Plot to Bomb Jets Is Thwarted in Britain

August 10, 2006
Plot to Bomb Jets Is Thwarted in Britain

By ERIC PFANNER and JOHN O'NEIL

LONDON, Aug. 10 ?- British authorities said today that they had thwarted a terrorist plot to blow up multiple airliners traveling between Britain and the United States and cause "mass murder on an unimaginable scale."

The police in London said they had arrested 21 people in connection with the plot, which apparently involved plans to smuggle liquid explosives onto aircraft in hand luggage. In response, some flights into London's Heathrow Airport were canceled and airlines banned hand luggage on planes leaving London, causing chaos and long delays during one of the busiest weeks for summer trans-Atlantic travel.

In the United States, federal officials put in place new regulations barring passengers from carrying any liquids, gels or lotions onto planes, except for baby formula or prescription medicines.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the restrictions reflected the belief of investigators that the plotters planned to bring liquids on board, "each one of which would be benign, but mixed together could be used to create a bomb.''

He called the plot "a very sophisticated plan and operation'' that was close to fruition. "They had accumulated the capability necessary and they were well on their way,'' he said at a televised news conference in Washington.

Aviation experts have long known that planes could be vulnerable to explosive devices put together on board or from hazardous liquids, said Robert W. Mann Jr., an industry consultant based in Port Washington, N.Y.

"Yes, it could have happened,'' he said.

Mr. Chertoff said that the plot appeared to have targeted American airlines flying out of London.

The director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Robert S. Mueller III, said that the plot "had all the earmarks of an al Qaeda plot,'' but said there was no direct evidence linking the suspects to the terrorist organization.

In the late 1990's, al Qaeda members planned to blow up airliners simultaneously over the Pacific, a plot that was disrupted by the arrest of its ringleader.

In London, the police did not identify the suspects or their origin, though Paul Stephenson, the deputy metropolitan police commissioner, said "community leaders" had been alerted about the police action, using a code word for the British Muslim community.

British authorities did not say how many aircraft had been identified for attack. Sky News put the number at six, while other reports said between three and 10.

"We think this was an extraordinarily serious plot, and we are confident that we have stopped an attempt to create mass murder on an unimaginable scale," Mr. Stephenson told reporters at Scotland Yard.

He said the people had been arrested in and near London and Birmingham, and added that the searches would continue.

"We have been very successful in arresting those we were targeting, but this is a lengthy operation, and no doubt there will be further developments," he told reporters.

Britain's Home Secretary, John Reid, said that "we think that the main players are already in custody."

"But we should always err on the side of caution," he added, explaining why the threat level remains elevated.

Mr. Stephenson said that "a critical point" was reached last night that indicated "an urgent need to take action," but he declined to say what information led to that decision.

Mr. Chertoff said that "some threads had been pursued for some time'' by investigators in Britain, but that in the last two weeks or less evidence had arisen suggesting that the plotters were targeting American carriers.

He said there was no evidence of any related plots in the United States, or any threats against other modes of transportation.

News of the latest apparently foiled plot comes little more than a year after terrorists killed 52 people in an attack on subway trains and a bus in London.

But Mr. Chertoff drew a distinction between the current London arrests and the kinds of homegrown, relatively amateur plotters who carried out the London transit attacks or those who were arrested more recently for scheming to blow up buildings in Florida or tunnels in New York.

"This was a very sophisticated plan and operation,'' he said. "It was not a circle with a handful of people sitting around and dreaming.''

Kip Hawley, a U.S. Transportation Department official, said at the news conference that the new security measures went far beyond the heightened searches and new restrictions that would be visible to travelers.

He suggested that travelers "leave liquids at home or drink them'' before passing through security checkpoints and "declutter" carry-on baggage. If airport screeners have a clear view through their X-ray machines of the contents of carry-on luggage, "you'll pass right through,'' he said.

The heightened security measures sent ripples of disruption across Europe and America and caused chaos at Heathrow, where travelers were sometimes given little explanation.

Joanne Weslund, 68, a retired schoolteacher from Hubbardston, Mass., was critical of the way the situation had been handled by the airlines as she waited for a British Airways flight.

"It's been terrible,'' she said. "We are waiting in Disney-like lines. The only thing BA has said is it's a security breach. We are told we can bring nothing on the plane, only passport and cash. If there is a threat, people should not be on planes, but how they handled this is atrocious.''

A customer service agent for British Airways told passengers, "The only thing we know for sure is Christmas Day falls on Dec. 25."

At Newark Liberty International Airport, passengers generally appeared to take the increased delays stoically.

David Charters of Princeton, who arrived around 6:30 am for a 9 am flight to Calgary, was unsure he would make his flight, but was not making a fuss. "If you're not patient, you shouldn't be flying because things like this happen,'' he said. "That's why they have bars here."

Airline workers tried to speed things along by circulating among the passengers with plastic bags in which bottles, deodorant containers and shampoo could be discarded. A woman with a bottle of medicine was allowed to bring it on board after it was checked to see that her name was on the pharmacy label.

Lines at Detroit Metropolitan Airport security screening positions, which normally move swiftly, stretched from inside the airport back to the parking structure across the street this morning. The scene was orderly, but trash cans were already filling up with bottles of water, sunscreen, eyeglass cleaner, contact lens solution, hand lotion and mouth wash.

In London, OAG, the transport industry information company, estimated that 400,000 people in Britain would be affected by the security alert. On a typical day, the firm said, 3,800 flights take off from Britain, though only about 3 percent of those are trans-Atlantic.

Officials were requiring passengers to check everything except personal items like keys, wallets, and passports, which they had to carry in plastic bags. Drinks and other liquid items were banned.

Travelers were required to remove spectacles or sunglasses from their cases, and those traveling with infants were required to taste any baby milk in front of security officials.

Britain's Department for Transport said it was requiring secondary searches of travelers headed for the United States, with a particular eye to removing any liquids they might have with them.

"We hope that these measures, which are being kept under review by the government, will need to be in place for a limited period only," the department said in a statement.

Despite the arrests, the police said other people connected with the plot might still be at large.

The anti-terrorist action came at a time when Prime Minister Tony Blair is on vacation in the Caribbean. The government said he has spoken to President Bush about the situation.

Disclosure of the plot came one day after John Reid, the British home secretary, gave a speech in which he warned that Britain faced "probably the most sustained period of severe threat since the end of the Second World War."

"This has involved close cooperation, not only between agencies and police forces in the United Kingdom, but also internationally," Reid said.

The British government has come under criticism for anti-terrorism measures imposed in the wake of the July 7 bombings last year.

Despite the extra security measures, flights were still taking off from Heathrow on Thursday morning. Other British airports also reportedly faced delays and crowding.

Ann Keating, a private investigator from Salem, Mass., who landed at Heathrow on Thursday morning, said that because of the chaotic conditions, ''the ones I fell most sorry for are the kids.''

''I wish it was socially acceptable to throw yourself on the floor and scream at age 40, but it's not.''"

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