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| Britain thwarts terror plot to simultaneously blow up several aircraft | | Security alert at Indian airports | | London, Aug. 10: British authorities said on Thursday they had thwarted a terrorist plot to simultaneously blow up several aircraft in flight 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 _ suggesting a terrorist attack might be imminent _ and banned hand-carried luggage on all trans-Atlantic flights. Huge crowds formed at security barriers as officials searching for explosives barred nearly every form of liquid outside of baby formula.
``This was to be a simultaneous attack on multiple targets, targeting U.S.-bound aircraft,'' a police official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case.
The extreme measures at one of the world's largest aviation hubs sent ripples throughout the world. Heathrow airport was closed to most flights from Europe.
The U.S. Government responded by raising its threat assessment to its highest level for commercial flights from Britain to the United States amid fears the plot had not been completely crushed. Terrorists had targeted United, American and Continental airlines, two U.S. counterterrorism officials said.
Police are confident they have disrupted a plot against aircraft which was ``intended to be mass murder on an unimaginable scale,'' Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Stephenson said on Thursday.
Police arrested 21 people in London, its suburbs and in Birmingham, central England. Searches continued in a number of locations.
The suspects were ``homegrown,'' though it was not immediately clear if they were all British citizens, the police official said, adding that police were working with the South Asian community.
Prime Minister Tony Blair, vacationing in the Caribbean, briefed U.S. President George W. Bush on the situation overnight, Blair's office said.
Britain's Home Secretary John Reid said the alleged plot was significant, and that terrorists aimed to ``bring down a number of aircraft through mid-flight explosions, causing a considerable loss of life.''
Two U.S. counterterrorism officials said the terrorists were targeting U.S. carriers United Airlines, American Airlines and Continental Airlines. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case.
``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,'' U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said.
Passengers faced delays as tighter security was hastily enforced at the country's airports and additional measures were put in place for all flights, and British Airways said some flights were likely to be canceled. 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, and Chertoff's statement raised the possibility that authorities were searching for a liquid explosive.
``Due to the nature of the threat revealed by this investigation, we are prohibiting any liquids, including beverages, hair gels, and lotions from being carried on the airplane,'' Chertoff said.
Huge lines formed at ticket counters and behind security barriers at Heathrow and other airports in Britain. Ed Lappen, 55, a businessman from Boston, who was traveling with his wife and daughter to Russia, found himself temporarily stranded.
``We're safe, we're OK,'' he said at Heathrow. ``Now my daughter is going to get a shopping trip in London.''
The Department of Transport advised all passengers that they would not be permitted to carry any hand baggage on board any aircraft departing from any airport in the country.
Prescription medicines were OK; so were eyeglasses but not their cases, the department said. Contact lenses could be taken aboard in their cases, but bottles of solution were banned.
Passengers were also advised that no electrical or battery powered items, including laptops and mobile phones, could be carried into the cabin.
``I'm terrified really, I'm really scared.'' said Sarah Challiner, 20, who was waiting to board a flight from Manchester airport. However, she said she was reassured by her friends who worked as aircraft cabin crew.
``Eight hours without an iPod, that's the most inconvenient thing,'' said Hannah Pillinger, 24, also in Manchester.
London's Heathrow airport was the departure point for a devastating terrorist attack on a Pan Am Boeing 747 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 which was hidden in checked baggage.
A Scottish court convicted Libyan intelligence agent Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi of the bombing in 2001 and sentenced him to life imprisonment. A second Libyan was acquitted.
In 2003, Libya officially accepted responsibility for the attack and agreed to pay relatives of each bombing victim at least US$5 million.
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Security alert at Indian airports
A red alert has been sounded and security stepped up at the Indira Gandhi International airport in New Delhi in the wake of unearthing of a terror plot to blow up an aircraft in the United Kingdom.
The airport security is entrusted to Central Industrial Security Force. Entry of visitors to the airport has been banned and emergency anti-hijacking measures put in place as the threat level at the high-security facility was raised to maximum, Central Industrial Security Force sources said.
Other measures taken include 100 percent manual checking of cabin baggage in "specific destination flights" and 50 per cent in normal aircraft besides increasing the profiling of passengers and deployment of security personnel in plain clothes.
Quick Reaction Teams deployed at the airport were activated, while Bomb Disposal Squads and sniffer dogs pressed into service as part of increased surveillance measures, they said.
Light-Machine Gun-mounted mobile patrols are patrolling non-operational areas, while surveillance was stepped up at parking lots and ticket counters. Airport authorities have also been asked to clear dust bins every half-an-hour and frisking of authorised personnel entering operational areas was made mandatory in view of the alert.
Airports across the country had been on a high alert as intelligence agencies reported the possibility of terrorist strikes to disrupt the Independence Day celebrations. Though there was only one specific intelligence input that the banned ULFA might strike at an airport in the north-east, a general alert was issued to airports in other regions as well earlier this month. |
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