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Breaking: Police defuse bomb in central London
Sounds more like the IRA than Islamonuts. British police said today they had defused a bomb in central London. Explosives officers were called to examine a car parked in The Haymarket, a central London street, early this morning, London police said in a statement. "They discovered what appeared to be a potentially viable explosive device. This was made safe,'' they said, adding that counter-terrorism officers were investigating. A police spokesman confirmed the device was a bomb. Police responded after a member of the public reported a suspicious vehicle shortly before 2am (1100 AEST). The street was sealed off while police investigated and was likely to remain closed for most of the morning, they said. The nearby Piccadilly Circus underground train station was open, but exit restrictions were in place, the police said. More, courtesy of Tarzan Threck7932: London escaped what could have been its worst terrorist attack this morning when a car bomb packed with nails, gas canisters and containers of petrol apparently failed to detonate outside a popular West End nightclub hosting a 'ladies' night'. Police were called to Tiger Tiger nightclub in the West End shortly before 2am when smoke was seen coming from the inside of a Mercedes car parked outside. A man was seen running from the vehicle. Inside officers discovered a "significant quantity" of petrol, nails and gas cylinders. They used a remote-controlled device to check the vehicle before bomb squad officers made it safe. If the bomb had exploded, police said that the shrapnel would have killed or injured anyone within a wide area. The bomb itself could have caused a fireball as big as a house followed by a large shock wave. Authorities were called to the area when an ambulance crew saw smoke coming from the car. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, head of Scotland Yards counter-terrorism command, said: "It is obvious that if the device had detonated there could have been significant injury or loss of life. "What the ambulance people saw was what they thought was smoke." He said the investigation would discover if it was smoke or something else. Whitehall sources said that the police and security services are looking at possible international links - including similarities to car bombs used by insurgents in Iraq. "It is entirely possible. There are various things - it is outside a nightclub, it is a vehicle-borne device, it is close to the anniversary of the July 7 attacks," one source said. "But we are keeping an open mind." Officers were contacted at 2am after the pale green Mercedes drove into a number of bins outside Tiger Tiger on Haymarket. Witnesses said that the driver of the vehicle jumped out of the car and ran away. Terry Neil, managing director of TSS, the firm which provides doormen for the club, said that his bouncers had called the police before promptly evacuating the premises. "We work very closely with Operation Griffin, the anti-terrorism thing, and the boys have been briefed as to what they should do. They did what they were trained to do," he said. "If it wasnt for their awareness, it could have been sat there outside a club with 1,000 people in it. Its a very busy road." Mr Neil added that the club's cameras are "absolutely everwhere" around the club. "If you look at where it is, the camera should pick him up getting out of the car. It shouldnt be long before they start putting out images." The incident came on Gordon Brown's second full day in 10 Downing Street, marking his first real test as Prime Minister. Mr Brown was due to host a Cabinet meeting today and said that he would remind his ministers that "vigilance must be maintained". As investigations at Haymarket continued, with the area almost completely closed off, there was a second alert close to London Bridge Station, where a street was temporarily closed to traffic while a suspicious car was examined. A massive manhunt began for the driver of the Haymarket vehicle, wiith police trawling through CCTV footage from the club and nearby streets. Congestion charge cameras situated throughout central London are also capable of tracking where the car came from, and which routes it took. Terror groups like al-Qaeda are believed to have been planning attacks on nightclubs, which are considered by Islamic fundamentalists to be symbols of Western decadence. Earlier this year, a number of Islamist extremist terrorists were imprisoned for planning a number of major terror attacks, including a bomb attack on London's Ministry of Sound nightclub. Tiger Tiger is a combined bar, restaurant and nightclub, part of a wider national chain, that opens from midday until the early hours of the morning. It has several floors, and is believed to have a capacity of over 1,000 - although staff said that only around 650 were in the club at the time of the incident. Last night was scheduled to be 'ladies' night' at the club, complete with female DJ. Police this morning cordoned off a number of entrances and exits to Piccadilly Circus Tube station, which was then closed for safety reasons by Transport for London. The station is set to remain closed for much of the morning, along with roads all around the area. In addition to their Haymarket investigation, police were thought to be conducting a huge operation around other London landmarks - including Tower Bridge and the Houses of Parliament - to search for other potential devices. This morning Mr Brown said: "The first duty of the Government is the security of the people and as the police and security services have said on so many occasions we face a serious and continuous threat to our country. "We should allow the police to investigate this incident and then report to us. But this incident does recall the need for us to be vigilant at all times and the public to be alert at any potential incidents. "I will stress to the Cabinet that the vigilance must be maintained over the next few days". Going into her meeting this morning, Ms Smith said: What I think is very important is that the public remain vigilant at all times. Obviously the police are investigating and I think we should allow them to get on with that without undue speculation. The attempted attack comes as the current terror threat against the UK is assessed as "severe," the second highest level, meaning that intelligence analysts consider an attack highly likely. The highest level, "critical", means that an attack is expected imminently. Earlier this month security spot checks were introduced on petrol and chemical tankers, cement mixers - and other vehicles that could be used by suicide bombers - on key routes into London. That reflects increasing concern in the security services that UK terrorists might copy tactics used to deadly effect by insurgents in Iraq. Bombers in Baghdad have blown themselves up in hijacked petrol tankers and, in at least three attacks this year, have used chlorine gas canisters in lorry bombs. The checks follow a warning this year by Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, that "vehicle-borne weaponry is the greatest danger that we can face". But Scotland Yard said on June 6 that it had no specific intelligence to suggest that a lorry-bomb attack was imminent. The Metropolitan Police's Counter-Terrorism Command set up the checks as a precautionary measure but they were then incorporated into Operation Mermaid, a long-running operation aimed at ensuring vehicle safety. An al-Qaeda terrorist convicted last year had been planning vehicle-borne bomb attacks in London when he was arrested. Dhiren Barot pleaded guilty to plotting a series of attacks, including detailed plans to pack stretch limousines with gas cylinders and explosives and detonate them in car parks beneath hotels or office blocks. Posted by: phil_b 2007-06-29 |
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