Terrorist plot foiled
Posted: Thu Aug 10, 2006 5:44 pm
This could of turned out into another 9/11 type incident, but they got caught, thankfully.
(use link as there's more info included, the copy paste is only for archival purposes in case site goes down)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0810/dailyUpdate.html
British aircraft plot uncovered
British police made multiple arrests in connection to a plot to blow up transatlantic flights.
By Tom Regan | csmonitor.com
British police have disrupted plans for a major terror attack that would have seen terrorists exploding devices on a number of flights between Britain and the United States.
The Guardian reports that the alleged plot would have used liquid explosives smuggled on board in handheld bags. The police arrested 21 people in London, the Thames Valley, and Birmingham.
Paul Stephenson, the deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan police, said he was confident that a plan "intended to be mass murder on an unimaginable scale" had been thwarted.
The Daily Telegraph reports that sources say between three and ten aircraft may have been targeted, but there has been no confirmation of this number from Scotland Yard. The threat level has been raised to red at all airports in Britain, and many flights have been cancelled. The Telegraph also reports that additional security measures have also been put into place.
Contact lens wearers - who are advised to remove them during flights - have been allowed to take the holders on board, but not bottles of the solutions they need to reinsert them. Those wearing glasses have been told that the spectacle cases must be checked in. Even car keys with an electronic fob and mobile phones have been banned from the plane.
"They won't even allow me to take my lipstick on," said Firoaus Amur, 46, from Nairobi as she prepared to check in to her flight to Kenya.
The DebkaFile, an Israeli intelligence news information site, reports that American security officials say that the alleged plotters had targeted United Airlines, American Airlines, and Continental Airlines. The site also reports that the suspects arrested so far are British-born of Pakistani origin.
The BBC reports that London's Heathrow Airport has been closed to all incoming flights not already in the air. All flights coming into or from Gatwick Airport have been suspended. Transportation Secretary Douglas Alexander said all airports in Britain would be at a heightened state of security.
"What these changes mean in practice is that all hand baggage will now have to be checked in with only a small number of essential items allowed through search controls," he said.
"Exceptions will be in place for those travelling with infants and for prescription medicines."
Reuters reported that the US raised its threat level to red for all flights to Britain. In addition, all flights coming from or going to the United States were also put on alert.
iWe 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,i said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff in announcing that the threat level for flights from Britain to the United States has been raised to the highest isevere or redi level.
iTo defend further against any remaining threat from this plot, we will also raise the threat level to high, or orange, for all commercial aviation operating in or destined for the United States,i Chertoff said ... A statement issued by Chertoff said icurrently, there is no indication ... of plotting within the United States.i
The Wall Street Journal reports that the CIA has been working closely with Britain on the investigation, which has been going on for months. Not all of the suspects involved in the plot have been arrested yet, which the Journal says was the reason behind Mr. Chertoff raising the threat level.
U.S. intelligence, particularly the Central Intelligence Agency, has been working closely with Britain on the investigation, which has been ongoing for months, the second official said. Authorities have not yet arrested or detained all suspects who are believed to be involved in the plot, the official said, prompting Mr. Chertoff's alarm.
This latest alleged plot appears to bear some similarities to an al Qaeda plot to bomb 11 U.S. passenger jets over the Pacific that was uncovered in the Philippines in 1995. Code-named "Bojinka," the Serbo-Croatian word for "explosion," the plot also included the assassination of Pope John Paul II during a visit to Manila and crashing a plane into the Central Intelligence Agency's headquarters in Langley, Va.
Police in Manila stumbled across the conspiracy when they responded to a fire at an apartment rented by Abdul Hakim Murad and Ramzi Yousef, who was later caught in Pakistan and convicted for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. They found bomb-making materials in a sink and a lap-top computer full of coded information. The mastermind of the Bojinka plot — Khalid Shaikh Mohammed — later went on to orchestrate the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. He was captured in Pakistan in 2003.
The Washington Post reports that Peter Clarke, chief of the London police department's anti-terrorism branch, said the alleged plot had been monitored for some time, with a large number of people under surveillance.
"The alleged plot has global dimensions," Clarke said. "The investigation reached a critical point last night when the decision was made to take urgent action in order to disrupt what was being planned. As always in these investigations, the safety of the public" was the paramount concern, he added.
Independent terrorism expert Paul Beaver, interviewed by Reuters, said hand-luggage was a "weak spot" in airport security.
"A laptop computer can carry enough explosives to blow up an aircraft," he said. "Hold baggage and cargo can be sniffed for explosives. You can't do that for hand luggage at the moment. The technology is there, but it's time consuming and expensive."
Beaver said the nature of the alleged plot suggested a connection to Al Qaeda.
"In the last two months Al Qaeda promised that it would avenge Iraq and Afghanistan by attacking British and American aviation assets -- I see a direct link with that," he said.
Channel Four News in Britian report that the plot has already exacted an economic cost. British Airlines, and even cruise ship lines, saw the values of shares in their companies fall by as much as six percent.
Another related article:
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411366/812871
Airport chaos follows foiled plot
Aug 11, 2006
British police arrested 21 people and ordered tough security measures on Thursday that brought chaos to airports, saying they had foiled a plot to blow up several aircraft flying over the Atlantic Ocean.
The United States said it suspected al Qaeda involvement and President George Bush said it was a "stark reminder" that his country was "at war with Islamic fascists".
The suspected plot raised the spectre of a strike to rival the scope of the September 11 attacks on the United States and came 13 months after four British Islamist suicide bombers killed 52 commuters on London's transport system.
"We are confident we have disrupted a plan by terrorists to cause untold death and destruction," said London police's Deputy Commissioner Paul Stephenson. "Put simply, this was intended to be mass murder on an unimaginable scale."
Britain and the United States ramped up security, causing severe delays at airports, although British Interior Minister John Reid said police were confident the main players had been detained in raids overnight.
US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the plot was in the final stages of planning before execution.
"The terrorists planned to carry the components of the bombs, including liquid explosive ingredients and detonating devices, disguised as beverages, electronic devices or other common objects," he said.
Departure halls were jammed with people, waiting as airlines cancelled flights and trying to sort out their bags as hand luggage and liquids were banned from flights and passengers with babies were made to publicly taste their food.
"It's tough. We have nine pieces of luggage and we are going to have to bring it all to the hotel and back," said Michael Suncin, who was en route to Sweden and standing in a long queue for hotel reservations at London's main Heathrow airport.
Eight-month surveillance
British security sources said they had been watching the suspects for eight months. They did not rule out an al Qaeda link, but played down direct involvement by the militant group.
British authorities declined to confirm the nationalities of those arrested. Stephenson said the plot had "global dimensions" and that police were cooperating with foreign agencies.
Police sources said some of those held in overnight raids in the capital London, southeast England and Britain's second city, Birmingham, were British Muslims.
French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said the suspected perpetrators appeared to be of Pakistani origin.
Chertoff said US carriers were targeted. A US official speaking on condition of anonymity said Continental Airlines, United Airlines and American Airlines flights were the focus.
The United States raised the threat level for British-US passenger flights to "red", its highest level, for the first time. US authorities banned liquids, including drinks, hair gels and lotions, from commercial flights.
Britain's security services upped the threat level in the country to "critical" from "severe", the highest of its five ratings, which means "an attack is expected imminently".
Flights cancelled
Shares in European airlines fell. British Airways dropped more than 5 percent. The pound fell against the dollar and the euro. Oil fell to below $76 a barrel on fears the security threat might slow growth worldwide and cut oil demand.
Britain has been criticised by Islamist militants for its military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Prime Minister Tony Blair has also come under fire for following the U.S. lead and refusing to call for an immediate ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hizbollah guerrillas.
Blair's office said the prime minister, who is on holiday in the Caribbean, had briefed U.S. President George Bush.
Peter Neumann, director of the Centre for Defence Studies at London's King's College university, said the plan seemed similar to a 1995 plan to blow up 11 planes using nitroglycerine mixed in contact lens solution and a battery powered detonator.
Last month, al Qaeda called on Muslims to fight those who backed Israel's attacks on Lebanon and warned of attacks unless US and British forces pulled out of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Al Qaeda hijacked passenger aircraft in September 2001 to destroy the World Trade Center in New York. Briton Richard Reid was arrested in December 2001 for trying to blow up a plane headed to the United States using a bomb in his shoe.
The British Airports Authority asked all European carriers to suspend flights to Heathrow. British Airways cancelled short-haul flights to and from the airport, which processes 180,000 passengers a day in the peak summer period.
Archived topic from Iceteks, old topic ID:4494, old post ID:35948
(use link as there's more info included, the copy paste is only for archival purposes in case site goes down)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0810/dailyUpdate.html
British aircraft plot uncovered
British police made multiple arrests in connection to a plot to blow up transatlantic flights.
By Tom Regan | csmonitor.com
British police have disrupted plans for a major terror attack that would have seen terrorists exploding devices on a number of flights between Britain and the United States.
The Guardian reports that the alleged plot would have used liquid explosives smuggled on board in handheld bags. The police arrested 21 people in London, the Thames Valley, and Birmingham.
Paul Stephenson, the deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan police, said he was confident that a plan "intended to be mass murder on an unimaginable scale" had been thwarted.
The Daily Telegraph reports that sources say between three and ten aircraft may have been targeted, but there has been no confirmation of this number from Scotland Yard. The threat level has been raised to red at all airports in Britain, and many flights have been cancelled. The Telegraph also reports that additional security measures have also been put into place.
Contact lens wearers - who are advised to remove them during flights - have been allowed to take the holders on board, but not bottles of the solutions they need to reinsert them. Those wearing glasses have been told that the spectacle cases must be checked in. Even car keys with an electronic fob and mobile phones have been banned from the plane.
"They won't even allow me to take my lipstick on," said Firoaus Amur, 46, from Nairobi as she prepared to check in to her flight to Kenya.
The DebkaFile, an Israeli intelligence news information site, reports that American security officials say that the alleged plotters had targeted United Airlines, American Airlines, and Continental Airlines. The site also reports that the suspects arrested so far are British-born of Pakistani origin.
The BBC reports that London's Heathrow Airport has been closed to all incoming flights not already in the air. All flights coming into or from Gatwick Airport have been suspended. Transportation Secretary Douglas Alexander said all airports in Britain would be at a heightened state of security.
"What these changes mean in practice is that all hand baggage will now have to be checked in with only a small number of essential items allowed through search controls," he said.
"Exceptions will be in place for those travelling with infants and for prescription medicines."
Reuters reported that the US raised its threat level to red for all flights to Britain. In addition, all flights coming from or going to the United States were also put on alert.
iWe 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,i said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff in announcing that the threat level for flights from Britain to the United States has been raised to the highest isevere or redi level.
iTo defend further against any remaining threat from this plot, we will also raise the threat level to high, or orange, for all commercial aviation operating in or destined for the United States,i Chertoff said ... A statement issued by Chertoff said icurrently, there is no indication ... of plotting within the United States.i
The Wall Street Journal reports that the CIA has been working closely with Britain on the investigation, which has been going on for months. Not all of the suspects involved in the plot have been arrested yet, which the Journal says was the reason behind Mr. Chertoff raising the threat level.
U.S. intelligence, particularly the Central Intelligence Agency, has been working closely with Britain on the investigation, which has been ongoing for months, the second official said. Authorities have not yet arrested or detained all suspects who are believed to be involved in the plot, the official said, prompting Mr. Chertoff's alarm.
This latest alleged plot appears to bear some similarities to an al Qaeda plot to bomb 11 U.S. passenger jets over the Pacific that was uncovered in the Philippines in 1995. Code-named "Bojinka," the Serbo-Croatian word for "explosion," the plot also included the assassination of Pope John Paul II during a visit to Manila and crashing a plane into the Central Intelligence Agency's headquarters in Langley, Va.
Police in Manila stumbled across the conspiracy when they responded to a fire at an apartment rented by Abdul Hakim Murad and Ramzi Yousef, who was later caught in Pakistan and convicted for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. They found bomb-making materials in a sink and a lap-top computer full of coded information. The mastermind of the Bojinka plot — Khalid Shaikh Mohammed — later went on to orchestrate the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. He was captured in Pakistan in 2003.
The Washington Post reports that Peter Clarke, chief of the London police department's anti-terrorism branch, said the alleged plot had been monitored for some time, with a large number of people under surveillance.
"The alleged plot has global dimensions," Clarke said. "The investigation reached a critical point last night when the decision was made to take urgent action in order to disrupt what was being planned. As always in these investigations, the safety of the public" was the paramount concern, he added.
Independent terrorism expert Paul Beaver, interviewed by Reuters, said hand-luggage was a "weak spot" in airport security.
"A laptop computer can carry enough explosives to blow up an aircraft," he said. "Hold baggage and cargo can be sniffed for explosives. You can't do that for hand luggage at the moment. The technology is there, but it's time consuming and expensive."
Beaver said the nature of the alleged plot suggested a connection to Al Qaeda.
"In the last two months Al Qaeda promised that it would avenge Iraq and Afghanistan by attacking British and American aviation assets -- I see a direct link with that," he said.
Channel Four News in Britian report that the plot has already exacted an economic cost. British Airlines, and even cruise ship lines, saw the values of shares in their companies fall by as much as six percent.
Another related article:
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411366/812871
Airport chaos follows foiled plot
Aug 11, 2006
British police arrested 21 people and ordered tough security measures on Thursday that brought chaos to airports, saying they had foiled a plot to blow up several aircraft flying over the Atlantic Ocean.
The United States said it suspected al Qaeda involvement and President George Bush said it was a "stark reminder" that his country was "at war with Islamic fascists".
The suspected plot raised the spectre of a strike to rival the scope of the September 11 attacks on the United States and came 13 months after four British Islamist suicide bombers killed 52 commuters on London's transport system.
"We are confident we have disrupted a plan by terrorists to cause untold death and destruction," said London police's Deputy Commissioner Paul Stephenson. "Put simply, this was intended to be mass murder on an unimaginable scale."
Britain and the United States ramped up security, causing severe delays at airports, although British Interior Minister John Reid said police were confident the main players had been detained in raids overnight.
US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the plot was in the final stages of planning before execution.
"The terrorists planned to carry the components of the bombs, including liquid explosive ingredients and detonating devices, disguised as beverages, electronic devices or other common objects," he said.
Departure halls were jammed with people, waiting as airlines cancelled flights and trying to sort out their bags as hand luggage and liquids were banned from flights and passengers with babies were made to publicly taste their food.
"It's tough. We have nine pieces of luggage and we are going to have to bring it all to the hotel and back," said Michael Suncin, who was en route to Sweden and standing in a long queue for hotel reservations at London's main Heathrow airport.
Eight-month surveillance
British security sources said they had been watching the suspects for eight months. They did not rule out an al Qaeda link, but played down direct involvement by the militant group.
British authorities declined to confirm the nationalities of those arrested. Stephenson said the plot had "global dimensions" and that police were cooperating with foreign agencies.
Police sources said some of those held in overnight raids in the capital London, southeast England and Britain's second city, Birmingham, were British Muslims.
French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said the suspected perpetrators appeared to be of Pakistani origin.
Chertoff said US carriers were targeted. A US official speaking on condition of anonymity said Continental Airlines, United Airlines and American Airlines flights were the focus.
The United States raised the threat level for British-US passenger flights to "red", its highest level, for the first time. US authorities banned liquids, including drinks, hair gels and lotions, from commercial flights.
Britain's security services upped the threat level in the country to "critical" from "severe", the highest of its five ratings, which means "an attack is expected imminently".
Flights cancelled
Shares in European airlines fell. British Airways dropped more than 5 percent. The pound fell against the dollar and the euro. Oil fell to below $76 a barrel on fears the security threat might slow growth worldwide and cut oil demand.
Britain has been criticised by Islamist militants for its military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Prime Minister Tony Blair has also come under fire for following the U.S. lead and refusing to call for an immediate ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hizbollah guerrillas.
Blair's office said the prime minister, who is on holiday in the Caribbean, had briefed U.S. President George Bush.
Peter Neumann, director of the Centre for Defence Studies at London's King's College university, said the plan seemed similar to a 1995 plan to blow up 11 planes using nitroglycerine mixed in contact lens solution and a battery powered detonator.
Last month, al Qaeda called on Muslims to fight those who backed Israel's attacks on Lebanon and warned of attacks unless US and British forces pulled out of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Al Qaeda hijacked passenger aircraft in September 2001 to destroy the World Trade Center in New York. Briton Richard Reid was arrested in December 2001 for trying to blow up a plane headed to the United States using a bomb in his shoe.
The British Airports Authority asked all European carriers to suspend flights to Heathrow. British Airways cancelled short-haul flights to and from the airport, which processes 180,000 passengers a day in the peak summer period.
Archived topic from Iceteks, old topic ID:4494, old post ID:35948
