Plane plot: More arrests coming
2006-08-10 22:53
London - British police hinted on Thursday that more arrests were likely after 24 people, most of them of Pakistani origin, were detained in connection with an alleged plot to simultaneously blow up United States-bound aircraft.
Pre-dawn raids were carried out in London, the west central city of Birmingham and the Thames Valley area of southeast England after intelligence of what one officer described as a bid to cause "untold death and destruction".
It has also been revealed that Pakistani intelligence officials helped British security agencies crack the terror plot and arrested two or three suspects in recent days, said authorities on Thursday.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said: "Pakistan played an important role in uncovering and breaking this international terrorist network.
"Co-operation in this particular case was spread over a period of time. There were some arrests in Pakistan which were co-ordinated with arrests in the UK," she said.
Mass murder intended
Aslam declined to give details about the arrests, including the number of suspects, their identities or when they were arrested.
But, a senior government official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to comment on the matter, said "two or three local people" suspected in the plot were arrested a few days ago in Lahore and Karachi.
Deputy commissioner Paul Stephenson of the Metropolitan Police, told reporters in London: "We can't emphasise too highly the severity that this plot represented.
"Put simply, this was intended to be mass murder on an unimaginable scale," .
Exact details on the number of planes allegedly targeted, the airports from which they were due to fly or the people in custody were still sketchy after what Stephenson said was the "first phase" of the operation.
Searches were being conducted at a number of properties.
Major counter-terrorist operation
First news of the arrests filtered out of the Met's New Scotland Yard headquarters in central London in a six-paragraph, 140-word press statement at 05:35 on Thursday morning.
"Today's arrests are the culmination of a major covert counter-terrorist operation lasting several months," the statement said, adding that the investigation was likely to be "lengthy and complex".
Home secretary John Reid revealed the country's terrorism alert had been raised to the maximum level - "critical" - at 02:00.
Senior security sources quoted by the domestic Press Association news agency said the terrorists were believed to be planning to blow up several aircraft in a simultaneous attack.
Pressed for more details on the arrests, and whether more were likely, Stephenson said "no doubt there will be more developments".
'Suggestive' of al-Qaeda
He refused to comment on the people in custody, but hinted strongly that British Islamists were behind the alleged plot, as the Press Association said those arrested were of Pakistani origin.
In Washington, US homeland security chief Michael Chertoff said the plot was in its "final stages" and that it was "suggestive" of al-Qaeda.
Meanwhile, Reid told a central London news conference that police were confident "the main players have been accounted for". - AP/AFP