Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Britain says it foils "mass murder" plane bomb plot (Reuters)

 Interessante.  La segnalazione e' stata inviata dai SS pakistani, mai i 
21 sono tutti britannici, lo stesso pattern del precedente attentato.  
Heathrow e' stata bloccato per tutto il giorno. Bush ha commentato, 
parlando di islamofascismo. Ma nei media britannici ancora non c'e' 
certezza.
Am.
Britain says it foils "mass murder" plane bomb plot
By Michael Holden and Adrian Croft  Thu Aug 10, 7:59 AM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - British police on Thursday foiled a plot to blow up 
aircraft in mid-flight between Britain and the United States, and were 
holding 21 people after overnight raids, senior officers said.
"We are confident we have disrupted a plan by terrorists to cause untold 
death and destruction," said London police Deputy Commissioner Paul 
Stephenson. "Put simply, this was intended to be mass murder on an 
unimaginable scale."
Both countries stepped up security, causing severe delays at airports 
following the announcement of the plot, which a police source said was 
believed to involve a "liquid chemical" device.
Unconfirmed media reports said anywhere from six to 10 U.S. commercial 
airliners had been targeted in the plot.
The head of London's counter-terrorist police, Peter Clarke, said the 
plot had "global dimensions." He said the number of flights, destination 
and timing were still under investigation.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security raised the threat level for all 
commercial aircraft to "high" and U.S. authorities banned liquids, 
including drinks, from U.S. commercial flights.
Britain's security services upped the threat level in the country to 
"critical" from "severe," the highest of its five ratings, which means 
"an attack is expected imminently."
The security alert comes 13 months after four British Islamist suicide 
bombers killed 52 people and injured about 700 on London's transport 
network.
The nationality of those being held was not immediately known. Arrests 
were made in the capital London, the southeast of England and Britain's 
second biggest city Birmingham.
Last month, the global militant group al Qaeda called on Muslims to 
fight those who backed Israel's attacks on Lebanon and warned of more 
attacks unless U.S. and British forces pulled out of Iraq and 
Afghanistan.
Al Qaeda hijacked passenger aircraft in September 2001 to destroy the 
World Trade Center in New York, and Briton Richard Reid was arrested in 
December 2001 for trying to blow up a plane headed to the United States.
"This liquid explosive type of attack is particularly worrying. Planes 
remain vulnerable and in the coming weeks terrorists will be thinking of 
something else to do that we have no idea about," said Peter Neumann, 
director of the Center for Defense Studies at London's King's College 
university.
"If this had worked out it would have been beyond any doubt the biggest 
terrorist plot in the UK," he told Reuters.
FLIGHTS SUSPENDED
The British Airports Authority said it had asked all European carriers 
to suspend flights to London's main Heathrow airport, where tighter 
security measures caused severe delays.
Shares in European airlines fell on the news, with British Airways 
shares opening nearly 5 percent lower. The pound also fell against the 
dollar and the euro. Oil prices fell more than $1 toward $75 a barrel.
Airlines said no hand baggage would be let on planes leaving British 
airports, banning electrical or battery powered items. Passengers had to 
hand over all liquids, including contact lens solutions, on flights to 
the United States.
Neumann said the plot appeared similar to a 1995 plan to blow up 11 
planes using nitroglycerine mixed in contact lens solution and a battery 
powered detonator.
Long queues formed at London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports as 
passengers were subjected to thorough searches.
"I'm an ex-flight attendant, I'm used to delays, but this is a different 
kind of delay," said Gita Saintangelo, 54, an American returning to 
Miami.
"We heard about it on the TV this morning. We left a little early and 
said a prayer," she said at Heathrow.
CRITICISM
Britain has been criticized by Islamist militants for its military 
campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair has also come under fire at home and 
abroad for following the U.S. lead and refusing to call for an immediate 
ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Lebanese Hizbollah 
guerrillas.
In a speech on Wednesday, Interior Minister John Reid said Britain was 
in the most sustained period of severe threat since the end of World War 
Two.
Blair's office said the prime minister, who is on holiday in the 
Caribbean, had briefed President Bush on the operation during the night.
Independent terrorism expert Paul Beaver said the nature of the 
suspected plot suggested a connection to al Qaeda.
"In the last two months al Qaeda promised that it would avenge Iraq and 
Afghanistan by attacking British and American aviation assets -- I see a 
direct link with that," he said.
(Additional reporting by Peter Griffiths, Catherine Hornby, Gi

 certezza.
Quindi dubiti o che?
Ciao! 

Recent Phony terror plot. Now no liquids on planes?  Do you feel safe?
Red Alert: Why is GWB hijacking our airlines? Okay. You can't fly. You
can't drive. So much for the global village, the travel industry and
"America on the Go". "There's still the train," I said, "but don't let
Bush know -- or he'll hijack Amtrak too." And start issuing terror
alerts for Trailways and Greyhound as well. Why is the Bush bureaucracy
making it so difficult for Americans to travel? And WHY are Americans
putting up with it?
The new measures are confined to preventing US travelers from carrying
liquids into the aircraft cabin, with exceptions for common-sense items
such as drugs and infant formula. Otherwise, US passengers will be
permitted to carry the usual items on board.  -What are they doing
with these so-called bombs after the so called traveling public I mean
terrorist give them to the TSA?
Apparently, the 'war on terror' could last a half-century or so we
are told but regardless of how long this phony war lasts, it'll mean
living under the boot of the state. It might not wear jackboots but
it'll be every bit as ruthless in suppressing dissent and as time
passes, the space for dissent will shrink, and shrink, and shrink ...
'til there's none left.
There's been a lot of crying wolf in London, so it should surprise no
one to find that the Americans have heard enough of it. (Although, to
be fair, Washington has trumpeted its share of counter terrorist
breakthroughs involving semi-harmless losers, but that's no reason for
them to buy into anyone else's.)
Shalom,
---  Prof. Leland Milton Goldblatt, Ph.D. ®
http://www.prof.faithweb.com
http://drgoldblatt.blogspot.com/

i smell a jew burning....
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