In Hunt for Bomb Plotters, Britain Sees a Qaeda Link
2 July NY Times - In Hunt for Bomb Plotters, Britain Sees a Qaeda Link by Alan Cowell and Raymond Bonner.
2 July Washington Post - 5 Suspects Held in British Bomb Attempts by Mary Jordan and Craig Whitlock.With their investigation moving at breakneck speed, the police expanded their hunt on Sunday for the plotters of attempted car bomb attacks in London and Glasgow that the British government called the work of terrorists linked to Al Qaeda. Officers raided homes in three cities and arrested another suspect, bringing the total to five, including at least one identified as a medical doctor.
The police said they had recovered a rich trove of evidence from the vehicles and from video surveillance after two car bombs failed to explode in London on Friday and two men rammed a Jeep Cherokee into the entrance of Glasgow Airport on Saturday. The events prompted the British authorities to raise their terrorism threat assessment to its highest level — “critical,” meaning another attack is imminent...
2 July London Times - Hunt for Terror Cell by Michael Evans and Adam Fresco.British police arrested a fifth person Sunday and raided homes in three cities in connection with attempted car bombings that officials say are connected to al-Qaeda.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who took over from Tony Blair on Wednesday, said in a nationally televised interview that "we are dealing, in general terms, with people who are associated with al-Qaeda."
On Friday, police in London found two Mercedes sedans packed with propane gas, gasoline and nails and said the drivers had intended to detonate them and kill as many people as possible. On Saturday in Glasgow, two men crashed a Jeep containing propane gas into the main terminal of the Glasgow Airport, setting it on fire. Those two men are in custody...
The terrorist group behind the latest wave of bombing plots has not yet been neutralised and other attacks could hit cities in the United Kingdom, security sources told The Times yesterday.
As the head of Scotland Yard’s Counter Terrorism Command confirmed that the two car bombs discovered in London and the blazing Jeep incident at Glasgow airport were linked, a source said: “There is a group of individuals out there who have the capability and the intent to carry out attacks in the UK.
“In our judgment it is very likely there will be further attacks.”
The alert status was raised to “critical” at the weekend and will stay there until MI5 and the police are sure that there are no further attacks being planned by the cell. Those responsible for parking two bomb-primed cars in the West End are still on the run...
Hands That Heal, Hands That Bomb
MSNBC is reporting two (2) doctors have been arrested:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19522388/
-not your average underprivliged, oppressed, poor angry young man lashing out in frustration and hopelessness. That just happens in France where they torched a couple thousand vehicles. I wondered about the use of Mercedes Benz cars.....
Originally Posted by goesh
It struck me that the UK terrorist organization (and AQ for that matter) is similar to white supremacists in the United States--a few well educated sociopaths organize and run the thing, but most of the foot soldiers are buffoons, incompetents, and losers.
Excellent analysis! This was a most amateurish attempt. The bombs were very similar to the 7/21/05 amateur bombers... not like the 7/7/05 SPBIEDs who hit the subways ... the bombs are similar too. We call these guys Class 5 terrorists ... amateurs.
Putting Foot to Al Qaeda Ass Since 1993
Christiane Amanpour had a CNN special last night about the Islamic rift in England and the general feel of the piece was the extremists are by far in the minority. What got my attention though was mention of a poll taken of English Muslims in which 14% of those surveyed regarded the subway bombers of 2 years ago as martyrs. No particulars of the survery were given however and it said that 49% of the people surveyed regarded the war in Iraq as a significant factor in the subway attacks. That's noteworthy in light of so many Shias and Sunnis killing each other in mosques and market places.
Duo who attacked Glasgow airport 'were resigned to death', say officers
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle2033389.ece
Also, an interesting story on:Constable Stewart Ferguson, 40, was off duty at the airport on Saturday and was talking to Sergeant Torquil Campbell when they ran around to the front of the terminal to find a burning Jeep wedged into building.
One of the occupants, believed to be the passenger, unoficially identified as Dr Bilal Abdulla, started attacking Mr Campbell, and trying, he said, to keep him away from the flaming vehicle.
As he fought with the man, his colleague grabbed a fire extinguisher and hosed down a second man, said to be Kafeel Ahmed, coming out of the flames.
Once the flames were out he aimed the extinguisher into the man’s eyes to disorientate him.
Speaking about the incident for the first time, Mr Ferguson said: “I remember his injuries and to me they were the most horrific injuries I had seen on a living person.
“In my opinion he was resigned to death.”
Mr Campbell, 49, said: “They were just waiting for death. The fact that they were still alive perplexed them a little bit and they didn’t know what to do.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/...119590,00.html
and,A man described as the "godfather of cyber-terrorism for al-Qaida" and two of his associates were today given prison sentences totalling 24 years.
The three were sentenced at Woolwich crown court after pleading guilty to inciting people to commit murder through their extremist websites. They had all changed their pleas earlier this week, two months into the trial.
The case is the first successful prosecution based entirely on the distribution of extremist material on the internet.
Moroccan-born computer expert Younis Tsouli, the ringleader, who ran a site that regularly featured beheadings, was imprisoned for 10 years.
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/cri...cle2737954.ece
A failed asylum seeker who hoarded manuals on how to carry out bombings using cars filled with gas bottles was facing jail today.
In a chilling echo of the Glasgow and London attacks, nightclubs and airports were amongst the 'suitable targets' identified in the 'vast library' of terror material found on the computer of Omar Altimimi.
The 37-year-old, who had links to Arab terrorists, had collected detailed information on how to set up terror cells in the UK, ways to make explosives and how car bombs can be detonated at the entrances to buildings via remote control.
Described by security sources as a "clean skin", Altimimi was not known as a terror suspect when he came to England to "blend-in" by applying for jobs with the police and as a teacher.
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