An alleged plot to kill thousands of people by detonating explosions on up to 10 transatlantic flights from UK airports was disrupted overnight.

 

The home secretary, John Reid, today said such an attack could have caused civilian casualties on an "unprecedented scale".

 

It is believed the intention was to set off near simultaneous blasts on flights, probably bound for the US, using explosives smuggled into passenger cabins inside hand luggage.

 

Reports citing official sources said the apparent idea was to use a liquid-based explosive, and there were suggestions one explosive component was to have been hidden in bottles of fizzy drink.

 

Police were holding 21 people in custody in London following overnight raids by anti-terror officers and MI5. A decision was made to move suddenly following months of surveillance.

 

US counter-terrorism officials told the Associated Press that three major US airlines - United, American Airlines and Continental - had been targeted in the plot.

 

There were no firm indications of plans for an attack to have been carried out today, but the US homeland security secretary, Michael Chertoff, said it was a "well advanced" scheme. He said the plot was based in Britain but was "international in scope".

 

The US attorney general, Alberto Gonzalez, said it was "suggestive of al-Qaida tactics".

 

British officials were slightly more circumspect about the background to the plot than their US counterparts, stressing that they had to be careful about what they said because there could be trials in future.

 

Mr Reid would not comment on claims that the detainees were British-born Muslims of Pakistani descent.

 

Officials also declined to confirm the number of flights believed to have been targets - sources said up to 10 - and the home secretary would only say the alleged intention was to carry out a "wave" of attacks.

 

Paul Stephenson, the deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan police, spoke of the threat of "mass murder" on an "unimaginable scale".

 

Mr Reid said there was confidence that the plot's "main players have been accounted for", but added that officials were not being "complacent".

 

Emergency restrictions are in place at British airports, barring passengers from taking any liquids or other hand luggage, apart from travel documents and essential prescriptions, on board.

 

There is major disruption to flights in the UK, and European airlines have cancelled hundreds of flights into London. Flights at Gatwick, Heathrow and Stansted airports have been particularly disrupted.

 

Heathrow officials said all milk for babies would have to be tasted by an "accompanying passenger".

 

Most of the suspects detained overnight were arrested in east London. Two people were also arrested in Birmingham, and Mr Stephenson said there had also been an operation in the Thames Valley.

 

There were reports of anti-terror officers being deployed in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.

 

Mr Stephenson said a number of addresses were being searched. It is believed some explosive materials have been found, although this has not been confirmed.

 

Peter Clarke, the head of the Metropolitan police's anti-terror branch, said the operation had involved an "unprecedented level of surveillance" and had reached a "critical point" last night when officers move to "protect the public".

 

The focus of the long investigation had been on the "meetings, movement, travel pending and the aspirations of a large group of people", and the alleged plot had "global dimensions", he said.

 

At 2am, the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre raised the UK terror alert from severe to critical - its highest level - for the first time. The Home Office website defines critical as meaning an attack is expected imminently.

 

The US government responded by raising its threat assessment to red, the highest level, for commercial flights from Britain. Passengers in the US have also been prohibited from carrying liquids or lotions on flights.

 

Mr Chertoff said the plotters had "planned to carry the components of the bombs disguised as beverages, electronic devices or other common objects". Components could then be mixed on board to create explosives, he said.

 

If 10 planes had been targeted, it would have been by far the most ambitious terror plot since the September 11 2001 attacks in the US killed more than 2,700 people.

 

Downing Street said Tony Blair, who is on holiday in the Caribbean, was being kept constantly informed of developments and had briefed the US president, George Bush, overnight.

 

The anti-terror operations were carried out with Mr Blair's "full support", No 10 said.

 

The restrictions were causing delays of up to five hours on some flights, and the problems were expected to last for several days. British Airways said it was temporarily halting all short-haul flights to and from Heathrow as airports struggled to process passengers through the heightened security.

 

All passengers must be hand searched, and their footwear and all items they are carrying x-ray screened. Laptop computers, mobile phones and iPods are among the items banned from being carried on board.

 

At Heathrow terminal one and Manchester airport, huge queues stretched the length of the departure lounge. Passengers were frustrated by the disruption, but reporters at the airports said most were waiting calmly.

 

News of the plot unsettled the City, causing airline shares to fall. BA shares were down 4.5% in morning trading.

 

Yesterday, Mr Reid said Britain was facing its most sustained period of serious threat since the end of the second world war and told critics of the government's controversial anti-terror tactics that they "just don't get it".

 

In recent months, officials have said several plots had been foiled since the July 7 London bombings, in which 52 people died.

 

Three days before Christmas 2001, Briton Richard Reid, who pledged allegiance to al-Qaida, tried to set off explosives in his shoes while on an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami

 

 

Surprised there is no thread about this actually, but here u go preaty shocking if you ask me, i mean thousands of people could of been killed, but does this mean more of are civil liberties are going to be sacraficed in protect us from terrorism? Im afraid this is the result in sideing with America in Iraq, were always going to be at risk from terrorists from now on -_-

i was holding fire on this..... theres too much uncertainty and speculation atm...

i was holding fire on this..... theres too much uncertainty and speculation atm...

Very wise -_-

Ah yes my mum was flying back from Alburferia in Portugal today and her flight only got delayed by half an hour....

 

Saw it all on the news as well and when you think about the deaths...

 

 

Horrible isnt it -_-

Now they're talking ab stop people from taking sodding bottles of water or soft drinks on planes... <_< Well, it seems a pretty simple to thing for the security guards to just taste people's bottles to see if it is just water or fizzy drinks or summat else really dunnit...? I somehow doubt liquid explosive tastes like Cherryade or Evian.... Why should people be stopped from taking drinks on planes just cos of this...?

It reminds me of the lyrics of an old Duran Duran song:

 

Artist: Duran Duran

Album: Pop Trash

Year: 2000

Title: Playing With Uranium

 

The lyrics were written by Simon Le Bon after he saw a CNN report of an Al Qaeda cell in the Middle East & how they were (then) rumoured to be forming splinter cells in Western Europe & North America.

 

Please note this was BEFORE 9/11.....

 

In for an evening

Of light entertainment

And who would believe you

Could worry the neighbours?

Come on over to my place

Playing with uranium

If it blows up in your face

See you on the other side

Come on over to my place

 

Playing with uranium

Reinvent the human race

You just got the invitation

 

We go undiscovered

'Cause people are careless

One way or another

They'll never forget us

 

Come on over to my race

Playing with uranium

And if it blows up your aeroplanes

See you on the other side

Come on over to my place

Never be the same again

Reinvent the human race

You just got the invitation

 

Playing with uranium

Playing with uranium

Never be the same again

Because we're playing with uranium

OMG there was WELL loads of people arrested in High Wycombe [where I live obv]. I was in the Rye nearly all days and there was so many policey things, well scary </3.

Its disgusting. Thank GOD they foiled this out before something dreadful happened.

Now they're talking ab stop people from taking sodding bottles of water or soft drinks on planes... <_< Well, it seems a pretty simple to thing for the security guards to just taste people's bottles to see if it is just water or fizzy drinks or summat else really dunnit...? I somehow doubt liquid explosive tastes like Cherryade or Evian.... Why should people be stopped from taking drinks on planes just cos of this...?

 

 

i think there would be uproar, i think it would be gross stupidity, to carry on letting drinks bottles on to planes given the fact that liquid explosives were going to be used....

 

flavourings..... easy to disguise tastes.

i think there would be uproar, i think it would be gross stupidity, to carry on letting drinks bottles on to planes given the fact that liquid explosives were going to be used....

 

flavourings..... easy to disguise tastes.

 

It is ridiculous not allowing drinks onboard planes, in that compressed atmosphere at 38,000 dehydration is a real risk on planes so people need refreshment, ok the stewardesses hand out drinks sometimes but giving drinks inflight to 400 people is a big job

 

No books, no laptops, no newspapers, no drinks etc allowed on board this is the kind of over reaction that the terrorists want

 

If someone is determined enough to blow up a plane they will do it, it is absurd to ban all these things and what is stopping people smuggling bombs in their clothing or up theirs arses ? damn slight more chance than in newspapers and books :rolleyes: what will the airlines and the government do next ??? force everyone to travel nude because there is a chance of a bomb in clothing ? :rolleyes:

 

The terrorists have won without blowing up a single plane

Edited August 11, 200619 yr by Ozzy Osbourne

It is ridiculous not allowing drinks onboard planes, in that compressed atmosphere at 38,000 dehydration is a real risk on planes so people need refreshment, ok the stewardesses hand out drinks sometimes but giving drinks inflight to 400 people is a big job

 

No books, no laptops, no newspapers, no drinks etc allowed on board this is the kind of over reaction that the terrorists want

 

If someone is determined enough to blow up a plane they will do it, it is absurd to ban all these things and what is stopping people smuggling bombs in their clothing or up theirs arses ? damn slight more chance than in newspapers and books :rolleyes: what will the airlines and the government do next ??? force everyone to travel nude because there is a chance of a bomb in clothing ? :rolleyes:

 

The terrorists have won without blowing up a single plane

 

Absolutely correct. If the terrorists blow up a plane, then they've won, if they dont and over-reactions, major disruptions and mass panic is caused regardless, they've still won even without being able to carry out their objectives. The whole raison d'etre of the Terrorist is to cause terror and fear, whether they actually kill anyone or not, although that is obviously a big bonus to them...

 

I'd like to see us getting REALLY tough with the suspects... immediate deportation if they're not nationals, and immediate interrogation of ALL family members regardless of nationality.... I simply don't believe family members are in the dark about things like this.

I'd like to see us getting REALLY tough with the suspects... immediate deportation if they're not nationals, and immediate interrogation of ALL family members regardless of nationality.... I simply don't believe family members are in the dark about things like this.

 

But they ARE nationals as were ALL of the 7/7 and 21/7 attackers

 

Each and every one of them Britain born

I'd like to see us getting REALLY tough with the suspects... immediate deportation if they're not nationals, and immediate interrogation of ALL family members regardless of nationality.... I simply don't believe family members are in the dark about things like this.

 

If you are advocating the use of torture on suspects families then that whole notion is absurd, torture does NOT work, put electrodes on someone's balls they would confess to 9/11, being on the grassy knoll in Dallas and killing Princess Diana :rolleyes: torture is not a credible information gathering tool

 

If you are advocating the use of torture on suspects families then that whole notion is absurd, torture does NOT work, put electrodes on someone's balls they would confess to 9/11, being on the grassy knoll in Dallas and killing Princess Diana :rolleyes: torture is not a credible information gathering tool

 

Absolutely correct. You're gonna admit to just about anything if someone's beating the c**p out of you and anyway, wasn't one of the reasons why we objected to Saddam Hussein so much is that he tortured people he saw as 'enemies of the Iraqi state'....?

 

We dont even know if all the people they arrested yesterday were actually gonna do anything or not... I just wonder how many of them are gonna be released without charge. I'm betting at least half, if not the majority...

 

They interviewed a whole bunch of people yesterday who lived in the areas where folks had been arrested, it was the usual selection of idiots going around saying stuff like "well, they kept themselves to themselves, but we always knew there was summat not right about them..."..... It's not enough just to say "well, I didn't really know them so I cant comment...", doesn't get your face on telly though does it? Whereas talking utter sh!te seems to.... <_<

 

I simply don't believe family members are in the dark about things like this.

 

Really? I dont think that's true at all... Family members are usually the last people to know sh!t like this...

 

I mean, just as an example, did your folks know that you were gay all along, or did you have to sit them down and tell them...?

Really? I dont think that's true at all... Family members are usually the last people to know sh!t like this...

 

I mean, just as an example, did your folks know that you were gay all along, or did you have to sit them down and tell them...?

 

but there's a difference in a blossoming sexuality, as it were, and instilled ideas and beliefs..... and wouldn't you be suspicious if YOUR child disappeared to Pakistan for 3 months to 'learn'? I know I would. There's only so much burying your head in the sand that can be accepted, I'm afraid.

 

The 7/7 suspects' families... again, I simply do NOT believe they didn't know their children were at least involved with these etremists tosome extent - the Muslim communities, and the mosques, are notoriously cliquey.... and word of an extremist in their midst, as it were, would spread like wildfire. True, you can't keep tabs on your kids 24/7... but I absolutely believe that if these families were aware of ANY involvement in acts like these (which I think they were) - they, too, should be either jailed or deported - with no exceptions. If you detest this country with such vehemence to dare attack it like this - you simply have no place here.

 

These are tough times, and tough times call for tough measures.

 

I don't agree with 'torture' in the slightest - what I meant by 'getting tough' was immediate deportation of the WHOLE family and LONG sentences - absolutely ZERO tolerance. If they're nationals - the toughest, longest jail terms should apply.

 

 

I don't agree with 'torture' in the slightest - what I meant by 'getting tough' was immediate deportation of the WHOLE family and LONG sentences - absolutely ZERO tolerance. If they're nationals - the toughest, longest jail terms should apply.

 

Sorry cant agree with that at all.. It's a bit like saying that Sonia Sutcliffe should be jailed because she was unfortunate enough to be married to the Yorkshire Ripper.. How far do you wanna take it..? Jail or deport their friends..? Jail or deport Mr Patel who runs the corner shop where these lads went every morning to buy their newspaper...? A mate of mine used to be a drug dealer (nothing major, just a bit of hash, speed and E), should I go to prison just cos I knew him and didnt dob him in to the pigs..? How far you gonna take it Russ..? Come on mate, think about it, everyone knows someone who's a bit dodgy but we lie to ourselves and say, 'naah, they aint doing any real harm...'

 

And anyway, there's a difference between having opinions and actually doing something, their parents may have been aware of their kids having certain thoughts or opinions on things, but probably never dreamt that these thoughts or opinions would translate into any kind of action... I happen to agree with what a lot of the Muslim community says about UK/US Foreign Policy and about the Police, I agree that Bush and B-Liar are the problem and not the solution and I wouldn't exactly be upset if someone assassinated the fukkers; and I even understand the fury and discontent that lies behind the actions of Hizbollah and Hamas... Does having these thoughts make me a terrorist..? Of course not... Opinions do not lead to actions in the vast majority of cases...

What's most startling to me is that after 9/11 and 7/7, the legitimate Muslim communities, organizations, and leaders all immediately and clearly denounced the acts, reinforced Islam's goal of peace, and gave full support to authorities.

 

This time the leaders in London are like "welllll... of course we don't support terrorism, but..."

 

Personally I think it's good news. Normal Muslims are now showing a willingness to discuss the growing problems (alienation, Forest Gate, foreign policy, etc).

 

One must be willing to discuss the reason extremism/terrorism exists because the answer isn't always "they are evil."