"British authorities thwart terror plot to blow up aircraft to U.S.; French official says suspects 'appear to be of Pakistani origin'"

Thursday, August 10, 2006

British authorities thwart terror plot to blow up aircraft to U.S.; French
official says suspects 'appear to be of Pakistani origin'
By Danica Kirka
The Associated Press


LONDON (AP) - British authorities said Thursday they had thwarted a
terrorist plot to simultaneously blow up several aircraft heading to the
United States using explosives smuggled in hand luggage, averting what
police described as "mass murder on an unimaginable scale."

Officials raised security to its highest level in Britain - suggesting a
terrorist attack might be imminent - and banned carry-on luggage on all
trans-Atlantic flights. Huge crowds formed at security barriers at London's
Heathrow airport as officials searching for explosives barred nearly every
form of liquid outside of baby formula. 

In Paris, French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said Thursday that the
suspects in the alleged terror plot "appear to be of Pakistani origin."

Speaking after an urgent security meeting with Prime Minister Dominique de
Villepin, Sarkozy said Paris had been in close contact with British
authorities, but he did not give a precise source for the information on the
suspects. 

The British Home Office declined to comment on Sarkozy's remarks. 

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the terrorists
planned to use liquid explosives disguised as beverages and other common
products and detonators disguised as electronic devices. 

The extreme measures at a major international aviation hub sent ripples
throughout the world. Heathrow was closed to most flights from Europe, and
British Airways cancelled all its flights between the airport and points in
Britain, Europe and Libya. Numerous flights from U.S. cities to Britain were
cancelled. 

Tony Douglas, Heathrow's managing director, said the airport hoped to resume
normal operations Friday, but passengers would still face delays and a ban
on cabin baggage "for the foreseeable future." 

"At this point in time it is unclear how long these restrictions will remain
in place," he said. 

Washington raised its threat alert to its highest level for commercial
flights from Britain to the United States amid fears the plot had not been
completely crushed. The alert for all flights coming or going from the
United States was also raised slightly. 

Two U.S. counterterrorism officials said the terrorists had targeted United
Airlines, American Airlines and Continental Airlines. They spoke on
condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case. 

A U.S. intelligence official said the plotters had hoped to target flights
to major airports in New York, Washington and California. 

British Home Secretary John Reid said 21 people had been arrested in London,
its suburbs and Birmingham following a lengthy investigation, including the
alleged "main players" in the plot. Searches continued in a number of
locations. 

The suspects were "homegrown," though it was not immediately clear if they
were all British citizens, said a police official who spoke on condition of
anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case. Police were working
closely with the South Asian community, the official said. 

The official said the plotters intended to simultaneously target multiple
planes bound for the United States. 

"We think this was an extraordinarily serious plot and we are confident that
we've prevented an attempt to commit mass murder on an unimaginable scale,"
Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Stephenson said. 

Prime Minister Tony Blair, vacationing in the Caribbean, briefed U.S.
President George W. Bush on the situation overnight. 

White House spokesman Tony Snow said Bush also had been briefed by his aides
while at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, where he has been on vacation. 

"We do believe the plot involved flights from the U.K. to the U.S. and was a
direct threat to the United States," Snow said. 

Chertoff, the homeland security chief, said the plot had the hallmarks of an
operation planned by al-Qaida, the terrorist group behind the Sept. 11
attack on the United States. 

"It was sophisticated, it had a lot of members and it was international in
scope. It was in some respects suggestive of an al-Qaida plot," Chertoff
said, but he cautioned it was too early in the investigation to reach any
conclusions. 

It is the first time the red alert level in the Homeland Security warning
system has been invoked, although there have been brief periods in the past
when the orange level was applied. Homeland Security defines the red alert
as designating a "severe risk of terrorist attacks." 

"We believe that these arrests (in London) have significantly disrupted the
threat, but we cannot be sure that the threat has been entirely eliminated
or the plot completely thwarted," Chertoff said. 

He added, however, there was no indication of current plots within the
United States. 

Chertoff said the plotters were in the final stages of planning. "We were
really getting quite close to the execution phase," he said, adding that it
was unclear if the plot was linked to the upcoming fifth anniversary of the
Sept. 11 terror attacks. 

A senior U.S. counterterrorism official said authorities believe dozens of
people - possibly as many as 50 - were involved in the plot. The official
spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.


The plan involved airline passengers hiding masked explosives in carry-on
luggage, the official said. "They were not yet sitting on an airplane," but
were very close to travelling, the official said, calling the plot "the real
deal." 

Passengers in Britain faced delays as tighter security was hastily enforced
at the country's airports and additional measures were put in place for all
flights. Laptop computers, mobile phones, iPods, and remote controls were
among the items banned from being carried on board. 

Liquids, such as hair care products, were also barred on flights in both
Britain and the United States. 

In the mid-1990s, officials foiled a plan by terrorist mastermind Ramzi
Youssef to blow up 12 Western jetliners simultaneously over the Pacific. The
alleged plot involved improvised bombs using liquid hidden in contact lens
solution containers. 

London's Heathrow airport was the departure point for a devastating
terrorist attack on a Pan Am airplane on Dec. 21, 1988. The blast over
Lockerbie, Scotland, killed all 259 people aboard Pan Am Flight 103 and 11
people on the ground. 

The explosive was hidden in a portable radio secreted in checked baggage. 

Attached Photo:

Passengers wait to check in at Manchester Airport Terminal 1 after a
terrorist plot to blow up aircraft in mid-air has been foiled by police and
security services in England Thursday.

i11552304601106828053.jpg