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Britain: Alert level 'critical'
30/06/2007 21:33 - (SA)
London - Britain ratcheted its security threat level up to "critical" on Saturday, the highest possible, after a burning car was driven into Glasgow airport and following a foiled double car bombing in London.
The critical level, which means another attack was expected "imminently," was announced by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith amid fears of Al-Qaeda style terrorism fueled by the three incidents within barely 36 hours.
It came a short time after the burning jeep was driven into the main terminal at Scotland's busiest airport, sparking a blaze in the building itself. Two men were arrested.
That incident happened as a massive manhunt was still underway for the drivers of Mercedes cars which were abandoned in London's entertainment district in the early hours of Friday morning.
The planned London attacks, apparently timed to take place simultaneously, came only two days after new Prime Minister Gordon Brown succeeded Tony Blair in 10 Downing Street.
The Glasgow incident, which was not immediately being treated as terrorism, came exactly a week before the second anniversary of the July 7, 2005 suicide bombings in London which killed 52 people during the morning rush-hour.
Threat of terror
The decision to increase the threat level from "severe" to "critical" was taken after a new meeting of the government's so-called COBRA crisis cell, chaired by Brown himself in a sign of the sense of national crisis.
"We must not let the threat of terror stop us from getting on with our lives," said Smith.
"The police are clear, that the most important contribution that the public can make is to carry on reporting anything suspicious and to be vigilant," she told reporters after the talks chaired by Brown.
Police launched a major manhunt immediately after the first car was found, and on Saturday Sky News reported that CCTV footage had provided "crystal clear" images of a man running away from the car outside a London nightclub.
Reports suggested the first bomb, left parked outside the "Tiger Tiger" nightclub in London's Haymarket district, had a mobile phone detonator, but was defused by a quick-thinking policeman who spotted the threat.
The second car was left parked nearby, also in the early hours of Friday, but it was given a parking ticket and towed away to a car pound. It was only there that the explosives were found after police were alerted later on Friday.
Defiant
One witness quoted by the BBC said that some 500 people were in the club when the first car bomb was spotted by alert guards around 01:30 - shortly before the club was to close, spilling revelers out onto the street.
But drinkers and businesses were defiant on Friday night, with bars and clubs open as usual.
On Saturday hundreds of thousands of people were expected to attend the city's annual Gay Pride march.
London Mayor Ken Livingstone insisted Londoners would not be deterred.
"I think people are completely safe to walk about the streets of London today and tomorrow," he told BBC radio. "I have promised my family all week that we are all going on the Gay Pride march. We will all be there."
At Wimbledon security was tightened up at the famous tennis championships, with systematic checks on all vehicles entering the car parks and on everyone coming in to the tournament.
The CCTV cameras which blanket London proved a valuable tool for detectives investigating the July 7, 2005 attacks on the city's transport network, in which four suicide bombers killed themselves and 52 other people.
Identified
Chillingly, a message posted in an Internet chat room shortly before the attacks were foiled appeared to indicate an Islamist link.
"London shall be bombed," said the 300-word posting on the Al-Hesbah chat room - sometimes used by Al-Qaeda - left by a person identified as Abu Osama al-Hazeen, CBS News reported.
Pauline Neville-Jones, former head of the government's joint intelligence committee, agreed that a link with the terror network was likely.
"I will be inclined to believe there is some kind of Al-Qaeda link," she told the BBC, adding that it appeared "aimed at the new government."
Police provided little information about the incident at Glasgow Airport where witness James Edgar said barriers prevented the jeep from completely entering the terminal building.
On fire
Other witnesses told television news that two men were in the car.
They added that a man with his clothes on fire left the vehicle and was restrained by members of the public. The flames were put out with a fire extinguisher.
Witness Ian Crosby said the jeep drove across a central reservation before smashing into the terminal's doors.
BBC television meanwhile showed still images of the scene, one which showed the blazing jeep crashing into the building. Another showed a ball of fire and thick black smoke billowing skywards.
Edgar said there was "absolute chaos" at the airport.
- AFP
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