British police launch anti-terror campaign

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LONDON, Feb. 25 (UPI) -- Police in England have launched a new counter-terrorism campaign aimed at encouraging the public to actively participate in reporting potential suspects.

Officials say ads for the new public informant counter-terror initiative will run for five weeks in the metropolitan areas of London, Manchester, West Yorkshire and the West Midlands. Advertisements will run in newspapers, radio stations and on the Internet encouraging the public to report unusual activity or behavior to security officials, Britain's intelligence service MI5 reported.

"Terrorists will not succeed if suspicious activity is reported to the police," Peter Clarke, specialist operations assistant commissioner, said in a statement. "As people go about their normal day-to-day lives they may spot something which strikes them as suspicious.

"We want people to look out for the unusual -- some activity or behavior which strikes them as not quite right and out of place in their normal day to day lives. Terrorists live within our communities, making their plans whilst doing everything they can to blend in, and trying not to raise suspicions about their activities."

As part of the campaign an anti-terrorist hotline has been created for people to call in and report suspicions about suspected threats to national security.