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| Terror Networks |
| Unearthing the fear growing in England |
| 2006-08-11 |
| THEY lived on quiet English streets. Neighbours invariably described them as polite, pleasant and respectable. But from unremarkable houses in East London, a leafy town in Buckinghamshire and Birmingham, 24 young British residents, mostly of Pakistani background, were arrested early on Thursday after being under MI5 surveillance for more than a year. The Muslim-convert son of a Conservative Party staffer, a young woman with a six-month-old baby and two brothers, both married and living in a semidetached house with their wives and parents, were among those detained. It was in the aftermath of the London Underground bombings in July last year that attention was drawn to the group when a member of the Muslim community became suspicious about an acquaintance's behaviour. MI5 started an investigation and, as the evidence mounted, it became clear something big was being planned. Intelligence officers placed bugs and phone taps in the homes of some young men and began listening carefully. The plot they discovered being hatched in these quiet streets was described by one senior security source as "bigger than 9/11". They wanted to bring down up to 12 American aircraft over the Atlantic Ocean, each carrying a maximum of 400 passengers. Some sources believe the plan was being timed to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the United States in 2001. Last December, MI5 called in the British police to mount an even larger surveillance operation. Officers and agents began watching the alleged plotters and following them. They found out who they spoke to and what meetings they attended. Their spending habits and bank accounts were tracked by a special anti-terrorism unit that discovered some of the alleged plotters had access to unusually large amounts of money, well out of keeping with their incomes. The network was large: US officials believe there were three cells of terrorists, involving up to 50 people. They were organised centrally and may not have been aware of the activities of their co-plotters. But in recent days, one thing became clear to authorities: the intensity of their activities were increasing and an attack was, if not imminent, then in the final stages of preparation. After two Britons of Pakistani descent were arrested in Pakistan nearly two weeks ago, some British Government sources believe a message was sent to the suspected terrorists in Britain, saying: "Do your attacks now." Rest of 3 page article at link. |
| Posted by:ed |