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UK Terror Watch: Two More Arrests in Car Bomb Plot
A vehicle burned on Saturday after it hit a section of Glasgow Airport.
OVER 36 HOURS… THE TIMETABLE OF TERROR
1.25AM Green Mercedes packed with 13 gallons of petrol, gas cylinders and nails left outside Tiger Tiger nightclub in central London’s Haymarket.
Paramedics treating a drunken reveller spot smoke in the car and call police who defuse the bomb with minutes to spare.
2.30AM Blue Mercedes found illegally parked on nearby Cockspur Street and is ticketed.
3.30AM Second Mercedes is towed to a car pound in Park Lane where employees notice a gas-like smell.
1.15PM Police evacuate the pound as bomb disposal team is called to defuse a device made from two telephones linked to canisters on the back seat. ‘It was pure luck neither device went off,’ said a security source.
1.40PM Home Secretary Jacqui Smith says Britain is ‘currently facing a most serious and sustained’ threat.
3.05PM Scottish police contact a letting agency responsible for a home in Neuk Crescent, Glasgow, and ask about the tenants staying there.
3.15PM A blazing Jeep Cherokee crashes into the arrivals hall of Glasgow Airport. An Asian man clutching a Molotov cocktail-type device is held by police and passers-by.
A second Asian man sets himself alight with petrol before fighting with police and security staff.
8PM National terror threat level raised to ‘Critical’ by Jacqui Smith on the advice of MI5. This means further attacks are expected ‘imminently’.
8.40PM Prime Minister Gordon Brown gives televised address to the nation in which he urges ‘vigilance’. His message to the terrorists is: ‘We will not yield, we will not be intimidated and we will not allow anyone to undermine our British way of life.’
9.30PM Police raid a house rented by a 26-year-old Jordanian born doctor in Newcastleunder-Lyme, Staffordshire.
11.15PM-2AM Stand off involving at least eight armed officers who try to enter a property in Hatherley Street, Liverpool. Three men and one woman are taken away by police, but are released the next day.
11.30PM The Jordanian doctor and a 27-year-old woman wearing a Muslim veil are arrested on the M6 in Cheshire. Seven unmarked police cars containing more than 20 officers box his car on to the hard-shoulder.
The couple are taken to a central London police station for questioning.
12.10PM Police raid an address in Ramilies Road, near Penny Lane, Liverpool.
1AM A 26-year-old man linked to the Ramilies Road house is arrested near Liverpool’s Lime Street station.
4.30AM Police search a house in Neuk Crescent, Glasgow, thought to be used by the airport attackers.
Neighbour tells how Asian men moved into the house about three months ago. In the past week one was seen washing a Jeep Cherokee.
2.15PM Controlled explosion is carried out on a car at the Scottish hospital where one of the airport terror attack suspects is being treated.
Saved: One of the would-be Glasgow suicide bombers is bravely hosed down with a fire extinguisher by a security guard as the Jeep Cherokee bursts into flames
New York Times: Britain Arrests Two More in Car Bomb Plot
British police today arrested two more suspects in connection with the attempted car bombings last week in London and Glasgow, the authorities said, bringing the total number of arrests to seven in what the government has described as a plot linked to Al Qaeda.
The Strathclyde police in Scotland said the arrests of the two men, aged 25 and 28, occurred in the Paisley area west of Glasgow, near Glasgow Airport, and followed a night of “intensive police operations.â€
“It’s obviously in connection with the incidents at the airport on Saturday,†a police spokeswoman said.
On Saturday, two men rammed a Jeep Cherokee into the entrance of Glasgow Airport. That followed the incidents in the West End of London on Friday when two car bombs failed to explode.
The police spokeswoman said that neither of the men arrested today are believed to be of “Scottish originâ€. None of the five suspects arrested in operations over the weekend are British citizens, a senior Western official said.
Held: The couple are arrested on the M6
Nicked: Doc and wife in a burka
THE suspected ringleader of a plot to unleash a blitz of car bombs on Britain is an Iranian doctor arrested with his burka-clad wife.
Neurologist Dr Mohammed Asha, 26, and his wife, 27, were dramatically held as they drove on the M6 in Cheshire with their two-year-old son.
Five people were being quizzed — at least two of them medics — as it became clear the attacks in London and Glasgow were by the same gang.
Sources said one of two men held while trying to smash a blazing vehicle into a Glasgow Airport terminal on Saturday afternoon is also a doctor, from Iraq.
Security bosses believe the two men in Glasgow also drove two Mercedes cars laden with petrol and gas canisters used in a failed bid to devastate London’s West End early on Friday.
Sky News is reporting that the Iraqi doctor involved in the Glasgow car bomb was trained in Baghdad.
There are now seven suspects in custody.
More updates throughout the day.
Others Blogging:
Previous:
UK Terror Watch: Video – Glasgow Bomb Suspects Shouted “ALLAHâ€
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy Links Terrorism and Border Security
Michael Ramirez on John Edwards and the UK Terrorist BombingsTerror in London Watch: Police Have Crystal Clear Image of Car Bomber
Technorati Tags: London, Global War on Terror, United KingdomGlasgow
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Diana’s Birthday Party – Perfect
Sir Elton John – Your Song – Performing Live at the Concert
William hails ‘perfect’ Diana eventPrinces William and Harry brought down the curtain on the concert they organised in memory of their mother.
They took to the stage of Wembley Stadium to thank the stars and audience at the event held to mark what would have been Diana’s 46th birthday.
“Wow. How could we follow all that? What a show,” William said. “I hope you all had an incredible evening. I know Harry and I certainly have.”
Harry said: “Hopefully, thanks to all of you here tonight, we will have raised enough money to make a difference to all the fantastic charities of our mother’s. We both hope and look forward to following the example of both our parents in working to help others.”
With all of the turmoil of terrorist bombings the past few days, Flap is glad this concert went off in the UK tonight “perfectly.”
Technorati Tags: Princess Diana, Elton John
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UK Terror Watch: Video – Glasgow Bomb Suspects Shouted “ALLAH”
CNN: Witnesses: Glascow attack suspects shouted “Allah,” appeared to be of south Asian descent
One of the men who crashed an explosives-laden sport-utility vehicle into an entrance at the Glasgow International Airport Saturday set himself on fire, while another repeatedly shouted “Allah” as he fought with police, according to witnesses who ran to the scene after the vehicle burst into flames. A third man who remained inside the burning SUV died, sources close to the investigation told CNN.
Two other people were arrested in the northern England town of Cheshire in connection with Glasgow attack and two car bombs found Friday in London, bringing the total number of people in custody to four, Scotland Yard said early Sunday. Glasgow police had said Saturday night the Glascow and London occurrences were linked.
The airport incident, at a terminal check-in area about 3:15 p.m. Saturday, sparked panic at the scene and prompted increases in airport security worldwide. The British government raised the national threat level to critical, the highest level — meaning attacks are considered imminent.
Airport worker John Smitten, who ran to the scene to help police immediately after the crash, said one of the men fought with them. “We try to subdue the guy, but he’s a bad boy, he’s not for being subdued,” Smitten said. “He’s throwing punches left, right and center.”
He said it sounded as if the man was speaking Arabic. “He was shouting something ‘Allah,’ something ‘Allah.’ Everytime he threw a punch he was saying ‘Allah.'”
Smitten said the second man who was severely burned and “covered head to toe in flames” also tried to fight policemen after a taxi driver used a water hose to put out the flames.
Stephen Clarkson, a passenger who was in the terminal, is quoted in several reports, including by the BBC and the Washington Post, saying that both men appeared to be of south Asian descent.
The third man apparently chose to die inside the burning vehicle, witness Jackie Kennedy said. The man sat in the car with a five-liter drum of petrol and he “poured it over himself inside of the car, and the car went up in flames,” she said.
And a fifth arrest was made while Flap was sleeping. I’ll get to that after my coffee!
Stay tuned…….
Previous:
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy Links Terrorism and Border Security
Michael Ramirez on John Edwards and the UK Terrorist BombingsTerror in London Watch: Police Have Crystal Clear Image of Car Bomber
Technorati Tags: London, Global War on Terror, United KingdomGlasgow
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Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy Links Terrorism and Border Security
Republican presidential hopeful former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani points to the 17th Street Canal levee as he talks with Lakeview residents Kelly Alfortish and Tim Alfortish, right, during a brief visit to the Hurricane Katrina-damaged area in New Orleans, Saturday, June 30, 2007. The Alfortish’s home was flooded during the storm and they shared their story with Giuliani.Giuliani links terror, border security
The car bomb scare in London and the attack Saturday at the Glasgow airport underscore the need for secure borders for the United States, Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani said Saturday.
“This is the United Kingdom,” he said. “They have security that is at least equal to ours; they have intelligence services that have even had more experience with terrorism than ours has, you know, they have to be subjected to this. We’re in an era in which we need to know everyone who’s in the United States.”
Giuliani, who was mayor of New York at the time of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, said the federal government needs to ensure that its borders are secure.
“We need to end illegal immigration,” he said. “If we do, a lot of things can happen, in terms of how you resolve everything here. But if you don’t end illegal immigration, almost nothing is possible, because no matter what you do, things are going to get worse.”
Giuliani is proposing “tamper-proof” ID cards and a database that would track people in the United States from foreign countries. He also suggested strengthening enforcement at border crossings.
Giuliani, who spoke near the spot where a canal levee broke during Hurricane Katrina, said government at all levels failed after that storm hit on Aug. 29, 2005. He said he is accustomed to making government run more efficiently and believes he could do that as president.
The issue of illegal immigration IS linked with terrorism. With the defeat of Senate Bill 1639 this past week, the issue of illegal immigration and border security turns to the Presidential candidates.
Rudy is RIGHT on this issue.
Remember what John Edwards said?
Here is a reprise of Rudy’s smackdown.
Stay tuned………
Republican presidential hopeful former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, right, and Sen. David Vitter, R-La., visit the site of one of the levee breeches that caused severe flooding during Hurricane Katrina, in New Orleans, Saturday, June 30, 2007. Giuliani held a news conference at the 17th Street Canal. Work on the flood gates goes on in the background.
Previous:
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy on Today’s Senate Bill 1639 Vote
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy Slams Clinton on Terrorism
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy Continues to Lead in National GOP Polls
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Florida – Its Rudy vs. Fred Thompson
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy Quits Iraq Study Group to Make Money?
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy 28% Thompson 19% McCain 18% Romney 7% in Latest USA Today/Gallup Poll
Rudy Giuliani Watch: The Left’s Inability to Rebut Rudy Giuliani on Terrorism
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Nation Lacks Strong Leadership
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy – “My 12 Commitments to Americaâ€
Technorati Tags: Rudy Giuliani
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Michael Ramirez on John Edwards and the UK Terrorist Bombings
Giuliani Notes: Rudy Slaps Edwards for Calling Global War on Terror a BUMPER STICKER
Terror in London Watch: Police Have Crystal Clear Image of Car BomberPrevious:
Michael Ramirez on the Apple iPhone
Michael Ramirez on Cameron Diaz and Other DumbASS Celebrities
Michael Ramirez on Iran and the Spread of Islamic Extremism
Michael Ramirez on Hamas and the Destruction of the Palestinian State
Michael Ramirez on Paris Hilton AND Illegal Immigration
Michael Ramirez on Democrat Representative William Jefferson
Technorati Tags: Michael Ramirez London, Global War on Terror, United KingdomGlasgow
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Terror in London Watch: Police Have Crystal Clear Image of Car Bomber
‘Police have crystal clear video image of car bomber’
Massive man hunt underway as second bomb found
Police could have a ‘crystal clear’ video image of a man who tried to kill hundreds of people by blowing up two cars in central London.
After a second bomb was found yesterday, there are now fears that other bombs could be primed and parked around the capital.
An American television report said investigators already know the face of one of the men responsible, but police – who are still studing footage from hundreds of CCTV and congestion charge cameras – are refusing to confirm this.
It’s thought the image shows the man “staggering” from the first car after parking it outside a West End nightclub.
Flap wonders if police already know who the perps are and are urgently trying to find them. If they were confederates of Dhiren Barot might they not already be out of Britain?Let’s look at the sophistication of the failed terrorist attack:
The people leave the nightclub at 2 AM and are greeted by a fireball and shrapnel. Then, as they run the second coordinated car bomb explodes inflicting maximum casualties.
The Brits WILL catch these M/F’s and sentence them to life in prison (no death penalty). But, the British people had better look at their immigration laws, and their homeland security precautions before Flap will visit their country again.
Of course, isn’t economic harm one of Al Qaeda’s goals?
The first suspect car outside Tiger Tiger
The entrance to the car pound at the Park Lane Car Park
Last night as police hunted a new terrorist cell, a massive review of security was under way, with tomorrow’s Princess Diana memorial concert at Wembley Stadium, to be attended by Princes William and Harry, a particular concern.
The foiled bombing came just a week before the second anniversary of the Al Qaeda inspired July 7 suicide bombings on London’s transport system that left 52 innocent people dead.
A terrorist atrocity had been feared in the days leading up to Tony Blair standing down as Prime Minister but the terrorists chose instead to launch their attack within hours of Gordon Brown taking over at 10 Downing Street.
Huge areas of Central London was sealed off yesterday as forensic officers examined the scene.
The Government’s emergency response committee, Cobra, met within hours of the bomb’s discovery.
The current threat level for terrorism in the UK, set by MI5, is classed as “severe”, one level lower than the highest “critical2.
Last night police were checking for links to a massive car bomb found by French police near Aixen-Provence.
Stay tuned……
Previous:
Technorati Tags: London, Global War on Terror, United Kingdom
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Terror in London Watch: Explosives-Packed Car Defused; Update: UK Launches Manhunt for Failed Car Bombers; Update: A Suspect Has Been Identified on Camera; Update:3 sought after 2nd car bomb found in London
******Scroll Down for Updates *******
Will be posted at top of the blog throughout the day for breaking news
A British police forensic officer leaves a blue operations tent that police placed over a vehicle which contains a suspected bomb in the Haymarket area near Piccadilly Circus in central London, Friday June 29, 2007. Explosives officers on Friday dealt with a suspected bomb in a vehicle parked near Piccadilly Circus tube station in central London, making it “safe,” police said. Police did not offer any details about what they called a “potentially viable explosive device” or how they dealt with it
Explosives-Packed Car Defused in LondonPolice thwarted an apparent terror attack early Friday after an ambulance crew reported seeing a smoking car parked near Piccadilly Circus that turned out to be packed with gasoline, nails, gas cylinders, and a detonator.
The explosives – safely defused by a bomb squad – were powerful enough to have caused “significant injury or loss of life” – possibly killing hundreds, British anti-terror police chief Peter Clarke said.
“Forensic staff are still examining the device, but once we know more about it, we’ll know more about what type of individuals are behind this,” a British security official told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.
Officers were called to The Haymarket, near Piccadilly Circus, after an ambulance crew – responding to a call just before 1:30 a.m. about an injury at a nearby nightclub – noticed smoke coming from the car, Clarke said.A bomb squad was called to the scene, and manually disabled the bomb.
Early photographs of the silver Mercedes showed a canister, bearing the words “patio gas,” indicating it was propane gas, next to the car. The back door was open with blankets spilling out.
Clarke said police would examine footage from closed-circuit TV cameras in the area.
Thank God the bomb was defused. But, the investigation will continue. Was this the action of Britain’s homegrown terrorists or an outside terrorist attack.
Time will tell.
Related:
Police avert car bomb ‘carnage’
Al Qaeda suspected of massive bomb attack on nightclub
London car bomb ‘packed with nails and gas’
Gas canister bomb ‘an amateur job’
The Mercedes in which the car bomb was found. Gas cylinders can be seen at the rear of the vehicle; in the back seat were petrol canisters and there were also nails in the car.Update 9:33 AM:
Park Lane closed in London – another suspected vehicle discovered.
Update 9:53 AM
Oxford Street now closed in Central London. There is traffic mayhem. Open double decker buses are implicated.
Update 10:32 AM
London’s Hyde Park is being evacuated.
Update 10:53 AM
Fox News is reporting that Sky News is reporting: Suspicious bus on Park Lane Linked to Haymarket bomb.
Update 11:15 AM
Sky News: Remote detonator found in Haymarket Car Bomb
Breaking: Hyde Park cleared over suspicious car
Police are investigating a suspect vehicle near Hyde Park amid fears that it may be connected to a bomb defused hours earlier nearby.
A police robot is investigating a car and the eastern side of Hyde Park has been evacuated after Park Lane, which borders the park, was closed between Marble Arch and Hyde Park Corner at 2.30 this afternoon. A 200m cordon was put in place, cutting off one of London’s major transport arteries and causing further traffic chaos, after reports of a suspicious vehicle.
The dramatic new development comes after an explosive device, consisting of gas cylinders and nails, was found outside the Tiger Tiger nightclub at 2am in The Haymarket, near Piccadilly Circus, in the heart of London’s tourist district.
11:26 AM
Was London Bomb Plot Heralded On Web?
Hours before London explosives technicians dismantled a large car bomb in the heart of the British capital’s tourist-rich theater district, a message appeared on one of the most widely used jihadist Internet forums, saying: “Today I say: Rejoice, by Allah, London shall be bombed.”
CBS News found the posting, which went on for nearly 300 words, on the “al Hesbah” chat room. It was left by a person who goes by the name abu Osama al-Hazeen, who appears regularly on the forum.
11:35 AM
Awaiting news conference by London’s Metropolitan Police.
Recap: Two suspect vehicles – one a car bomb with a remote detonating device.
Update 11:47 AM
Suspicious second car being investigated as a suspected car bomb in Park Lane car park – not a bus.
Police say there was enough petrol to fill the trunk of the first car – Mercedes @ Haymarket Street.
Update 11:59 AM
Park Lane vehicle May have been getaway car; several people seen leaving Haymarket car bomb said to be detonated by cell phone remotely; police reviewing security tapes; AP is reporting that British authorities say they have found NO terrorist link.
Update: 12:14 PM
Sky News: Hero Cop May Have Saved Scores Of Lives
Sky News sources say one of the first police officers on the scene of the London West End car bomb may have saved dozens of lives by diffusing the explosives before the bomb squad arrived.
It is believed the quick-thinking cop recognised that the car was wired to blow up, jumped in and disconnected the trigger device, thought to be a mobile phone.
This backs up an eye-witness account of a police officer briefly entering the metallic green Mercedes before running for cover.
Amazing……
Stay tuned for breaking news.
When will the Metro police identify and arrest the miscreants?
Update: 12:27 PM
Sky News: Fleet Street has been closed due to another suspect vehicle discovered.
Update: 1:04 PM
British government: massive manhunt now under way.
Update: 2:00
The American FBI is now assisting the Brits in manhunt for failed car bomb suspects.
From the Counterterrorism Blog:
This type of car bombing plot is typical of other British Jihadist car bomb plots in the past, including both the July 2005 bomb plots, and the Dhiren Barot Jihadist group bomb plots.
— In July 2005, a number of bombs and components, some packed with nails to cause death and maximum injury, were recovered from a car parked by the July 7 bombers at Luton station.
— British Jihadist Dhiren Barot pleaded guilty to plotting a series of attacks, including detailed plans to explode limousines packed with gas cylinders, explosives and nails after leaving them in underground London parking garages or hotels.But, yet no links to terrorism……..
Update 2:42 PM
“It’s something you get used to, living in Londonâ€
“It’s something you get used to, living in London,†said Andrew Fowler, a 39-year-old lawyer who was sipping coffee at an outdoor café near Piccadilly Circus.
“And given the stance our government made on the war in Iraq and elsewhere, I think we are just getting used to being a target,†he said. “It’s something we have to live with.â€
Of course, it is Iraq. As if Islamic or Irish terrorists were not using car bombs before the Iraq War. Now Flap awaits some Brit to blame President Bush.
And, of course, these weapons are from Iraq – that is where they learned how to make them.
Gad, man, these Iraqi IED’s in Iraq are made in Iran and exported there.
Bomb components found in second car on London street
A second car found on a London street on Friday contained possible bomb materials, sources told CNN, hours after police disarmed an explosives-filled car in the city’s busy theater district.
The second car was towed from Trafalgar Square to Park Lane overnight, because it was illegally parked, the sources said.
At the Park Lane garage, workers called authorities when they became suspicious after news of the first incident, because the car smelled of gas.
Police and security sources say the car was found to contain components very similar to the first car — definitely fuel, and possibly much more.
They said the car is of grave concern, and could potentially be a second car bomb.
A senior U.S. official with knowledge of the London investigation told CNN the car was linked to the vehicle outside the club, and that some materials found inside the car were very similar to explosive materials found in the car near Piccadilly Circus.
A section of Fleet Street was also cordoned off briefly, then reopened without incident.OMG it might be a plot! But, by whom?
Update 3:33 PM
Awaiting Scotland Yard Newser on London Car bombs.
Accomplice of AQ henchman Barot suspected; tried to detonate bomb twice.
Sky News:Second bomb found on Park Lane; strengthens case that Al Qaeda was involved.
Update 3:48 PM
Scotland Yard explains about second Mercedes car bomb. Fuel and Nails. The two vehicles are clearly linked; there will be more police patrols; public needs to be alert and shall dial 999 if they see any other suspicious vehicles; no questions only the statement.
Second car bomb found in London’s Park Lane
A second car bomb has been defused in the heart of London sparking fears that others could be primed and parked around the capital.
The petrol, gas and nail bomb was discovered in a Mercedes apparently towed into a car park pound beneath London’s Park Lane after being found illegally parked in the West End of the city.
The discovery, in the early hours of Friday morning – at about the same time as the first car-bomb was found in Haymarket, left anti-terror detectives asking “How many more?” as thousands of officers searched the captial for other suspect vehicles – and for the terrorist cell.
Just hours before the deadly devices were found, an Islamic fanatic chillingly predicted a terror blast in London.
The chilling message, posted on a jihadist internet forum, warned: “Today, I say, Rejoice, by Allah, London shall be bombed.”
Meanwhile, an international manhunt was launched tonight to find the gang – believed to be linked to al Qaeda – that came within moments of blowing up hundreds of revellers in a London nightclub.
Update 3:59 PM
Police expect search for suspects to extend outside London.
At Haymarket: The car, believed to be a silver Mercedes, was driven into bins and the driver ran off.
Update 4:04 PM
3 sought after 2nd car bomb found in London
British authorities were seeking three men after police defused a car bomb that they said could have caused “significant injury or loss of life†overnight in London. Late Friday, police discovered a second car carrying similar explosives, British and U.S. officials told NBC News.The three men are believed to be from the Birmingham area, a center of radical Islamic unrest in Britain, said U.S. officials who had been briefed on the developments.
Islamist terrorist suspects convicted in recent London cases have spoken of moving up to more deadly fuel-air explosives, authorities said. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Ian Blair said earlier this year that “vehicle-borne weaponry is the greatest danger that we can face.â€
Britain’s domestic spy agency, MI5, was examining possible connections with two other foiled plots, a planned attack on a West End nightclub in 2004 and a thwarted attempt to use limousines packed with gas canisters to attack targets in London and New York, the official said.
A Most Lethal Anti-Personnel Bomb Defused: Anatomy of a Bomb in London
ABC News has learned the bomb was composed of tanks of propane, butane and 125 liters of gasoline (33 U.S. gallons), roofing nails and a fuse that initial reports indicated was constructed of simple light bulb or flashbulb filaments and designed to be triggered by a mobile telephone.
London authorities investigating the case and U.S. authorities monitoring it say the Mercedes car bomb, if correctly made, could have sent a shrapnel-filled fireball into the air, maiming and killing people in a several hundred yard radius that included a popular nightclub.
Based on an initial forensic investigation, authorities say they believe the fuel-air mixture was incorrect and ultimately led the bomb to fail.
Those folks in the nightclub Tiger Tiger should consider themselves very lucky.
New York is taking extra precautions.
New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the London case was reminiscent of the July 2004 case, in which terrorists planned to use gas and bomb-laden vehicles to blow up financial targets in New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C.
“This looks similar to the plans that were uncovered then. But there is no indication at this time that there is a link to al Qaeda or any organized terrorist group,” Kelly said. “Our Joint Terrorism Task Force chief is in London now, talking to British authorities, and we’re going to continue to monitor over the weekend. We will have additional resources in place until we have a better understanding of what is transpiring. “
Kelly said in the aftermath of the London discovery, New York police stepped up patrols at Times Square, Herald Square, the Theater District and inside subways and instituted vehicle stops at bridges and tunnels.
Update 5:32 PM
Fox News: Police in Britain are looking for associates of Dhiren Barot because of the methods and materials of the car bombs.
August 3, 2004.[1] He was charged by the UK authorities with the following offenses:
- Conspiracy to commit murder.
- Conspiracy to commit a public nuisance by the use of radioactive materials, toxic gases, chemicals and or explosives.
- Possessing detailed reconnaissance on the Prudential Building in New Jersey.
- Possessing detailed reconnaissance of the International Monetary Fund headquarters in Washington, the New York Stock Exchange and Citigroup in New York, and two notebooks with information on explosives.[6]
Barot admitted to plotting to bomb the New York Stock Exchange, the International Monetary Fund headquarters, and the World Bank, among other targets. His accused co-conspirators are Mohammed Naveed Bhatti, 24; Abdul Aziz Jalil, 31; Omar Abdul Rehman, 20; Junade Feroze, 28; Zia ul Haq, 25; Qaisar Shaffi, 25; and Nadeem Tarmohammed, 26, Britons of Pakistani origin, most of Mirpuri descent.
Much of the information about Barot’s role in the planning of further al-Qaeda attacks came from Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, a prominent al-Qaeda operative captured by the Pakistani ISI. A witness stated that he attended Camp Hudaybiyah, run by the Jemaah Islamiyah group, where he was instructed in small arms training, mortars, basic explosives handling, navigation and jungle patrolling [7].
The prosecution did not dispute claims from the defence that no funding had been received for the projects, nor any vehicles or bomb-making materials acquired. [8]
On 7 November 2006 Barot was sentenced to life imprisonment, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to murder; it was recommended that he serve a minimum of 40 years. [9]
In May 2007 his sentence was reduced to 30 years. The Court of Appeal, headed by Lord Chief Justice Lord Phillips, said that the 40 year sentence was for a terrorist who planned murder by a “viable” means. It was also stated that Barot’s plot did not amount to an actual attempt and it was uncertain whether they would have succeeded and what the consequences might have been.[10]
London tonight is on tightened alert .
Update 5:42 PM
Lamine Adam, 26, his brother Ibrahim, 20 and Cerie Bullivant, 24
Sandcrawler PSA: Can We Panic Yet?
These are three of the seven terrorist suspects who are fugitives in Britain after walking away from so called control orders. If anyone has images of the other four suspects, please email them to us and we’ll post them here.
Via The Telegraph: The Government’s system of control orders for monitoring terror suspects was further undermined today after it emerged that yet another has disappeared.In a statement to Parliament, the police minister, Tony McNulty, said the unidentified man, understood to be an Iraqi, had not been seen since Monday night.
He had been on the control order since November 2005. He is the seventh of 17 men supposedly being monitored under the controversial system to go on the run….
….The Home Office, which imposes control orders on the advice of the security service, refused to say whether he was one of six Iraqis arrested in 2005 in what was believed to be the final stages of a plot to explode car bombs in the UK.
The Home Secretary was forced by the courts to water down the conditions of their orders, which came close to house arrest.
Could these be the men wanted by the Brits?
If anyone in Britain has seen these men call 0800 789 321 – Britsh Counter Terrorism Hotline.
Update 10:26 PM
Nightclub bomb alert issued two weeks ago
Nightclubs across Britain were warned they could be terrorist targets just days before yesterday’s attempted double car-bomb attack in London, The Times has learnt.
Two cars packed with petrol, nails and “patio gas†canisters were left primed to wreak destruction among London clubbers making their way home after a Thursday night out. Only the vigilance and courage of ambulancemen and police officers prevented massive loss of life.
One car, a pale green Mercedes, had been left outside the Tiger Tiger nightclub in Haymarket. A second, a blue Mercedes, was left a few hundred yards away in Cockspur Street, a busy thoroughfare close to Trafalgar Square. This vehicle was towed away at 3:30am on Friday to an car pound on Park Lane by unsuspecting parking officials.
Had either device gone off it would have generated a huge fireball and a shockwave spreading over 400 yards in all directions. If, as suspected, one had been primed to detonate before the other, people fleeing the first blast could have been caught by the second.
So, in other words, one car would go off and when panic ensued and people ran then the second would be set off to burn them.
But, the nightclubs were warned two weeks ago.
The manhunt continues.
The attempted bombing in London’s Haymarket area came one week before the second anniversary of the July 7 bombings that killed 52 people on London’s transportation network.
Also Friday, a London jury was expected to hand down a verdict in the case against five young men who were charged with trying to blow up city buses and trains in 2005.
The men, all from London, were arrested after police found homemade devices on trains and buses that had failed to detonate properly — sending puffs of smoke from backpacks that frightened commuters, but injured no one.
Early reports from law enforcement officials indicate that the car bomb found Friday morning may also have failed to detonate properly — causing smoke to appear in the passenger area. It was the smoke that prompted people to call explosives officers to the scene.
Terror in London: The London 7/7 Attack Who Did it?
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