SCOTLAND YARD: Full Statement On Today's "Plan To Commit Mass Murder"

[kpete]

'We have disrupted a plan to commit mass murder'

The full text of the statement given by
Deputy Commissioner Paul Stephenson of Scotland Yard on today's anti-terrorist operation.

Press Association
Thursday August 10, 2006
Guardian Unlimited


'We are confident that we have disrupted a plan by terrorists to cause untold death and destruction and to commit, quite frankly, mass murder.

"I would want to join the commissioner who is fully briefed and has been here at New Scotland Yard since very early this morning in paying tribute to the Met's counter terrorist branch and the security services for the work that they have undertaken in disrupting these activities.

"We believe that the terrorists' aim was to smuggle explosives onto aeroplanes in hand luggage and to detonate these in flight.

"We also believe that the intended targets were flights from the United Kingdom to the United States of America.

read the rest at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,,1841297,00.html


edit to include this:

Britain arrests 18 overnight in operation to avert terrorist plot to blow up planes between the UK and US. "It is believed that the plan was to cause near simultaneous explosions on around three planes from the UK travelling to the US using explosives smuggled onboard inside hand luggage," the Guardian reports. "Police have arrested around 18 people in the London and Thames Valley areas. They are described as 'British-born' and were held as part of an operation which has been ongoing for several months." Blair, in the Carribean, briefed Bush during the night. No handluggage allowed for planes out of the UK, including no cell phones, laptops, or notably, liquids. Sky reports those arrested are 20 mostly young, British-born Asian men. Arrests come after speech by British home secretary John Reid Wednesday to think tank criticizing civil liberties groups. "They just don't get it," he said.

http://www.warandpiece.com/blogdirs/004731.html