Bombers targeted U.S. flights; Terrorists planned to use drink bottles: U.S

Bombers targeted U.S. flights; Terrorists planned to use drink bottles: U.S

CAROLINE MALLAN

SPECIAL TO THE STAR

British tactical officers stand guard outside London's
Ministry of Defence Aug. 10. The entire British capital
was in a heightened state of readiness after this
morning's terror arrests.


British police carry out forensic investigations at a
house in the Waltham stow area of north London,
during a raid by British police

Thursday Aug. 10, 2006.

LONDON - The terrorist attack foiled by British authorities today was aimed at blowing up as many as 10 airplanes on transatlantic flights and plotters had hoped to stage a dry run within the next two days, U.S. intelligence officials said.

The actual attack would have followed within days. Early reports allege the involvement of the Pakistan-based group Lashkar-e-Taiba, or LeT.

The test run was designed to see whether the plotters would be able to smuggle the needed materials aboard the planes, the officials said. They spoke only on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject matter.

As a result of the revelations, much of the world was plunged into a full-scale terror alert.

British authorities arrested 24 people based partly on intelligence from Pakistan, where authorities detained up to three others several days earlier. More arrests were expected, the official said. The suspects were believed to be mainly British Muslims, at least some of Pakistani ancestry, and the official said some had gone to Pakistan recently.

A senior U.S. counter-terrorism official said the suspects, whose ages ranged from 17 to the mid-30s, were looking to sneak at least some chemicals on the planes in sports drink bottles. Teams of at least two or three men were assigned to each flight, the schedules for which they had researched on the Internet, the official said.

A U.S. law-enforcement official in Washington said at least one martyrdom tape was found during continuing raids across England on Thursday. Such a tape, as well as the scheme to strike a range of targets at roughly the same time, is an earmark of al Qaeda.

Raids were carried out at homes in London, the nearby town High Wycombe and in Birmingham, in central England. Searches continued throughout the day and police cordoned off streets in several locations. Police also combed a wooded area in High Wycombe.

Hamza Ghafoor, 20, who lives across the street from one of the homes raided in Walthamstow, northeast of London, said police circled the block in vans Wednesday and they generally swoop into the neighbourhood to question “anyone with a beard.”

“(He) didn’t do nothing wrong,” Ghafoor said, referring to a suspect.

“He played football. He goes to the mosque.”

“He’s a nice guy.”

U.S. counter-terrorism officials said United, American, and Continental airlines bound for New York, Washington and California were targeted by the terrorists. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said the individuals plotted to detonate liquid explosive devices on as many as 10 aircraft bound for the United States.

A British police official said the suspects were “homegrown,” though it was not clear if they were all British citizens. He said authorities were working with Britain’s large South Asian community.

In Paris, French Interior Minister Nicholas Sarkozy said the group “appears to be of Pakistani origin,” but did not provide the source of his information. Britain’s Home Office, which announced the arrests, refused comment.

In Pakistan, an intelligence official said an Islamic militant arrested near the Afghan-Pakistan border several weeks ago provided a lead that played a role in “unearthing the plot” that helped British authorities arrest suspects in Britain.

A senior Pakistani government official said “two or three local people” suspected in the plot were arrested a few days ago in Lahore and Karachi.

Early news reports in the U.K. singled out Continental, American and United airlines as the targeted carriers for the waves of simultaneous attacks, 10 of which were allegedly planned in total.

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.

In response, many world airports _ including Canada - banned carry-on luggage. And no liquid - bottle water, soda pop, coffee - save for baby formula is being allowed into the cabin.

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.

There are also delays at Toronto's Pearson International Airport as new security measures forced back-ups in loading passengers.

Planes to New York, for example, were being delayed by up to an hour because of the increased security, the Star's Sunaya Sapurji reported from New York.

"The problem in Toronto was that the flight crew also had to go through increased security and that held up our plane," she said from New York's LaGuardia Aiport.

"Here in New York, it's insane. The lineup to go through the security gates is so long that it's stretched almost out to the baggage claim area, although a security officer I spoke to said domestic flights are only delayed about 30 minutes at this point."

Sapurji said security personnel at Pearson were going around the terminal, as well as making announcements over the loudspeakers, asking passengers checking in to get rid of any liquids they might have in their carry-on luggage.

"People had to either finish or throw away bottled water or coffee before they were allowed to board."

Canadian officials said the increased security measures would be in effect for at least 72 hours.

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

British authorities only began publishing the perceived risk of a terror threat last month – a year after London’s transportation system was targeted by suicide bombers who killed 52 commuters - and yesterday raised the alert to critical, the highest possible level. That effectively means that police consider the country to be under attack.

The suspects were “homegrown,” though it was not immediately clear if they were all British citizens, said a British 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 suicide bombing assault on London subway trains and a bus on July 7, 2005, was carried out by Muslim extremists who grew up in Britain.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair is on vacation in Barbados and reportedly phoned U.S. President George W. Bush overnight to tell him about the terror sweep that was underway.

At Heathrow this morning, travelers were coping with the prospect of long delays and heightened security with considerable understanding.

Janet Kellogg, her husband Dennis and daughter Katelyn were lining up to check in for their American Airlines flight home to Chicago after spending 10 days on a cruise around the British Isles.

"They’re telling us what they can and they’re doing the best they can and you can’t ask for much more," Janet Kellogg said of the large number of airline and airport security staff on hand to answer questions from beleaguered passengers.

Kellogg said she and her family will not be deterred from flying despite the abrupt end to the holiday.

"When it’s your time, it’s your time and these people aren’t going to stop us from living our lives. It’s as simple as that from my point of view," she said.

All hand luggage was banned from all flights taking off in Britain. Only passports, small wallets and essential medication and eyeglasses were allowed on the planes. Permitted items had to be put in clear plastic bags being distributed by security staff.

At security, each passenger was being hand-searched and all shoes were removed for inspection.

All liquids were banned with the exception of bottled baby milk and formula, which parents were required to drink in front of security staff before being allowed to board the plane.

Similar new security measures were being enacted in airports across North America.

Even airline staff, including pilots, were carrying their passports and security tags in clear plastic bags.

Michael and Anne Marie Gibbons were waiting for news on their cancelled flight from London to Donegal in Ireland.

Traveling with two small children, Anne Marie Gibbons said not being able to take games, books and toys on board the plane would be a challenge.

"We’re lucky it’s only a short flight, so we’ll be fine once we eventually get going," she said, adding that she feels for parents facing long-haul flights with no way to amuse their children.

The security operation in London extended beyond the city’s four airports to major train stations as well.

At London’s Paddington station, where passengers catch an express train to Heathrow, armed police were inspecting passports and luggage on the platforms before allowing passengers to board the trains.

At all airports, police sniffer dogs were visible, as were armed tactical unit officers.

At Heathrow’s Terminal 1, where most flights for the day were cancelled, police had to block off the entrances to the terminal because of the number of people filling the departure hall.

At the Air Canada check-in at Heathrow’s Terminal 3, students Hilary Weddell and Jordan Schriner, both 19, were hoping to board their flight home to Vancouver after spending a year in Britain volunteering at local schools.

The pair said they heard the news on the radio first thing this morning and were waiting to phone their families in Kamloops once they had a better idea of what was going on.

"I’m pretty nervous and I am really looking forward to getting home, it’s been a year," said Weddell of the long delay ahead of her. "I don’t want to worry my family until I know more, so I’ll hold off and call once it’s morning there."

Dorothy and Paul Ryan from Birmingham were in the snaking line-up for a flight to Toronto for their first trans-Atlantic trip and a two-week vacation touring Canada.

"I figure this is one of the safest days to fly, they’re being very careful," said Paul Ryan of the trip ahead of them.

Dorothy Ryan said while the news was upsetting, she and her fellow travelers understood that the security precautions needed to be taken.

British Home Secretary John Reid made the dramatic announcement about the terror arrests in a televised early morning address, an extremely unusual step for a British cabinet minister.

"Overnight, the police have carried out a major counterterrorism operation to disrupt what we believe to be a major threat to the U.K. and international partners," a stone-faced Reid told reporters. "The police, acting with the security police MI5, are investigating an alleged plot to bring down a number of aircraft through mid-flight explosions, causing a considerable loss of life."

The deputy commissioner at Scotland Yard, Paul Stephenson, went even further, saying that the plans amounted to "mass murder on an unimaginable scale."

"We believe that the terrorists’ aim was to smuggle explosives onto airplanes in hand luggage and to detonate these in-flight," Stephenson told reporters.

Early reports allege the involvement of the Pakistan-based group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and say that some of the accused may have travelled abroad for training.

The home of the group’s former leader, Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, was raided this morning. But officials did not connect this raid and Saeed’s house arrest with the London case.

Saeed is being detained for what Pakistani officials say are “security reasons.” He led LeT until the group was banned in 2002 and is currently the leader of the Jamaat al-Dawat group.

Saeed was expected to lead a rally at a public park in Lahore on Saturday to mark Pakistan’s independence from British rule on Aug. 14, 1947, Associated Press reports.

LeT was formed as a Pakistani separatist group fighting for independence in Kashmir against India. India’s intelligence agency has accused the group of orchestrating last month’s synchronized train bombings that killed 182 people in Bombay and claim the group is internationally funded with a base in London.

In recent years, Western intelligence agencies have warned that the group intends on taking its fight beyond the borders of Kashmir, and have aligned with the Taliban and support an “Al Qaeda ideology.”

There are also unconfirmed reports of new camps run by the group in Bangladesh, close to the border with India.

Both Canada and Britain have designated LeT as a terrorist organization.
With files from the star's Michelle Shephard and the Associated Pre