Here’s the story from the Guardian:
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.
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.
I’m told (by my wife who was listening to the radio) that NPR has announced that, because this plot involved liquid chemicals smuggled on board in carry on bags to be later combined into explosives, no carry on luggage at all will be allowed on transatlantic flights, and that no liquids (water bottles, sodas, etc.) of any kind will be allowed to be carried on domestic flights in the US.
More from the Guardian story on the flip . . .
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”.
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.
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.
I’ll leave comment on the significance of this threat to others. I don’t think we have enough information to evaluate how serious or imminent a threat this alleged plot posed. Perhaps more information from British authorities will be forthcoming in the days ahead. I do note that the announcement of this comes, as always, at a convenient time for the Bush administration. Then again, any terror threat news would come at a good time for the Bush administration these days.
