2ND Britain foils "mass murder" attacks on US-bound planes

Published: 08/10/2006 8:12:55am

London- The planned suicide attacks on US-bound aircraft
leaving from Britain had a global dimension and would have caused a
"loss of life on an unprecedented scale," the British government said
Thursday.
Home Secretary John Reid said Scotland Yard's anti-terrorist squad
had foiled a plot meant to "bring down a number of aircraft through
mid-air explosions."

Reports from the US said that three US airlines, American
Airlines, United Airlines and Continental Airlines were targeted.

Scotland Yard said the "number, destinations and timings" of the
flights targeted remained under investigation.

Earlier reports said that "up to ten" aircraft could have been
affected.

A "critical point" in the complex and ongoing investigations had
been reached late Wednesday, forcing police to act, Scotland Yard's
anti-terror chief Peter Clarke said in London.

The plan was to carry explosives "constructed in Britain" on to
aircraft in hand luggage.

Police said chemical liquids were planned to be used in the
"near-simultaneous" attacks.

The alleged conspiracy had been discussed by US President George W
Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair during an overnight phone
call and during their recent meeting in Washington.

Twenty-one people, most of them believed to be British-born
Muslims, had been arrested in what Scotland Yard described as an
"ongoing operation."

Reid said he believed the "main players" behind the alleged plot
were in custody following the arrests in London and the central
British city of Birmingham.

Earlier, Scotland Yard's deputy commissioner, Paul Stephenson,
said the plotters had planned to "commit mass murder on an
unimaginable scale."

Reid, when asked whether the British government now considered
itself to be "at war with Islam," said: "We are involved in a long,
wide and deep struggle against very evil people.

"This is not a case of one civilization against the other, of one
religion against the other, but of terrorists who want to use evil
methods. This threat is common to us all," he warned.

Earlier Thursday, Reid announced that Britain had been placed on
"critical alert", the highest-ever security level which signified
that a terrorist attack was "imminent."

The dramatic news from Britain brought delays in air traffic and
fight cancellations around the world.

British Airways (BA) cancelled 200 domestic and European flights
from major London airports.

Israel's El Al airlines, as well as Germany's Lufthansa and Air
France, were among airlines stopping flights to Britain.

Birmingham airport was temporarily closed, as some 400,000
travellers around Britain were affected by the terror alert.

At major airports in London and around Britain, an immediate ban
on hand luggage, except for essential items, was imposed.

All liquid substances, including baby milk, contact lense solution
and medication, were being tested by security officers.

Passports and personal belongings had to be carried on board in
see-through plastic bags handed out by airport staff.

Airport operator BAA urged would-be passengers to refrain from
travelling to Heathrow "unless their journey was absolutely
necessary."

Security experts said the unprecedented security measures
indicated that the "threat is ongoing."

The United States Thursday raised its overall terror threat level
to its second-highest class.

The US raised to "orange" the threat level for all flights and to
"red" - the highest possible level - for flights coming in from
Britain, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said in a
statement.

Chertoff said that while the US believed British authorities had
"significantly disrupted" the planned attack, the US could not be
certain that the threat "has been entirely eliminated or the plot
completely thwarted," in the statement quoted by US media.

No liquids would be allowed on aircraft as part of extra security
measures on flights into and within the US, Chertoff said.

Earlier, Britain's Home Secretary John Reid said there had been a
significant" terrorist plot aimed at bringing down a "number of
aircraft through mid-air explosions with a considerable loss of
life."

The increased threat levels, which meant that an attack was
"imminent," indicated that police were still looking for "something
or someone," a security expert said.

The government crisis committee, Cobra, which comprises key
ministers and the chiefs of the intelligence agencies, had met three
times in the last 24 hours, it emerged.

"We just don't know whether this is the start of something
bigger," one security expert said.

© 2006 DPA - Deutsche Presse-Agenteur