Major Terror plot foiled against U.K.-U.S. bound flights

[Brent]

UK police say terror plot thwarted

Thursday, August 10, 2006; Posted: 1:48 a.m. EDT (05:48 GMT)

LONDON (CNN) -- British police have disrupted what they believe was a major terrorist plot to blow up aircraft in flight, likely between the United Kingdom and the United States, a statement from Scotland Yard said Thursday.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/08 ... index.html

Threat level there raised to Critical which is very serious(as high as it gets).

Sky News is reporting at least TWENTY aircraft were targets!!! This is huge.

[southerngale]

I got a Fox News Alert earlier via email and now Fox News has Sky News on live. I assume the other channels are live now too.

You're right...this is huge.

[Audrey2Katrina]

Just caught it on FOX myself... UNBELIEVABLE... and yet... is it really? An attempt to blow up some 20 air flights bound for the US, one which, potentially, could have surpassed 9/11 in death toll. Perhaps one day people will wake up and realize that if we don't find a manner of effectively dealing with the barbaric mentality of these fanatics, it is going to hit home again. These are people with absolutely no regard for life--theirs, or anyone else's.

A2K

[Jam151]

Yet another wake up call. lets see if this one makes a difference.

[all_we_know_is_FALLING]

It's horrible. I am soooooooooo glad they foiled it.

But now it's 6 planes, not 20. But still! 6 planes!!! Can you imagine?

[P.K.]

It is live on the main channels yes. This is the first time they've interupted the main programming like this since the 7th July last year. The BBC are saying ten planes, Sky say six planes.

[rainstorm]

these "people" are stuck in the 7th century.

[Cookiely]

Thu 10 Aug 2006
Plot to blow up UK flights in mid-air foiled
DIANE MACLEAN

A MAJOR plot to blow up ten flights from the UK in mid-air has been foiled, Scotland Yard has said.

Police believe that the plot involved liquid chemical devices.

Anti-terrorism police have arrested 18 people arrested in London and Thames Valley in connection with the planned attacks.

The UK's "threat level" has been raised to "critical" by the Government.

Security at airports across the UK has been dramatically tightened and passengers have been warned to expect major disruption. British Airways have said no hand baggage would be allowed on any of its planes leaving British airports. They are warning passengers that some flights will be cancelled and to expect long delays.

British Airports Authority said all passengers on flights to the United States would be subject to a secondary search at the boarding gate and all liquids would also be removed.

Home Secretary John Reid confirmed that there had apparently been a plot "to bring down a number of aircraft through mid-flight explosions causing a considerable loss of life". A London police spokesman said: "A major terrorist plot to allegedly blow up aircraft in mid-flight has been disrupted," adding that they believed the intention was to target flights from Britain to the United States.

Related topic

* Terrorism in the UK
http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=758

This article: http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1161542006

[Cookiely]

It's horrible. I am soooooooooo glad they foiled it.

But now it's 6 planes, not 20. But still! 6 planes!!! Can you imagine?

What if this was a ruse? What if the real threat is something else?

[Audrey2Katrina]

The BBC are saying ten planes, Sky say six planes.

But now it's 6 planes, not 20. But still! 6 planes!!! Can you imagine?

They aren't really clear yet on exactly HOW many were threatened--apparently by "liquid explosives" being brought on board (e.g. as in a baby formula bottle: truly these savages are beyond reprehensible!!!) Scotland Yard originally claimed it may have been as many as 20 planes... they have already retained/arrested 21 people, and there are implications that anywhere from 3 to as much as 30 more have eluded arrest---so the new wording was "at LEAST" 6 aircraft--- and if the numbers are over 50--I'd be willing to bet it's more than 6, and probably more than 10 aircraft--also the revelation that the intent was to cause in-flight explosions with the MAXIMUM possible body count--regardless, these are planes capable of flying with over 250-300 souls aboard. The death toll would have been staggering. For the first time American flights, from the UK, have been elevated to the Homeland Security list on the "Red" level. In the UK, it''s "Critical"... both highest level of alarm. Flights from Heathrow have been all but paralyzed with UK officials advising

Oh... and about that "wake-up call"... I'd like to sound hopefull but don't hold your breath... we still have way too many content to keep their heads in a hole in the ground. Not surprisingly EVERY flight was either American, Continental, and United, and possibly British Airways. Most if not all--flights FROM the UK TO the US (maximum AMERICAN victims)... it'll eventually get to the point that to take a flight one will need to be strip-searched... this is soooo despicable!

A2K

[GalvestonDuck]

Dang! Most of the time I hit the snooze button for another 10 minutes of sleep before I toss my butt out of bed and get the day started. But before I could reach the clock, I heard them talking about all liquids being banned on flights out of and into Bush Intercontinental. I thought, Huh? and started to wake up a bit more, not really wanting to, but figuring I should pay attention. Then, they said, "We'll have more on this breaking terror threat alert in just a moment, but first, local news...." Breaking terror threat alert? That definitely got me out of bed.

What I like is that they not only foiled the plot, they arrested 21 people in connection with it.

[P.K.]

Add to what I said above ITV and the BBC now saying nine. We'll see what Scotland Yard say in their news conference at 11:30 BST. (3 minutes time)

[Audrey2Katrina]

What if this was a ruse? What if the real threat is something else?

A good question--for all their sick SICK butchery--these aren't exactly stupid people. What is worrisome is just how dedicated they are to their agenda of killing "infidels". Recently some Ayatollah in Iran came out with the statement, and I admit I'm paraphrasing here, that ....Our religion MUST be the victor, we will win, and all others will be eliminated regardless of the outcome, either by the conquest and spread of the one true religion, OR by total martyrdom--either way we win!... All I know is that his name was akin to a Kholmeini and that I'd heard it three times on the radio today-- THIS again, is the mentality we are dealing with and anyone thinking this doesn't represent a very LARGE number of people, is living in a fantasyland of their own construction. And in the words of another individual in here; before some "dumbass" suggests that I am advocating genocidal response, the answer is no--but surely SOMETHING must be taken, and it must be proactive, because if all we do is sit back and play defense the whole time--we are destined for a lot of bad times ahead.

God, I hope this does "wake up" some of the dreamy idealists who think, however sincere, that these animals can be dealt with in a nice comfy "talking" and civil manner--these cretins USE that mentality to exploit our perceived (probably correctly) vulenerabilities.

A2K

[Thunder44]

This doesn't suprise me at all. I'm sure there are other terror plots being orchestrated by Alqeda and other groups out there. Our war against them doesn't seem to be detering them.

[x-y-no]

Good job MI5!

Just listened to the Homeland Security press conference. They won't say definitively that this was an al Qaeda plot, but it sure has all the hallmarks. Big coordinated plan with nine or ten planes targetted, sophisticated techniques, etc.

Hope they got all the plotters.

[gtalum]

Good job to the authorities. And what a good day to not be flying. Can you imagine the mess at the airports today?

[bob rulz]

Good job to the authorities. And what a good day to not be flying. Can you imagine the mess at the airports today?

Depends on which airport you're going to.

[gtalum]

I dunno, I suspect almost all US and British airports will be a mess.

[CajunMama]

And to think my brother and sil are vacationing in Italy right now. I don't know their flight info, where they are flying out of. Another thing to worry about. I just don't understand all the violence in todays world. *shakes head*

[Audrey2Katrina]

It is sad, isn't it, CMama? I don't know for certain; but coming from Italy might well mean a pass through the UK as Heathrow is something like the 2nd busiest airport in the world. Of course to be sure, today is going to put a damper on that record.

I echo the sentiments of others as well that kudos go to the operatives that foiled or exposed this plot and thwarted it before it could be implemented--the consequences of this sort of thing could have been well, unimaginable--which is exactly what they were looking for. I likewise hope they catch/caught all the perps most closely involved.

A2K