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dfoo
Post Roaster
Joined: Jan 19, 2005
Posts: 4140
Status: Offline
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 Posted:
Aug 10, 2006 - 02:23 PM |
 
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| Post subject: 'Plot to blow up planes' foiled |
Glad I don't have to fly in the UK at present! Can you imagine? You can't bring anything on board the plane? No ipod, no books, no computer. Holy ****. They better serve lots of booze.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4778575.stm
'Plot to blow up planes' foiled
A terrorist plot to blow up planes in mid-flight from the UK to the US has been disrupted, Scotland Yard has said.
It is thought the plan was to detonate explosive devices smuggled on aircraft in hand luggage.
Police have arrested about 18 people in the London area after an anti-terrorist operation lasting several months.
Security at all airports in the UK has been tightened and delays are expected. MI5 has raised the UK threat level to critical - the highest possible.
According to MI5's website, critical threat level means "an attack is expected imminently and indicates an extremely high level of threat to the UK".
Scotland Yard said in a statement that their investigation into the alleged plot was a "major operation" which would be "lengthy and complex".
"We would like to reassure the public that this operation was carried out with public safety uppermost in our minds."
Home Secretary John Reid is due to make a statement early on Thursday morning.
Transparent bags
The Department for Transport set out the details of the security measures at UK airports.
I was handed a piece of paper saying that pretty much nothing could be taken on board the plane
Joe Lynam
BBC journalist at Gatwick
Passengers will not be allowed to take any hand luggage on to any flights in the UK, the department said.
Only the barest essentials - including passports and wallets - will be allowed to be carried on board in transparent plastic bags.
"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 statement said.
BBC journalist Joe Lynam encountered the increased security measures at Gatwick airport.
"I was handed a piece of paper saying that pretty much nothing could be taken on board the plane," he said.
"Everything had to be checked in and that includes mobile phones, ipods, wallets - even spectacle cases had to be checked in."
David Learmount from Flight International Magazine said he expected passengers to be searched much more carefully.
He added: "This is the first time this measure has actually been taken. Certainly I've never seen hand luggage banned." |
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janlynn
Wonder Wit
Joined: July 19, 2005
Posts: 3593
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Aug 10, 2006 - 04:30 PM |
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Heathrow is a mess just now
it is critical level
They say NO liquidsexcept
for babies and people with the baby have to drink some to check it |
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Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead |
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dfoo
Post Roaster
Joined: Jan 19, 2005
Posts: 4140
Status: Offline
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Aug 10, 2006 - 04:46 PM |
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Looks like the terrorists have won to me, not the other way around. Unbelievable. |
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Henry_Chinaski
Board Lord
Joined: Aug 16, 2003
Posts: 5025
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Aug 10, 2006 - 05:21 PM |
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It's great for BA though. Maybe that's the reason... |
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tomnoddy_uk
Fire-eater
Joined: Mar 14, 2006
Posts: 2907
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Aug 10, 2006 - 05:28 PM |
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?? |
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"Eight minutes past the hour here in Belgium - and presumably eight minutes past the hour everywhere in the world." Murray Walker |
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shanghaiceltic
Board Royalty
Joined: Sep 20, 2005
Posts: 7617
Location: Perth WA
Status: Offline
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Aug 11, 2006 - 04:31 AM |
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Just been listening to the BBC on broadband. Seems like many flights in and out of Europe as well as to and from the US have been cancelled or delayed.
It sounds like any item of liquid will be carefully checked as the plotters were intending to use liquid bombs. Also banned are mobiles, electronic keys, MP3 players, basically anything that could hide a detonator.
Aircraft bomb plot thwarted
(Filed: 10/08/2006)
A major plot to "commit mass murder on an unimaginable scale" by destroying passenger jets in mid-air has been foiled, police said today.
The targets were as many as nine flights leaving British airports destined for America. US officials said the plan bore some of the hallmarks of an al-Qa'eda plot.
Anti-terror police arrested 24 people in London, the Thames Valley and Birmingham last night and were still searching several addresses tonight.
Stringent new security measures were imposed at all UK airports early this morning in the wake of the joint police and security service operation, causing widespread chaos.
A ban on hand luggage along with other checks and precautions led to massive queues at airports where scores of flights were cancelled.
Deputy Commissioner Paul Stephenson of the Metropolitan Police said the plot was designed to cause "untold death and destruction".
He added: "This was intended to be mass murder on an unimaginable scale."
Searches were ongoing at a number of addresses, he added. Sources indicated that the majority if not all of those arrested were British.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, Head of the Met's Anti-Terrorist Branch, said the terrorists were planning to blow up jets leaving the UK using devices smuggled on board in hand baggage.
Mr Clarke said last night's arrests followed an "unprecedented level of surveillance" over several months.
John Reid, the Home Secretary, said that if the plot had succeeded it would have caused death on an "unprecedented scale".
Mr Reid said that police were confident that the "main players" in the alleged plot had been "accounted for".
But police and security services were not complacent and that was why security levels had been raised.
He said: "We are involved in a long, wide and deep struggle against very evil people."
The official UK terror threat state was raised to 'critical' - its highest level - as travellers were urged not to attempt to catch flights unless it was essential.
Among the measures introduced at airports were specific restrictions on taking liquids on board, prompting speculation that the terrorists were planning to smuggle liquid explosive devices on to jets.
The Department for Transport said it was hoped that the extra security measures would be needed "for a limited period only".
Officials in Washington said the terrorists had targeted three US airlines - United, American and Continental, which fly to New York, Washington and California.
The US homeland security secretary, Michael Chertoff, said the plot was in the "final stages" of planning.
A Pakistani official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said his country had helped British security agencies to crack the plot. |
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I have parrallel bars at home, one for gin and one for whiskey |
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