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| Britain |
| London bomb 5 times bigger than that used in Bali |
| 2004-03-31 |
| A TERRORIST plot to kill hundreds of Britons at a shopping centre or airport was foiled yesterday after dramatic dawn raids by 700 cops. Eight suspected Muslim fanatics â all British-born and one a 17-year-old schoolboy â were arrested at their suburban homes in a spectacular operation masterminded by security chiefs. And half a ton of fertiliser often used by terror gangs to make devastating lorry bombs was seized in a lock-up at a storage depot. The cache was five times bigger than the fertiliser bomb used in the 2002 Bali atrocity. The eight held are suspected of being disciples of Osama Bin Ladenâs al-Qaeda terror network. Intelligence chiefs believe they may have aimed to detonate a bomb at one of the M25 shopping malls â Bluewater near Dartford, Kent, or Lakeside at Thurrock, Essex. But the chilling spectre of an attack on an airport was also raised. Many of those rounded up, who are mainly of Pakistani descent, live near airports. One, an 18-year-old, was grabbed while staying at a £140-a-night hotel two miles from Gatwick. Family members at two of the 24 addresses raided are thought to work for catering firms supplying the Sussex airport. And the fertiliser was discovered in Hanwell, West London â five miles from Heathrow. The police blitz â Operation Crevice â was one of Britainâs biggest ever. It appeared to prove suggestions that Islamic fanatics are determined to stage a âspectacularâ in Britain, possibly a suicide attack. And it followed months of surveillance and intelligence-gathering by MI5, MI6 and Special Branch. MI5 director Eliza Manningham-Buller gave regular progress reports to PM Tony Blair and Home Secretary David Blunkett. Security chiefs decided to act yesterday amid increasing fears that a terrorist cell operating in the South East of England was about to strike. Cops from five forces went into action at 6am. Some wearing riot gear used battering rams to force their way in. They held the 18-year-old at the Holiday Inn in Horley, Surrey, and seized a brand new Suzuki Vitara from its car park. Three other suspects including the schoolboy were arrested in Crawley, West Sussex, two in Uxbridge, West London, one in Slough, Berks, and one in Ilford, East London. Most are said to be âstudentsâ. The eight are aged 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 21, 22 and 32. Teams of forensic experts dressed in white protective suits swept into the raided homes. Police also swooped on six addresses in Luton, Beds, where the extremist group Al Muhajiroun has a power base. No arrests were made in the town, where another of Londonâs four airports is located. But anti-terrorist police carried out extensive searches. And one of the homes raided was in the same street where a fanatic who joined the Taliban lived. Aftab Mansoor, 25, died fighting in Afghanistan in October 2001. A further swoop was launched on a semi in Reading, Berks. But no one was detained. A 6ft by 3ft bag of ammonium nitrate agricultural fertiliser was found in the Access Self Storage depot in Boston Road, Hanwell â which had been under surveillance for a month. As well as being used for the bomb which killed 202 in Bali, the chemical was used in the al-Qaeda attack on the British consulate in Istanbul last year, the 1998 assault on the US embassy in Nairobi, the Oklahoma bombing nine years ago and the IRAâs Canary Wharf outrage in 1996. A security source said: âWe think the British group was planning to hit one of the shopping centres around the M25, such as Lakeside or Bluewater. The other possibility was Brent Cross on Londonâs North Circular, which is in an area with a large Jewish population.â Secret service people moved to play down fears of an airport attack. A senior source said: âIt is entirely coincidental that those arrested today lived near airports. âWe believe the target would have been somewhere where a lot of people gather like a supermarket, a club, or a pub. âSecurity is very tight at airports and it would not be feasible to try to drive in a lorry carrying half a ton of explosives. Also, it would not have been a train or the London Underground because fertiliser bombs are not designed for those sort of targets.â The eight were arrested âon suspicion of being concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorismâ. They were held at Londonâs top-security Paddington Green police station last night. Security chiefs do not think they are directly controlled by Bin Laden but have been brainwashed by radical clerics. Spanish officials said one of the suspects may be connected to the Madrid train bombings. Despite the success of yesterdayâs operation, police warned the terrorist threat was still âvery realâ. The Metropolitan forceâs deputy assistant commissioner Peter Clarke said: âThe public must remain watchful and alert.â Although those arrested were Muslims, Mr Clarke said there should be no backlash against the Islamic community. He added: âThe overwhelming majority of Muslims are law-abiding and completely reject all forms of violence.â Neighbours living near the raided homes were shocked by the sudden police onslaught. One man living in Langley Drive, Crawley, said: âI looked out of my window and saw about 11 policemen, dressed in dark clothes, run at the door with a battering ram. Then I saw a bearded Asian man being led out with his hands in cuffs in front of him. He was put into an unmarked car and driven away.â A Pakistani woman living nearby said: âWe are Muslim but the people living there are a different sort of Muslim â more extreme.â Neighbours of a house in Juniper Road, Crawley, woke to see anti-terror cops on garage roofs. One claimed a father and son living at the address worked for Gatwick catering firm Sky Chefs. The neighbour added: âIâve seen them with their airport security passes on their necks. They have the run of the airport â they are getting on and off planes with food all day.â Another raid centred on an internet cafe in Crawley, where computer gear was being examined for possible clues to a bomb plot. Meanwhile, terrified council housing officer Matthew Chan told how he was woken by cops shouting âGo, go, goâ as they grabbed a neighbour in Colindale, North West London. Matthew, 36, said: âI jumped out of bed and thought, âJeez, whatâs going on?â It was scary. Cops in riot gear were everywhere.â A man covered with a blanket was led away but is thought to have been released later. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #5 Jews lied to President Bush about WMD and now they say that he lied. BTW, Rantburg is a Zionist propaganda BBS that censors truth while Americans die in Iraq on basis of Jewish lies. MR. Pruitt, censorship of truth puts American blood on your hands -- we'll make sure that America "never forgets". |
| Posted by: Free Speech Enforcer TROLL 2004-03-31 7:26:53 AM |
| #4 These were all born-in-Britain and not affiliated with Al Q. They were just 'more extreme Muslims'. Be afraid Britain. Be very afraid. |
| Posted by: mhw 2004-03-31 11:25:05 AM |
| #3 I think their definition of extreme is "not patient enough to breed their way to conquest". |
| Posted by: BH 2004-03-31 11:12:47 AM |
| #2 We are Muslim but the people living there are a different sort of Muslim â more extreme.â We moderates are extreme.... they're more extreme. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-03-31 9:42:21 AM |
| #1 I sincerely tip my hat to those guys for pulling off such a brilliant raid. God Bless em' each and all. Chine |
| Posted by: Chiner 2004-03-31 2:23:58 AM |