Morning update: 24 arrested, at least 10 more being sought.
Chertoff: liquid explosive devices
Terror plot seemed to be well planned. Very sophisticated, very skilled.
President warns FBI and CIA of danger of leaks. "There better not be any!"
Dr. John Reid, British Home Secretary Press Conference (London 12:10 PM):
Mid-flight explosions planned.
Police and MI5 operations ongoing and complex. Global connections.
British working with U.S. Homeland Security
Public should remain ever vigilant.
Scotland Yard satisfied with first phase of investigation
Critical threat level a precautionary measure since they cannot be sure they have all the players involved, but British are confident they do have all the main players.
Scotland Yard Press Conference: a very serious event. Intended mass murder. Unimagineable harm if plot had been successful. 21 arrested, more being sought.
Fox, Mike Emmanuel reporting: Washington official says al-Qaeda connection.
Sky News: Those arrested -- British of Pakistani origin.
Whitehall: Tony Blair has been in contact with President Bush on several occasions both by phone and during his recent trip to U.S.
Fox: U.S. source, up to 50 involved.
U.S. raises threat level for domestic flights to ORANGE
Raised to RED for inbound flights from Britain.
By Todd Eastham
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government raised the security alert on passenger planes to its highest level for the first time on Thursday after Britain said it had foiled a plot to blow up flights to the United States.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said it was taking an unprecedented step by raising the threat level for commercial flights originating in the United Kingdom to "severe," or red.
The threat level for all other commercial aircraft operating in or destined for the United States would be raised to "high," or orange, from "elevated," or yellow, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said in a statement.
The threat level for the country as a whole remained at yellow, according to the department's Web site.
Homeland Security took immediate steps that included barring passengers from carrying liquids, including beverages, hair gels and lotions, on planes. It said travelers in both countries should expect long delays.
No carry on luggage allowed. No handbags. All liquids, hair gels, lotions, and including all beverages banned from American flights. Babies milk must be tasted by passenger to be allowed on board. No aersols. No electronics, batteries
Liquid chemical devices suspected as agent.
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Major terror plot thwarted disrupted in Britain, 20 significant number (21 24) arrested, 20 6 10 planes targeted. Britain on "Critical Alert." Plot said to be bigger than 9/11 using hand luggage carried on the plane. Planes targeted going from Britain to the United States.
Video:
Flopping Aces has all the details. Major Terrorist Plot In England Foiled including reaction from the alternate universe left.
Latest from BBC TV
Plot to blow up planes' foiled
All airports have been put under the restrictionsA terrorist plot to blow up planes in mid-flight from the UK to the US has been disrupted, Scotland Yard has said.
It is thought the plan was to detonate explosive devices smuggled on aircraft in hand luggage.
Police have arrested about 18 people in the London area after an anti-terrorist operation lasting several months.
Security at all airports in the UK has been tightened and delays are expected. MI5 has raised the UK threat level to critical - the highest possible.
According to MI5's website, critical threat level means "an attack is expected imminently and indicates an extremely high level of threat to the UK".
BBC home affairs correspondent Daniel Sandford says he does not think the police believe an attack is imminent.
"The reason for raising the threat level is in case there is some other sub-plot, back-up plot around this that the police aren't aware of," he said.
Scotland Yard said in a statement that their investigation into the alleged plot was a "major operation" which would be "lengthy and complex".
"We would like to reassure the public that this operation was carried out with public safety uppermost in our minds."
Home Secretary John Reid confirmed that there had been a plot "to bring down a number of aircraft through mid-flight explosions causing a considerable loss of life".
Transparent bags
The Department for Transport set out the details of the security measures at UK airports.
Passengers will not be allowed to take any hand luggage on to any flights in the UK, the department said.
Only the barest essentials - including passports and wallets - will be allowed to be carried on board in transparent plastic bags.
"We hope that these measures, which are being kept under review by the government, will need to be in place for a limited period only," the statement said.
BBC journalist Joe Lynam encountered the increased security measures at Gatwick airport.
"I was handed a piece of paper saying that pretty much nothing could be taken on board the plane," he said.
"Everything had to be checked in and that includes mobile phones, ipods, wallets - even spectacle cases had to be checked in."
David Learmount from Flight International Magazine said he expected passengers to be searched much more carefully.
He added: "This is the first time this measure has actually been taken. Certainly I've never seen hand luggage banned."
Is this related?
OHIO DUO W/ PASSENGER LISTS AND PHONES BUSTED (H/T: PJM)
Marietta, Ohio - Investigators in southeast Ohio said they were working to unravel how two Michigan men charged with supporting terrorism came to have airplane passenger lists and airport security information.
"Osama Sabhi Abulhassan, 20, and Ali Houssaiky, 20, both of the Detroit suburb of Dearborn, were being held at the Washington County jail on $200,000 bond each, which could be raised at a Thursday afternoon court hearing. Each was charged Wednesday with money laundering in support of terrorism." (AP) 00:39 PDT
UPDATE:
Sky News:
Breaking News
More on This Story UPDATE II:
Breaking News
Security raised to 'critical'
'Mass Murder Terror Plot'
There is chaos at British airports after police disrupted a plot to cause "mass murder on an unimaginable scale" by blowing up planes over UK and US cities.
The explosives would have been smuggled aboard six airliners as hand luggage - and could have been missed during x-ray screening.
Speaking at Scotland Yard, Deputy Commissioner Paul Stephenson said he was confident the police had disrupted a plot "to cause mass murder on an unimaginable scale".
He said 21 people arrested in London, Birmingham and the Thames Valley were still being held - the culmination of a covert counter-terrorist operation lasting several months.
Queues at Heathrow
Big queues were building up at UK airports as passengers trying to board international flights were not being allowed to carry on normal hand luggage.
Security sources believe that liquid explosives would have been used which could have been mixed during the flight into a lethal concoction.
Sky News' Crime Correspondent Martin Brunt said he had been told the threat was imminent and those arrested were mainly young, British-born Asian men.
The Home Secretary John Reid said the official level of security - indicating public risk - had been raised from 'severe' to 'critical'.
The US government has also raised its threat assessment to the highest level for commercial flights from Britain to America.
Flights have been cancelled
Whitehall sources said the Prime Minister and President Bush had been in contact over the plot for some time.
There have been lengthy queues at most British airports with many flights hit.
British Airways cancelled all its short-haul UK and European inbound and outbound flights to and from Heathrow until 3pm.
Flights scheduled into Heathrow were cancelled - apart from those already in the air.
The British Airports Authority urged passengers not to go to Heathrow unless absolutely necessary.
Flights to Britain with Lufthansa, Iberia, Olympic, KLM and Air France were cancelled until later in the day.
:: Security experts said such an attack would have a precedent - during the 1990s, a plot was foiled to blow up 12 Western airliners simultaneously in Asia.
Related:
Counterterrorism Blog has excellent early commentary.
Michelle Malkin wakes up and has started a good link summary.
GROUNDHOG DAY: Bojinka Again (Updated) SeeDubya reminds us of a prior, but similar plot.
Brendan Loy has extensive coverage
But that just reminds us all, as Crazy Politico writes, “It’s still a 9/11 world” - amen brother. Which brings up the comparison others are making to Operation Bojinka, which many thought was a precusor to 9/11, which brings us back to Able Danger - see how full cycle this all is?
Keep the tools in place, and it’s easy to connect the dots!
And in one of the morning press conferences, they said that they had been tracking this group for months, including through their financial records. And you were saying about the NSA?
If you have the stomach for it, you can check out some of the remarks from the clueless. Isn't the world insane enough right now? It is amazing, simply amazing, to contemplate the insanity that passes for discourse on the looney left. Go read the whole thing, there are some sane people too:
It’s nothing more than a planned scare tactic!!!!!!!
Ladies and gents, the news of the terrorist plots that were foiled this morning were as a result of a coordinated effort on the part of President Bush, VP Cheney, “Bush’s Brain” Karl Rove, and British Prime Minister Tony Blair - not to warn and advise people who were travelling to and from the UK, but instead to send a message to Lamont voters in CT and other anti-war nuts elsewhere in the country that voting for an anti-war candidate will have consequences!!!!!!!!!!
Read the below posts to find out just how they managed to fool the world:
- Al Qaeda’s Predictable Return to the Stage: You Can Thank Dick Cheney
- Lieberman loses, CODE RED, CODE RED, CODE RED
K-Lo rounds up some DU reax. Here’s one:
“Exactly—why now? Why is this major disruption being discussed NOW. What else is going on? This sounds lke another Bush diversion tactic…Get the media to discuss terror, because there is something else that they don’t want us discussing. Bait & Switch technique.”
We also learn today that it’s Bush’s fault that the terrorist plots were even designed to begin with:
Direct Intercept
From FoxNews: Terror Plot Suspects Planned 'Dry-Run' of Attacks in Next 2 Days, Sources Say.
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