Plot to blow up planes between UK, US foiled--Scotland Yard

[scotsfiancee]

Plot to blow up planes between UK, US foiled--Scotland Yard Agence France-Presse
Last updated 02:25pm (Mla time) 08/10/2006


LONDON – (3RD UPDATE) British police have what interior minister John Reid said an alleged terror plot foiled by Scotland Yard was designed to "bring down a number of aircraft through mid-flight explosions, causing a considerable loss of life."

Britain immediately went on its highest alert for terrorist attacks, raising the level issued by the domestic intelligence service MI5 to "critical" from "severe," where it had been for several weeks.

The plan was uncovered in a joint operation by the Yard's anti-terrorist branch and security service, the Metropolitan Police said.

British television said about 20 arrests had been made.

Security was immediately ordered tightened at British airports, where departing passengers were not allowed hand baggage except articles placed in transparent bags.

Police said the plot involved hiding explosive devices in hand baggage.

The plan was uncovered in a joint operation by the Yard's anti-terrorist branch and security service that lasted several months, the Metropolitan Police said, adding that many arrests had been made.

British Home Secretary John Reid said on Wednesday that Britain faces "the most sustained period of severe threat since the end of World War II."

He said that while the security services would deliver 100 percent effort and dedication, they could not guarantee a 100 percent success rate in fighting terrorism.

"We are probably in the most sustained period of severe threat since the end of World War II," Reid said in a speech to the Demos think-tank.

He called for all parts of society to band together in a common effort, in his view the only way to assure Britain's common security.

"Our security forces and the apparatus of the state provide a very necessary condition for defeating terrorism but can never be sufficient to do so on their own."

He also warned of "insecurity in the heart of our communities."


**watch out!!**:yikes:

[Win2Win]

Nice to see Dad have to drink the babies breast milk infront of everyone to make security happy it's not an explosive :yikes:

[A_flyer]

Air France-KLM cancels all its flights bound for London until midday [ 10/08/2006 10:29 ]

PARIS (AP) -- Air France-KLM announced Thursday morning that all flights bound for London are cancelled until midday after the discoverry by the British Government of a plot thwarted by the antiterrorist services which aimed at exploding several planes in flight.

At Airline press service, one explained that this decision was made "because the airport of London is saturated and flights can't land".

It was specified that this decision is related to "4 or 5 flights" bound for London-Heathrow and a new decision should be issued for the remaining of the day.
Associated Press

[Win2Win]

"Don't Travel Unless Necessary" :Erm:

Why the hell would you book something that wan't necessary?? :doh

[A_flyer]

"Don't Travel Unless Necessary" :Erm:
Yes, what a strange idea to fly to UK... :D

[Win2Win]

I see the illegal immigrants do anything to get out of France :icon_lol:

[scotsfiancee]

At-a-glance: UK airports
Security at all UK airports has been tightened after an alleged plot to blow up planes in mid-flight from the UK to the US.

Broadly, passengers are not being allowed to take on any hand luggage except essential items in see-through carrier bags, and are advised to expect severe delays.


Passengers are advised to contact their airline with any queries.

British Airways said customers not wishing to travel on Thursday could rebook to travel up to 1 December subject to availability, or get a refund.

[Win2Win]

I think I'll fly to Florida from Dublin :)

[scotsfiancee]

Britain freezes bank accounts of arrested terror suspects

Agence France-Presse
Last updated 11:03am (Mla time) 08/11/2006


LONDON -- The Bank of England, Britain's central bank, said Friday it had frozen the accounts of 19 of the 24 men arrested in an alleged terror plot.

"The Bank of England ... has today directed that any funds held for or on behalf of the [19] individuals ... must be frozen, and that no funds should be made available, directly or indirectly to any person, except under the authority of a license," the bank said in a statement.

"Financial institutions and other persons are requested to check whether they maintain any accounts or otherwise hold any funds, other financial assets, economic benefits and economic resources for the individuals named in the Annex and, if so, they should freeze the accounts or other funds and report their findings to the Bank of England," the bank said.

Some 24 men were arrested on Thursday in raids after Britain said it had thwarted a plot to wreak "mass murder" by simultaneous mid-air bombings of commercial airliners traveling to the United States

[scotsfiancee]

Two Britons in Pakistan arrests

The arrest of militants in Pakistan is said to have provided a lead
Officials in Pakistan say that two men arrested in connection with an alleged UK plot to blow up planes are British nationals of Pakistani origin.
The two are among seven people arrested in connection with the plot. They were picked up in the cities of Lahore and Karachi last week.

Officials say they provided important information about the UK plot.

UK police are questioning 24 people over the alleged plot to attack planes flying from the UK to the US.

Airports in India and Pakistan have tightened security.

[scotsfiancee]

Suspicion falls on Al-Qaeda over British bombing plot
08/12 10:28:55 AM

LONDON, (AFP) - Suspicions fell on Al-Qaeda on Saturday after the emergence of a Pakistani connection to an alleged plot in Britain to use suicide bombers with liquid explosives to blow US airliners out of the sky.

While chaos for air travellers eased somewhat at London's busy Heathrow airport and other facilities, Pakistani officials took credit for helping to thwart what could have been the worst-ever case of terror in the skies.

Seven people were arrested in Pakistan last week, it emerged Friday, including two Britons of Pakistani heritage. One of the latter, Rashid Rauf, was described by the foreign ministry in Islamabad as a "key suspect."

"There are indications of (an) Afghanistan-based Al-Qaeda connection," the foreign ministry declared, adding that the case the subject of a vast ongoing investigation in Britain had "wider international dimensions".

In London, the Metropolitan Police released without charge one of the 24 people they arrested in raids that began overnight Wednesday.

But it also secured warrants to detain virtually all the others until next Wednesday.

Major airports struggled Friday to get travellers to their destinations, following a dramatic freeze on all incoming and outgoing flights the day before, while maintaining an unprecedented draconian ban on carry-on baggage.

"The threat level is critical, so people should remain vigilant," Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott said Friday. "The alleged situation we are dealing with would have been an attack on all of us."

In Italy, 40 people were arrested in raids Thursday and Friday on various locations "frequented by Islamists," the interior ministry in Rome said.

In London, the Bank of England froze the accounts of 19 of those arrested in Britain and in line with UN rules published their names.

They were virtually all Muslim, apparently of Pakistani heritage. US officials say the plot which they consider the most serious since the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington in 2001 would have seen the perpetrators smuggle seemingly innocuous liquids in drinks bottles or other containers onto US-bound planes from Britain.

Once on board, suicide bombers would put detonators to the liquid explosives, causing a blast that might destroy a cruising airliner and kill all on board.

US Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff suggested that explosives were found inside homes raided in Britain, while London's Evening Standard newspaper said tickets for flights next Wednesday had been seized.

US officials have estimated that up to 10 planes were targeted in an operation they said bore the imprint of Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network.

British media put the range between five and 12 planes. A US intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the alleged plot would have targeted United Airlines, American Airlines and Continental Airlines flights to New York, Washington and Los Angeles, and possibly other major hubs such as Boston and Chicago.

News of the alleged plot stirred memories of the world-changing September 11 attacks, claimed by the shadowy Al-Qaeda network led by Osama bin Laden, and the July 7 bombings on London's transit system last year.

"This was an operation conducted largely in the United Kingdom and driven from here," Home Secretary John Reid said Friday, "but, of course, like many other such operations, it has an international dimension."

In an open letter Saturday to Prime Minister Tony Blair, 38 Muslim groups and politicians blamed his foreign policy of putting the public at greater risk both at home and abroad and fanning extremism at the same time.

"The debacle of Iraq and now the failure to do more to secure an immediate end to the attacks on civilians in the Middle East not only increases the risk to ordinary people in that region, it is also ammunition to extremists who threaten us all," they said.

[walesrob]

In an open letter Saturday to Prime Minister Tony Blair, 38 Muslim groups and politicians blamed his foreign policy of putting the public at greater risk both at home and abroad and fanning extremism at the same time.

"The debacle of Iraq and now the failure to do more to secure an immediate end to the attacks on civilians in the Middle East not only increases the risk to ordinary people in that region, it is also ammunition to extremists who threaten us all," they said.

Oh boy, we just can't win can we :NoNo: What do they expect?
Lets turn the table for one minute - imagine a Christian doing this in a Moslem country?
Whle I think Tony Blair is also wrong to go to war in Iraq, etc, etc, this "blame game" has got to stop. All terrorism is evil, and cannot be justified for any reason. I applaud the security services for a job well done, but hey, its damned if you do, damned if you don't scenario here.
I've been reading the BBC website and its incredibe how some poeple are so selfish about the new restrictions - "I cant live without my laptop/ipod/etc". SHUT UP and read a book. How did we manage to cope when latops/ipods weren't around? :cwm34:

[scotsfiancee]

"I cant live without my laptop/ipod/etc". SHUT UP and read a book. How did we manage to cope when latops/ipods weren't around? :cwm34:

For security measures!!!:Brick: :Brick: :Brick:

[JustSomeGuy]

I'm just planning to be bored stiff, but it's better than walking.

Almost nothing is allowed, no newspapers, books just your wallet, passport and tickets and thats about it.
It'll remind me of them long hours in detention at school !

Bet the shops in the terminal are losing loads of sales,

Even mobile phones have to go into the suitcase... It's going to be a baggage handlers christmas all over again!

Only other thing is i'm taking the SIM cards out my phones, and putting them in the wallet with my credit card.... just in case.

Dave,

[A_flyer]

Cabin baggage ban hits musicians

BBC News - August 11, 2006

Russian musicians returning from London after the Bolshoi Theatre's season face an overland journey because of the new UK cabin baggage ban on planes.

They are under contract to keep their instruments with them and cannot check them in as hold baggage, chief conductor Alexander Vedernikov said.
They will probably have to travel by rail via Paris, he added.
A German musician flying from London told the BBC about the stress of having to put her cello in the hold.

Mr Vedernikov made his remark after noticing violins checked in as hold baggage on his own flight to Moscow.

The Bolshoi's ballet and opera season at London's Royal Opera House tour is not due to end until 19 August.

Mr Vedernikov arrived back in Moscow on Friday morning, a day after the terror plot alert which froze air traffic at London's Heathrow Airport and prompted a ban on cabin baggage.
"I saw two violins being checked in as luggage, which is unacceptable," he was quoted as saying by Russia's RIA-Novosti news agency.

Bolshoi musicians borrow their instruments from Russia's state collection and do not have the right to part with them under any circumstances, Russian media note.

'Wobbling on the trolley'

German freelance cellist Julia Morneweg, who lives in London, has until now booked an extra seat for her instrument each time she flies.

"These restrictions are a disaster for me," she wrote in a posting on the BBC's Have Your Say before flying to Zurich.
After her arrival in Switzerland, she recounted the ordeal of having to hand over the cello, valued at up to £10,000 ($19,000) and not covered by her insurance if carried in the hold.
"It is never safe enough in the hold and they don't treat instruments properly," she told the BBC News website.

She was not allowed to see the cello being put in and had to hand it over to the bulky items desk despite asking for it to be treated like a child's pram, which would have allowed her to keep tabs on it right up until boarding.

"I looked out the window and could see it wobbling on the luggage trolley," she said.
Confusion over the new restrictions extended into the cabin when a hostess asked passengers to switch off mobile phones and was met by loud laughter from the passengers, none of whom had been allowed to bring theirs aboard.

At Zurich airport, she found the prams lined up neatly in the baggage hall but she had to wait for her cello to come in on the bulky items conveyor belt on which it had been placed upside down.

Dreading the effect of the freezing cold in the hold on her instrument, she opened the case to find that one of the bows had been dislodged and there were scratches on the varnish.
"Air travel is an everyday part of the job for many musicians," Ms Morneweg said. "This is a crazy situation."

[walesrob]

I'm just planning to be bored stiff, but it's better than walking.

Almost nothing is allowed, no newspapers, books just your wallet, passport and tickets and thats about it.
It'll remind me of them long hours in detention at school !

Bet the shops in the terminal are losing loads of sales,

Even mobile phones have to go into the suitcase... It's going to be a baggage handlers christmas all over again!

Only other thing is i'm taking the SIM cards out my phones, and putting them in the wallet with my credit card.... just in case.

Dave,

Look on the bright side - boarding the aircraft will be nice and quick - no-one to block the aisles farting around with their hand luggage into overhead lockers. I bet check-in must be a nightmare, somehow check-in at Manila's NAIA airport must seem like a breeze in comparison!

[A_flyer]

Liquid explosives key to similar plot in 1995

Aug 12,2006 00:00 by AFP

An alleged terror plot to blow up US-bound jetliners from Britain is eerily reminiscent of a foiled 1995 al-Qaeda conspiracy to explode planes from Asia over the Pacific Ocean, experts say.

Liquid explosives smuggled on to planes with timed detonators were key to Operation Bojinka, which planned to blow up in mid-air flights from Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Singapore.

But the plot, hatched in a drab Manila apartment, was thwarted after a fire at the premises led police to discover explosives and computer disks containing detailed plans to bomb a dozen airliners two weeks later.

The masterminds were Ramzi Yousef, now serving life in a US prison for his part in the bombing of the World Trade Center in New York in 1993, and Khalid Sheik Muhammad, the brains behind the September 11, 2001, attacks on the US.

Muhammad was later captured in Pakistan, which handed him over to the US authorities.

On Thursday British police arrested 24 people and said they had foiled a plot to smuggle liquid explosives and electronic devices on 10 flights to cities in the United States.

Arabinda Acharya, an analyst with the Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies in Singapore, told Agence France-Presse that the plots bore striking similarities.
“Both plots have similarities,” Acharya said. “In both the explosive was to be liquid and brought on in hand luggage.”

Yousef had favored nitroglycerin gel, although no details of the liquid in the London case have yet been released.

“That is why people are not being allowed to take liquids or gels onboard aircraft. This method has been around for a decade or more,” said Acharya.

Where the London plot appears to differ is that the bombers were allegedly prepared to blow themselves up, while the Manila bombers planned to use timers and get off the aircraft.

“London to US is direct whereas in Asia it is easy to take a US-bound flight but connect with other cities in Asia before crossing the Pacific,” Acharya said of the 1995 plan for bombers to disembark during a stopover.

Acharya said the men would have caught the aircraft on the regional leg of the flights and carried nitroglycerin in saline solution bottles typically carried by contact lens wearers as part of their hand luggage.

Each bomber would set a timer and leave the aircraft in places like Hong Kong and Singapore well before the aircraft was turned round for the US leg of the flights.

Avelino Razon, who was head of the Manila police at the time, told the AFP he was not surprised would-be terrorists would hatch a similar plot.

“All of this [the evidence] was turned over to the Americans, so it comes as no surprise that they would try it again,” Razon said.

The 1995 plot was unmasked on January 6, 1995, with the plane bombs planned for January 21 and 22 that year.

“If it had not been for the fire in Youssef’s apartment we would not have uncovered the plot. The number of dead would have been huge,” Razon said.
--AFP

[Win2Win]

So far one of the places the police raided has produced masses of biscuits and cakes.....obviosuly terrorists looking to kill us with obesity!!

[Eljohno]

For security measures!!!:Brick: :Brick: :Brick:

A laptop is not much good if you are dead, :doh at least everyone will now

read every word of the entertainment mag provided by the airline :Help1:

[Win2Win]

Maybe everyone could just masturbate to pass the time....even each other....:cwm24:

[walesrob]

entertainment mag provided by the airline :Help1:

Am I right in saying that once you have checked-in and passed security, you are able to buy stuff like newspapers, food, etc in departure area. Are all the airport shops closed? If not my guess is that they are doing a roaring trade!

[Gavanddal]

Yup, that's my understanding. Once past check in you can fill up at WH Smith

[JustSomeGuy]

Well i'll let you know day after tommorow... But i guess I wouldn't be suprised if your not allowed as most other countries don't have the same restrictions and passengers are 'free' to transfer items......

For some gates (in LHR) you have to go through security again of course. Might risk a paper....
but I'll see what english books are around in AMS, i can probably handle an hour without something to do ;-)

Dave,

[russ01539]

I dont understand the reasoning behind all this. Why do the intelligence agencies say there is a plot to blow planes up over the Atlantic Ocean ? Surely it would be more evil and sinister if they planned to blow them up over an area of built up population to cause maximum impact. In which case planes should not be flying. period.............................................

[russ01539]

Now is the time to buy shares in P & O.

[scotsfiancee]

In which case planes should not be flying. period.............................................
:doh :doh

[Win2Win]

From what I understand they did intend blowing them up over built up areas.

Statistically more chance of being killed by a garden tool than a terrorist, so why is everyone worrying?

[russ01539]

Statisically you are ten times more likely to be killed by a falling coconut than being eaten by a shark. So what are you more worried about, standing under a coconut tree or going for a swim in shark infested waters ?

[Win2Win]

Standing in the sea under a coconut tree :yikes:

[russ01539]

Standing in the sea under a coconut tree :yikes:

In that scenario you'dprobably get drowned by the tsunami whilst you've got one eye on the coconuts and one on the water looking for sharks.:rolleyes:

[Win2Win]

In that scenario you'dprobably get drowned by the tsunami whilst you've got one eye on the coconuts and one on the water looking for sharks.:rolleyes:

OMG.....Change of holiday.....hill walking on Montserrat :cwm24:

[russ01539]

Waterskiing in Antartica......:yikes: