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Exclusive: Al Qaeda U.K. on the Prowl for Targets; Encouraged to Strike During the Holidays
December 22, 2006 12:13 PM
ABC News has learned that al Qaeda operatives in the greater London area are being encouraged to "strike during the Christian holidays," according to intelligence and law enforcement sources.
Those sources say that Internet chatter and Web postings monitored by authorities are behind the grave concern of an imminent al Qaeda strike, one that at least some law enforcement officials in Britain fear will again target mass transit.
Sir Ian Blair, the head of London's Metropolitan Police, summed up those concerns to the BBC Radio 4 Today program, "The threat of another terrorist attempt is ever present. Christmas is a period when that might happen. We have no specific intelligence to do [with] that.
THE BLOTTER RECOMMENDS
"It is a far graver threat in terms of civilians than either the Cold War or the Second World War. It's a much graver threat than that posed by Irish Republican terrorism," he added.
While there are no specifics to the concern -- no targets, no corroborated intelligence and no very specific timing -- authorities are taking the information more seriously than they otherwise might. Their concern stems from the knowledge that at least 1,200 al Qaeda operatives are at large in Great Britain, with about 18 key al Qaeda members among them and at least two highly placed linchpins to al Qaeda operations, who may have made Britain their home base.
Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage.
ABC News sources in North America and the U.K. say that British authorities are constantly on the run, breaking up plots on a near weekly basis that have reached the pre-operational phase.
Sources in Britain add that at least one "pivotal...al Qaeda U.K." operative has been detained during the past two weeks, and others may -- at least temporarily -- be in custody.
While authorities have seized some "precursor chemicals" during these raids, including acetone and hydrogen peroxide, as well as batteries, all of these are common household items would serve little purpose in court.
But that is not the purpose of the raids. The purpose is to break up plots before they can be executed.
ABC News has also exclusively learned, with chilling detail, from U.S. and British law enforcement sources that investigators from New Scotland Yard and the British domestic security service MI5 have put together physical evidence and a pattern of interlocking relationships between alleged terrorists that appear to establish a firm link among the subway and bus bombs that killed 52 Londoners on July 7, 2005, a failed set of bombings on July 21, 2005 and a plot to blow up between six and nine airliners, killing as many as 5,000 persons headed to the United States this summer, all the result of three years of planning by British al Qaeda.
Each cell appears to have had ties back to the same British citizen who controlled the plotters from Pakistan and whose identity was first reported by the ABC News Investigative Unit, sources said. That link plus forensic evidence and evidence of overlapping knowledge and personnel in each of the plots is more terrifying to authorities than the prior theory of independent cells operating without knowledge of each others' plans, sources said.
Intelligence sources also say it points to an organized group of cells working to cause carnage and damage to Britain's economy, apparently in an effort to wear down the public will to fight along side the United States in the War on Terror.
Physical evidence includes the use of batteries in more than one plot that cannot be purchased in the United Kingdom but only be purchased in Pakistan, sources say. In addition, a form of the powdered drink Tang most commonly available in Pakistan (although available in some U.K. specialty stores) was the organic material used to mix with peroxide in the bombs intended for the air bombing plot slated for last September to mark the fifth anniversary of 9/11.
Frightening details have also emerged that show how careful the planning was for the latest plot dubbed "Operation Overt," a plot interrupted by authorities at the 11th hour when they felt they had gathered much of the evidence needed to make charges stick.
Sources say the cell members had developed at least four separate methods of potentially delivering their lethal devices: sports drinks, baby bottles, cameras and possibly flashlights. They had also developed four-person teams to board each of the six to nine U.S.-bound commercial jets targeted, with each team member carrying a different apparently innocuous item aboard to maximize chances of avoiding discovery and to maximize the chance of blowing a plane out of the sky by successfully secreting multiple devices in the passenger compartment.
Although the terror suspects were homegrown, the plot itself exhibited none of the hastiness from plan to execution or the lack of professionalism in planning that are often the hallmarks of what are commonly called homegrown plots.
The plot was three years in the making. The chemistry, electronic and concealment skills of the bomb makers in the plot were excellent, intelligence analysts say.
Through it, British authorities came to see that al Qaeda Britain had emerged, and it had emerged as a lethal spin-off of the historical al Qaeda model developed by Osama Bin Laden. Although its ties to that original core of terrorists is largely inspirational, Al Qaeda Britain has the patience, membership and professionalism of its ancestor.
U.S. and U.K. intelligence sources say one of the formidable hurdles British investigators now face is the potential ease with which terrorists and their supporters can conceal their movements within a large, vibrant set of British Muslim communities. There are about two million Muslims in England, about 700,000 in London alone.
And because of a longstanding colonial and post-colonial history with pre-partitioned India and post-partitioned Pakistan, travel between England and Pakistan is substantial. Four hundred thousand British citizens and residents traveled to Pakistan last year, which, sources say, makes identifying a single member from one of 300 cells an enormous challenge.
Alexis Debat contributed to this report
December 22, 2006 | Permalink | User Comments (36)
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But you know what? If the Brits and America started killing these thugs first, then asked question, the libs would call us the bad guys. Never in my life have I seen so many people afraid of offending the so called good muslims. The good muslims should be killing the bad muslims too.
Posted by: Richard | Dec 22, 2006 12:39:17 PM
I am scared. I am supposed to leave for London next Thursday for NYE and now I don't know if I want to go. This really has me freaked out.
Posted by: Mooveychick | Dec 22, 2006 12:44:05 PM
The West is too politically correct to wage successful warfare, or to even defend itself and its (long gone) principles any longer. We hear all this bizarre news, but it just gets worse because we are trapped in the systematic brainwashing of society on all levels according to an artificial, unrealistic mindset -- much like a cult. Very sad. And there's really no better place to go now since the West influences much of the rest of the world that has any kind of civilization. And the remaining world is just barbaric.
Posted by: Charles | Dec 22, 2006 1:08:25 PM
I agree 100% with Richard. We try to keep ourselves and our country safe and get bad mouthed for doing so. A lot of people have their heads buried so far in the ground they cant see what has to be done. Wake up Americans!!
Posted by: Cajun | Dec 22, 2006 1:15:37 PM
This all also proves that one of
the biggest mistakes both that
Delusional Drug Store Cowboy In
The White House Liar George W Bush
and his English Sidekick Tony Blair
should have finished the job in
Afghanistan and got Osama bin Laden
even if they had to go into Pakistan to do so, instead of them
carrying out President George W
Bush personal vendetta against
Saddam Hussein In Iraq,for as Bush
claims,"He Tried To Kill My Daddy,
George H W Bush'insanity as Bush &
Blair have done more to spread
world terrorism then to stop it!
Posted by: Sandy | Dec 22, 2006 1:26:15 PM
LET THE OPERATIVES STRIKE,THEN THE GOVERNMENT CAN HAVE A LIST SO THEY CAN TRACK THEM WHERE EVER THEY GO.
Posted by: KAYLEE BURRIS | Dec 22, 2006 1:26:34 PM
this is just getting way out of hand, this is terrorism thing is supposed to happen every long weekend of every month i think that some people just like to have all of the world live in fear, pretty soon no one will leave there houses and all have bomb shelters in the back yard, at some point this is going to change but i dont think there is an election yet for that to happen, but when it does the threat of terrorism will disappear, thanks
Posted by: Chris | Dec 22, 2006 1:56:43 PM
Georges daddy was president.Last I checked that is probably a violation of the cease fire.Car bombing a president just might be seen as an act of war.
Posted by: Earl | Dec 22, 2006 2:45:43 PM
It's a shame that Britain has not studied how the Roman Empire fell. The Barbarians are not at the gate, they're through the gate and ready to strike.
Posted by: Hat Man | Dec 22, 2006 3:24:14 PM
I believe there are more Al Queda cells than most realize. Bin Laden must be found. If cells attack either The UK or the U.S. there will be support to the other. Vigilance by the public is foremost at this Holiday time of year, especially.
Posted by: evensteven | Dec 22, 2006 3:28:59 PM
Under reported is the way the Russians dealt with the terrorists in the 1970’s in Lebanon. When their diplomat was taken by the terrorists, the Russians said kill the diplomat, then identified who the head kidnapper was, killed his family and every one they could find that said they knew the kidnapper. That was the last Russian kidnapped for years. I am not saying it was right but it did deliver a message.
Posted by: Jeff Cleveland | Dec 22, 2006 3:32:36 PM
We need more undercover terrorist units who have the best technology available and the right to use it. Once they catch a terrorist plotting to blow up innocent women and childrean they should be coerced, not tortured, to tell us where the others are located at. They should follow the big chain of terrorists to the end until they are all eradicated. You Brits will be completed destroyed because you don't have the guts to do it. Jerry Tifton, GA
Posted by: Jerry Tifton, GA | Dec 22, 2006 5:12:38 PM
Hope you are all ready for a long, long war. I bet it will soon be called World War 3. A religious war just as predicted. Religion has not brought many good things to the world. Very sad unfortunatly.
I'll be moving to the country to escape the bombs.
Posted by: Sunrayz | Dec 22, 2006 6:15:29 PM
Sandy- alQaeda/ObL is Sunni Arab. Saddam & Sons are/were Sunni Arab. The leaders of Iran are Shiia Persians. What on Earth are you talking about? If ObL is dead it means zero to the Mullahs in Iran. Their terror arm is Hizb'Allah and al Qaeda would behead a Shiia Persian in a heartbeat. You seemingly know as little about the situation as the incoming Democrat heading the House Intel Cmte.
Posted by: The Whip | Dec 22, 2006 7:18:16 PM
I have been telling that if US want to root out islamic fundamentalists/extremists/terrorists from this world and bring the murderers of 9/11 to justice then they must get their own military boots on the ground in the lawless region bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan. Come on Brits at leat you wake up and do this. These same murderers killed your 57 brothers and sisters too. Didn't they? Outsourcing of that job to Pakistani military and intelligence service will not yield anything. Entire Pakistani intelligence service and it's military is heavily sympathetic to these islamic murderers/terrorists/fundamentalists/extremists. Get your own guys in there.
Posted by: Raju Vallamulai | Dec 22, 2006 11:24:52 PM
The key is not to be afraid because then the terrorists have won. The US media like ABC has to learn that as well - if you create fear because of the way your write your story, you are helping Al Qaeda. Instead the media like ABC should be inspiring people to stand strong, and continue with their daily lives. Above all don't react like the fear-mongering Bush administration does, they use the threat of terrorism for political gain.
Also con's one reporter has said publicly he got classified leaks from intelligence people, and the intelligence people get something they want from him. That is what is called a two-way street, con's. Sometimes intelligence people also might leak classified information for strategic reasons.
However con's can ALWAYS be counted on to accuse the media of being traitors for printing classified leaks, because that's what conservative propagandists tell con's to do. The conservative propagandists of course know what's really going on, but they are desperate for political power no matter what the cost to their country.
Posted by: Chris Baker | Dec 22, 2006 11:57:29 PM
The story is about London, but the presence of Al-Quaeda in the U.S. is a very real and present danger. Have you read "A Line in the Sand: Confronting the Threat at the Southwest Border". Our best hope is for each and every citizen to be alert for suspicious activity and to take action by reporting it to the authorities. There are not enough police/agents to be everywhere they need to be to pick up the clues. Ordinary citizens are going to have to pitch in and work to extinguish the threat. This is not to be confused with fear and retreating inward. It is taking an active role to observe and report. We can not sit back and wait for our government to take care of us. We must be part of the solution.
Quote: "During 2005, Border Patrol apprehended approximately 1.2 million illegal aliens; of those 165,000 were from countries other than Mexico. Of the non-Mexican aliens, approximately 650 were from special interest countries. Special interest countries are those “designated by the intelligence community as countries that could export individuals that could bring harm to our country in the way of terrorism.”"
The data indicates that each year hundreds of illegal aliens from countries known to
harbor terrorists or promote terrorism are routinely encountered and apprehended
attempting to enter the U.S. illegally between Ports of Entry. Just recently, U.S.
intelligence officials report that seven Iraqis were found in Brownsville, Texas in June
2006.103 In August 2006, an Afghani man was found swimming across the Rio Grande
River in Hidalgo, Texas;104 as recently as October 2006, seven Chinese were
apprehended in the Rio Grande Valley area of Texas.105
Items have been found by law enforcement officials along the banks of the Rio Grande
River and inland that indicate possible ties to a terrorist organization or member of
military units of Mexico.106 A jacket with patches from countries where al Qa’ida is
known to operate was found in Jim Hogg County, Texas by the Border Patrol. The patches on the jacket show an Arabic military badge with one depicting an airplane flying over a building and heading towards a tower, and another showing an image of a lion’s head with wings and a parachute emanating from the animal. The bottom of one patch
read “martyr,” “way to eternal life” or “way to immortality.
Posted by: Cheryl | Dec 23, 2006 12:09:21 AM
Jrry Tiftonsays, "Religion has not brought many good things to the world."
--How foolish. Does he not know that through Christians like Wilberforce slavery was abololished in the UK and Uncle Toim's CAbin was written that Lincoln called the genesis fo the civil war? Murry and others were inspired to start offf\ical orphaneages and othert christians started literacy and hospitals. I think he would be showck to see just how barbaric we would still be if it wasn't for the inpsiration of Christians in particualr. Look at the field of science and how many were involved in finding out how God's world worked. Now, let's look at those who outright reject any religion --the communists and consdier how up to 60 million pople died in the Soveit Union concentrationcamps under Lenin and Stalin! Now let's look at Hitler or the Killing fields of Cambodia or preent day north Korea--what do they have in common but an outright rejection of the spirit--and of any form of religion. REligion has lifted man from it's barbaric natural tendencies.
Tehn when you've got that in your head, consider the various religious leaders--they are not all equal. Jesus said to love and forgive your enemy and Mohammed led his men in multiple assaults on the 'heathen.' Look at the uproar over the Danish cartoons compared to the somehwat mild outcries and with no violence from Christians over the "Last Temptation of Christ" movie or the artwork, "Piss Christ." Need one say more?
Posted by: Duncan | Dec 23, 2006 12:09:44 AM
Ummm, I'm no genius, but when the name Muhammed is the 26th most popular name for newborns in the UK, displacing "George", you better expect the Shiite to hit the fan on a daily basis.
Poorly thought out immigration policies have pretty much turned Europe into Jihadland, and the European leaders are now unable to stop the invasion from within.
We are in the middle of WWIII kids. It's between the sane and the insane, with the insane being categorized as those who would kill innocent women and children in order to score snacks and 72 virgins.
Wake up people!!!
Posted by: Pauline Hansen | Dec 23, 2006 12:17:43 AM
This story hasn't been in any of the British newspapers, the radio or TV and my kids who live there haven't heard the story either; so where did you get it from?
Posted by: Chris Sullivan | Dec 23, 2006 2:27:21 AM
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