London - British police have foiled a terrorist plot to 'commit mass murder on an unimaginable scale' by destroying up to ten passenger aircraft in mid-air, Scotland Yard deputy commissioner Paul Stephenson said Thursday. More than 20 suspects, most of them believed to be British-born Muslims, have been arrested in connection with the plot, which triggered immediate chaos at British airports and the cancellation of flights to and from Britain. Stephenson described the threat to aviation in Britain as 'unprecedented,' as threat levels were raised to the maximum 'critical' phase. Stephenson said police believed terrorists were planning to detonate liquid chemical devices in 'near-simultaneous' attacks on aircraft over the Atlantic. The news brought delays in air traffic and fight cancellations around the world. In Britain, an immediate ban on hand luggage, except for essential items, was imposed at all airports, and liquid substances, including baby milk, contact lense solution and medication, were being tested by security officers. Airport operator BAA urged would-be passengers to refrain from travelling to Heathrow 'unless their journey was absolutely necessary.' As numerous flights were cancelled, and a number of European airlines, including Germany's Lufthansa and Air France, stopped flights to Britain, Birmingham airport was closed. Security experts said the unprecedented security measures indicated that the 'threat is ongoing.' It emerged that Prime Minister Tony Blair, who left for a summer holiday on Barbados Tuesday, had been discussing the threat of an 'imminent attack' with US President George W Bush. 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. C 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
London - British police have foiled a terrorist plot to 'commit mass murder on an unimaginable scale' by destroying up to ten passenger aircraft in mid-air, Scotland Yard deputy commissioner Paul Stephenson said Thursday. More than 20 suspects, most of them believed to be British-born Muslims, have been arrested in connection with the plot, which triggered immediate chaos at British airports and the cancellation of flights to and from Britain. Stephenson described the threat to aviation in Britain as 'unprecedented,' as threat levels were raised to the maximum 'critical' phase. Stephenson said police believed terrorists were planning to detonate liquid chemical devices in 'near-simultaneous' attacks on aircraft over the Atlantic. The news brought delays in air traffic and fight cancellations around the world. In Britain, an immediate ban on hand luggage, except for essential items, was imposed at all airports, and liquid substances, including baby milk, contact lense solution and medication, were being tested by security officers. Airport operator BAA urged would-be passengers to refrain from travelling to Heathrow 'unless their journey was absolutely necessary.' As numerous flights were cancelled, and a number of European airlines, including Germany's Lufthansa and Air France, stopped flights to Britain, Birmingham airport was closed. Security experts said the unprecedented security measures indicated that the 'threat is ongoing.' It emerged that Prime Minister Tony Blair, who left for a summer holiday on Barbados Tuesday, had been discussing the threat of an 'imminent attack' with US President George W Bush. 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. C 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur http://news.monstersandcritics.com/uk/article_1188957.php/%A0Britain_foils_m ass_murder_attacks_on_US-bound_planes__Roundup_ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
