Britain is the ninth most likely country to suffer a terrorist attack in the next twelve months, a leading risk analyst warned yesterday.

The UK was said to be more likely to be targeted than traditional hotspots such as Algeria, or Kenya, which was recently at the centre of a security alert.

Britain was considered to be a particular risk because of its support for the US in the war on Iraq, its symbolic targets such as the Houses of Parliament, its large Islamic community and the continuing terrorist threat from Northern Ireland, analyst Guy Dunn said.

Every country in the world was assessed for the Global Terrorism Index, due to be published next month.

The index, prepared by the World Markets Research Centre in London, identifies two countries at extreme risk of terrorism: Colombia and Israel.