The fatal explosions in Boston have hints of a right-wing terrorist attack rather than al-Qaeda-inspired extremism, according to one of the world's leading experts on counter-terrorism.
Richard Barrett, the former United Nations co-ordinator for the al-Qaeda and Taliban monitoring team, said it was too early to say who was to blame for the marathon blasts.
But Mr Barrett, who has served with MI5, MI6 and the Foreign Office, said the timing of the attack on Patriots’ Day and the relatively small size of the devices suggested the work of a domestic extremist.
His comments came after US supercop Bill Bratton, a former head of Boston police who is now based in London, warned there are “no shortage of potential suspects” behind the explosions.
Mr Barrett, who is now senior director at the Qatar International Academy for Security Studies, said: “At the moment it looks more likely that it was a right-wing terrorist incident, rather than an al-Qaeda attack because of the size of the devices.”
He added: “This happened on Patriots’ Day, it is also the day Americans are supposed to have their taxes in, and Boston is quite a symbolic city. These are all little indicators.”