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UK foils plane terror plot
Major delays are expected at all UK airports after the nation's threat level was raised to "critical" when police disrupted a major plot to blow up planes in mid-flight.
The highest possible alert level, raised by the British Home Office on Thursday, means "an attack is expected imminently," and authorities have said no hand luggage would be allowed onto planes.
London's Metropolitan Police said a months-long intelligence operation by the anti-terrorist branch and security service resulted in several arrests overnight, according to a Scotland Yard news release.
The aim of the plot was to explode devices carried aboard planes in handheld luggage -- especially on flights from Britain to the United States, according to Scotland Yard.
"This is a major operation which inevitably will be lengthy and complex," Scotland Yard said in a statement.
Britain's Home Secretary John Reid has called the alleged plot significant and said it was designed to "bring down a number of aircraft through mid-flight explosions, causing a considerable loss of life."
Major disruptions are likely at airports across Britain on Thursday after transport authorities announced strict new security measures.
Passengers will only be allowed to take a wallet, travel documents and other essential items in a plastic bag.
"All passengers must be hand searched, and their footwear and all the items they are carrying must be X-ray screened," a BAA statement said.
The alleged terror plot comes more than five years after Briton Richard Reid attempted to detonate explosives hidden in his sneakers on an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami in December 2001, only a few months after the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington.
Passengers thwarted his plan, and the plane landed safely in Boston. Reid pleaded guilty to terrorism charges in October 2002 and is serving a life sentence at the nation's super-maximum security prison in Florence, Colorado.
In Washington, FBI Special Agent Richard Kolko said the agency is aware of the "ongoing situation in London" and will issue a statement later.
Source: CNN.com
The highest possible alert level, raised by the British Home Office on Thursday, means "an attack is expected imminently," and authorities have said no hand luggage would be allowed onto planes.
London's Metropolitan Police said a months-long intelligence operation by the anti-terrorist branch and security service resulted in several arrests overnight, according to a Scotland Yard news release.
The aim of the plot was to explode devices carried aboard planes in handheld luggage -- especially on flights from Britain to the United States, according to Scotland Yard.
"This is a major operation which inevitably will be lengthy and complex," Scotland Yard said in a statement.
Britain's Home Secretary John Reid has called the alleged plot significant and said it was designed to "bring down a number of aircraft through mid-flight explosions, causing a considerable loss of life."
Major disruptions are likely at airports across Britain on Thursday after transport authorities announced strict new security measures.
Passengers will only be allowed to take a wallet, travel documents and other essential items in a plastic bag.
"All passengers must be hand searched, and their footwear and all the items they are carrying must be X-ray screened," a BAA statement said.
The alleged terror plot comes more than five years after Briton Richard Reid attempted to detonate explosives hidden in his sneakers on an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami in December 2001, only a few months after the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington.
Passengers thwarted his plan, and the plane landed safely in Boston. Reid pleaded guilty to terrorism charges in October 2002 and is serving a life sentence at the nation's super-maximum security prison in Florence, Colorado.
In Washington, FBI Special Agent Richard Kolko said the agency is aware of the "ongoing situation in London" and will issue a statement later.
Source: CNN.com