessible - the Secret Intelligence Service didn't even officially exist until 1992 - keeping intelligence material secret was vital to protect people against growing terror threats.

"Secrecy is not a dirty word. Secrecy is not there as a cover up," Sawers told a group of senior journalists. "Without secrecy there would be no intelligence services, or indeed other national assets like our special forces. Our nation would be more exposed as a result."

The unprecedented speech comes after the release of some 400,000 leaked intelligence documents from the start of 2003 US-led Iraq war, and before an inquiry looking into whether MI6 and other intelligence agencies could have been complicit in the torture of terror suspects. Sawers denied those allegations Thursday.

"If we know or believe action by us will lead to torture taking place, we're required by UK and international law to avoid that action. And we do - even though that allows terrorist activity to go ahead," he said, adding that in the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attacks MI6 had not been accused of "torture ourselves but out of being too close to it in our efforts to keep Britain safe."

Sawers welcomed the government inquiry, but outlined the anguished choice that spies had to make when faced with intelligence potentially tainted by abuse.

"Suppose we received credible intelligence that might save lives, here or abroad. We have a professional and moral duty to act on it," he said. "We also have a duty to do what we can to ensure that a partner service will respect human rights. That is not always straightforward.

"If we hold back, and don't pass that intelligence, out of concern that a suspect terrorist may be badly treated, innocent lives may be lost that we could have saved ... Sometimes there is no clear way forward."

"Torture is illegal and abhorent under any circumstances, and we have nothing whatsoever to do with it," he added.

Sawers, a career diplomat, had previously been the ambassador to the United Nations, the Foreign Office's political director, and also worked as an envoy in Baghdad and as foreign affairs adviser to former Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The move to more public accountability and openness at the Secret Intelligence Service is a big cultural shift for a service that 20 years ago was so secret the government would not publicly avow its existence, even if it still enjoys more anonymity than its close U.S. ally, the Central Intelligence Agency.