Officials Cite Scale and Sophistication of Plane Plot
By SCOTT SHANE
Published: August 11, 2006Intelligence and counterterrorism officials said yesterday that the scale and sophistication of the scheme to blow up jetliners over the Atlantic could mean that Al Qaeda, whose central command has been severely damaged since 2001, was again able to direct attacks.
Officials Cite Scale and Sophistication of Plane Plot – New York Times.
Terror plot– The Times
A plan ‘to commit unimaginable mass murder’
By Philip Webster, Sean O’Neill and Stewart TendlerALARMING intelligence that an attack was imminent was the trigger for police raids which captured 24 terrorist suspects, including two white converts to Islam, The Times has learnt.
Counter-terrorist agencies, which had been monitoring the plotters for 12 months, were last night questioning the suspects about an alleged plot to detonate suicide bombs on five US-bound aircraft.
Some of those detained had been under investigation before for extremist activity.
A “martyrdom video”, apparently recorded by a would-be suicide bomber, was found at one of the raided addresses, government sources said.
Last night Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, moved to freeze the assets of 19 men arrested in the raids. Several had thousands of pounds in their accounts.
US sources claimed last night that substantial sums of money had been wired from Pakistan to two of the alleged ringleaders so that they could purchase airline tickets. One report said they were planning a “dry run”.
