Holly
08-10-2006, 01:11 PM
The United States issued its highest terrorism alert for commercial flights from Britain and raised security for all air travel Thursday after a major terror plot was foiled in London. The Bush administration said the scheme was "suggestive of an al-Qaida plot."
"We were really getting quite close to the execution phase," said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.
Heightened security measures quickly produced long lines and delays at airport checkpoints as the government banned passengers from carrying nearly all liquids and gels aboard flights. The ban extended to toothpaste, makeup and suntan lotion. Baby formula and medicines were exempted.
"It is safe to travel," but "there are going to be some inconveniences," said White House press secretary Tony Snow.
He told reporters traveling aboard Air Force One that Bush had been fully briefed on the developments, and personally approved raising the terror alert on Wednesday.
Officials released few details of the reported plot, first made public by authorities in Britain.
U.S. counterterrorism officials said the threat was aimed at United, American and Continental Air Lines and aimed at flights to New York, Washington and California, all major summer tourist destinations. The plotters envisioned setting off mid-flight explosions on multiple aircraft using bomb components brought on board in benign state and combined once the planes were aloft, these officials said.
The administration raised the threat level for flights from Britain to "red," designating a severe risk of terrorist attacks. All other flights, including all domestic flights in the United States, were put under an "orange," alert - one step below the highest level.
Chertoff said there was no indication of plotting in the United States but said officials cannot assume that the terror operation in Britain had been completely thwarted. He said the plot appeared to be engineered by al-Qaida, the terrorist group that carried out the Sept. 11, 2001, attack against the United States.
"It was sophisticated, it had a lot of members and it was international in scope," said Chertoff, who spoke at a news conference also attended by Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez and FBI Director Robert Mueller. "It was in some respects suggestive of an al-Qaida plot."
He added, however, that "because the investigation is still under way we cannot yet form a definitive conclusion."
Gonzales said the operation could "potentially kill hundreds of innocent people." Britain said 21 people had been arrested, including the alleged "main players" in the plot.
One aviation security expert, Douglas Laird, said the foiled plot eerily resembled a 1994-1995 plan code-named "Bojinka" that Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed had overseen to blow up 11 airliners simultaneously.
In that plot, al-Qaida sympathizers had planned to mix liquid explosives undetectable by most security equipment, smuggle them aboard planes in a contact lens solution bottle and then set them off using a Casio watch as a trigger, FBI documents show.
"I'm surprised they've waited that long to try this, 10 or 11 years, when the current system still has no way to detect such liquid explosives," said Laird.
At the news conference in Washington, Mueller also pointed at al-Qaida. "This had the earmarks of an al-Qaida plot," he said.
The alleged plot was "as sophisticated as any we have seen in recent years as far as terrorism is concerned," Chertoff said.
He said the government was taking steps to protect against unseen threats or copycat attacks.
Hastily printed signs were posted at major airports warning passengers in red capital letters, "No liquid or gels permitted beyond security."
It is the first time the red alert level in the Homeland Security warning system has been invoked, although there have been brief periods in the past when the orange level was applied. Homeland Security defines the red alert as designating a "severe risk of terrorist attacks."
There were no commercial passenger planes in the air from Britain to the United States when the red alert was issued, FAA Administrator Marion Blakey said. She said three cargo planes aloft from London - two Lufthansa and one UPS plane - were allowed to continue because the threat was focused on passenger planes.
The U.S. Northern Command, the military headquarters established in response to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, was "monitoring and ... a little bit more vigilant today," said spokesman Michael Kucharek, declining to be more specific.
"I'm not going to say it's business as usual," he said. "We're looking at all sources of information - this is a real threat to the nation."
The plot was not believed to be connected to a group of Egyptian students who disappeared in the United States more than a week ago before reaching a college they were supposed to attend in Montana. Three of the 11 have since been found and the FBI has said neither they nor the still-missing eight are believed to be a threat.
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Associated Press writers Katherine Shrader, Mark Sherman, Leslie Miller, Robert Burns and Pauline Jelinek contributed to this report.
"We were really getting quite close to the execution phase," said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.
Heightened security measures quickly produced long lines and delays at airport checkpoints as the government banned passengers from carrying nearly all liquids and gels aboard flights. The ban extended to toothpaste, makeup and suntan lotion. Baby formula and medicines were exempted.
"It is safe to travel," but "there are going to be some inconveniences," said White House press secretary Tony Snow.
He told reporters traveling aboard Air Force One that Bush had been fully briefed on the developments, and personally approved raising the terror alert on Wednesday.
Officials released few details of the reported plot, first made public by authorities in Britain.
U.S. counterterrorism officials said the threat was aimed at United, American and Continental Air Lines and aimed at flights to New York, Washington and California, all major summer tourist destinations. The plotters envisioned setting off mid-flight explosions on multiple aircraft using bomb components brought on board in benign state and combined once the planes were aloft, these officials said.
The administration raised the threat level for flights from Britain to "red," designating a severe risk of terrorist attacks. All other flights, including all domestic flights in the United States, were put under an "orange," alert - one step below the highest level.
Chertoff said there was no indication of plotting in the United States but said officials cannot assume that the terror operation in Britain had been completely thwarted. He said the plot appeared to be engineered by al-Qaida, the terrorist group that carried out the Sept. 11, 2001, attack against the United States.
"It was sophisticated, it had a lot of members and it was international in scope," said Chertoff, who spoke at a news conference also attended by Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez and FBI Director Robert Mueller. "It was in some respects suggestive of an al-Qaida plot."
He added, however, that "because the investigation is still under way we cannot yet form a definitive conclusion."
Gonzales said the operation could "potentially kill hundreds of innocent people." Britain said 21 people had been arrested, including the alleged "main players" in the plot.
One aviation security expert, Douglas Laird, said the foiled plot eerily resembled a 1994-1995 plan code-named "Bojinka" that Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed had overseen to blow up 11 airliners simultaneously.
In that plot, al-Qaida sympathizers had planned to mix liquid explosives undetectable by most security equipment, smuggle them aboard planes in a contact lens solution bottle and then set them off using a Casio watch as a trigger, FBI documents show.
"I'm surprised they've waited that long to try this, 10 or 11 years, when the current system still has no way to detect such liquid explosives," said Laird.
At the news conference in Washington, Mueller also pointed at al-Qaida. "This had the earmarks of an al-Qaida plot," he said.
The alleged plot was "as sophisticated as any we have seen in recent years as far as terrorism is concerned," Chertoff said.
He said the government was taking steps to protect against unseen threats or copycat attacks.
Hastily printed signs were posted at major airports warning passengers in red capital letters, "No liquid or gels permitted beyond security."
It is the first time the red alert level in the Homeland Security warning system has been invoked, although there have been brief periods in the past when the orange level was applied. Homeland Security defines the red alert as designating a "severe risk of terrorist attacks."
There were no commercial passenger planes in the air from Britain to the United States when the red alert was issued, FAA Administrator Marion Blakey said. She said three cargo planes aloft from London - two Lufthansa and one UPS plane - were allowed to continue because the threat was focused on passenger planes.
The U.S. Northern Command, the military headquarters established in response to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, was "monitoring and ... a little bit more vigilant today," said spokesman Michael Kucharek, declining to be more specific.
"I'm not going to say it's business as usual," he said. "We're looking at all sources of information - this is a real threat to the nation."
The plot was not believed to be connected to a group of Egyptian students who disappeared in the United States more than a week ago before reaching a college they were supposed to attend in Montana. Three of the 11 have since been found and the FBI has said neither they nor the still-missing eight are believed to be a threat.
---
Associated Press writers Katherine Shrader, Mark Sherman, Leslie Miller, Robert Burns and Pauline Jelinek contributed to this report.