Wave of 'apocalyptic' attacks planned in UK
Pastor Dale Morgan
*
Wave of 'apocalyptic' attacks planned in UK*
Security sources estimate as many as 1,200 people actively involved with
terrorism
Terrorists in UK still possess huge arsenal of bombs and weapons.
Country remains under 'very severe' threat, security sources warn
By Raymond Whitaker, Paul Lashmar, Sophie Goodchild and Severin Carrell
Published: 13 August 2006
Independent News and Media Limited
Suspected terrorists were planning to unleash a wave of "apocalyptic"
attacks on land and air, using an arsenal of bombs and weaponry,
including firearms, investigators have discovered.
Police and intelligence sources have indicated that the alleged plot
which was thwarted last week was targeted at the UK, as well as at
airliners heading for the US, and could have caused devastating loss of
life and destruction on the British mainland. One Whitehall source said
"many dozens" of plots were under investigation, involving "hundreds" of
suspects.
According to one report last night, al-Qa'ida's leader in Britain could
have been held in the raids. But security sources estimate that as many
as 1,200 people here are actively involved with terrorism, and that the
country is still under "very severe" threat from other potential
terrorist plots. This, they added, explained why there were no immediate
plans to lower the current national threat assessment from "critical",
its highest level.
Last night, 23 people were still being held under terror laws at
Paddington Green police station, west London, and other police stations
in what has been described as the biggest operation carried out by
police to prevent a potential terror attack. Legal sources said that
most would be detained for the full 28 days allowed under the terror
laws, before being charged. Detectives were preparing for "a long haul",
police sources said.
Sources have told The Independent on Sunday that intelligence officers
are aware of several active "jihadi" cells around the country
including one in east London thought to be unconnected to the suspects
arrested last week. Investigators said surveillance in progress since
the July 2005 bombings in London had identified the locations of
explosives and weapons in quantities sufficient to commit wide-scale
atrocities.
The alleged plot uncovered last week was said to involve apparently
innocuous home-made liquid explosives being carried on to aircraft, and
then turned into bombs using electronic devices such as iPods or
cameras. Last night it was reported that police had recovered scores of
bottles containing peroxide, a chemical which can be used to make bombs,
from a recycling bank in High Wycombe.
The IoS has also learnt that British security officers are to
investigate the availability over the internet of so-called binary
explosives that can be made easily from two harmless substances. Experts
were alarmed to discover that a Canadian company is openly selling an
explosive made simply by combining a liquid with a powder in a plastic
bottle, and then attaching a detonator.
John Reid, the Home Secretary, told police chief constables yesterday
that there was no room for "complacency or self-congratulation". He
added: "As I have said all along, no one should be under any illusion
that the threat ended with the recent arrests. It didn't."
* The Sunday Telegraph reported that it had uncovered a dossier of "
extremist Islamic literature" at London Metropolitan University, one of
whose students was arrested last week. Material included documents
advocating jihad and a pamphlet on how to deal with approaches from the
security services.