Wikinews: Police in Britain claim to have uncovered a terrorist plane plot
For current version see... Wikinews: Police in Britain claim to have uncovered a terrorist plane plot
August 10, 2006
The Metropolitan Police's anti-terrorist branch and security service in London have claimed today that a terrorist plot
to detonate bombs on as many as ten planes travelling mid-air from the United Kingdom to the United States has been
thwarted.
The bombs were to be smuggled onboard in passengers' hand luggage. They could have been the biggest terrorist attacks
since 9/11, government officials have said. Information gathered after recent arrests in Pakistan convinced British
investigators they had to act urgently to stop the plot. U.S. intelligence officials said the plotters hoped to stage a
dry run by August 10, The Associated Press reported. The actual attack would have followed days later, the officials
told AP.
The counter-terrorism operation took several months to complete. Scotland Yard say twenty-four people are in custody,
and they were arrested in London, Birmingham and the Thames Valley. A senior U.S. intelligence official suggests that
those arrested are British citizens, and some have links with Pakistan. Among those arrested were a Muslim charity
worker and a Heathrow Airport employee with an all-area access pass, according to Britain's Channel 4. According to ABC
News, five more suspects who are still at large in Britain are being "urgently sought". At a press conference this
afternoon, Home Secretary John Reid said the police believe the "main players" are accounted for.
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