UK News
London car bomb could have caused "carnage" (2nd Roundup)
Jun 29, 2007, 13:15 GMT
London - British police Friday foiled a car bomb attack in the heart of London that could have caused 'significant loss of life' just days before the second anniversary of the major suicide attacks of July 7, 2005.
Government sources said the police and intelligence services were investigating a possible international link, and similarities to car bombs used by insurgents in Iraq.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, speaking after an emergency cabinet meeting, said Britain was currently facing 'the most serious and sustained threat.'
Scotland Yard anti-terrorism chief Peter Clarke said the vehicle- born device would have caused 'significant injury or loss of life' if it had gone off early Friday morning.
'At that hour on a Friday morning, many, many people were leaving nightclubs and other places after an evening out,' Clarke said.
The device had been 'manually disabled' by officers called to the scene at Haymarket, one of London's major tourists centres where theatres, clubs, bars and restaurants are located.
Police sources said up to 60 litres of petrol in several large containers, gas cylinders and a 'large number of nails' were recovered from the Mercedes car, parked outside a nightclub.
The attempted attack was the first major security challenge for Prime Minister Gordon Brown, coming only two days after he took office.
Brown Friday called an emergency meeting of the government crisis committee, Cobra, and urged the public to remain alert in the face of a 'serious and continuous threat' from terrorism.
'I will stress to the cabinet that the vigilance must be maintained over the next few days,' said Brown, in a clear reference to the upcoming anniversary of the 2005 attacks, in which 52 people died and more than 700 were injured.
The suspect car was spotted by an ambulance crew which had been called to the Tiger Tiger nightclub in the Haymarket, near Piccadilly, at around 2 am local time (0100 GMT) to assist a person, Clarke said.
They raised the alarm after seeing 'smoke' emerging from the light-green Mercedes saloon car, he added.
It was not clear whether the nightclub was a target, said Clarke. He had a 'completely open mind' as to who was behind the attack, the anti-terrorism chief said.
Earlier this month, a court in London sentenced seven men, said to have links with al-Qaeda, who the court heard had planned to use explosives-packed limousines for attacks in Britain.
Among their targets would have been nightclubs with 'all those slags dancing around,' according to taped evidence presented to the court.
'The device was almost ready to go, it was primed in a manner to be detonated shortly,' said a BBC correspondent, quoting police sources, about Friday's attempted attack.
'This was foiled totally by chance,' he added.
Security experts said it was the first time that a so-called vehicle-born improvised device (VBIED) would have been used in an attack in London.
'This is significant. These are the tactics of Iraq coming to the streets of Britain,' said the BBC's security correspondent, Frank Gardner.
Justice Secretary Jack Straw said the government was informed early Friday of the discovery.
'Sadly, in the world we live in, these things happen,' Straw said. 'The government was told early,' he added.
It was revealed later that 'enhanced security measures' had been put in place at the Houses of Parliament in Westminster in the wake of the incident.
Sources said the planned attack could have been linked to this week's change of government in London, or to the upcoming anniversary of the transport network bombings two years ago.
But a connection was also possible with the expected sentencing next week in the trial of four suspects accused of planning a follow- up attack on tubes and buses in London on July 21, 2005.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
blog comments powered by DisqusLatest Headlines in UK
- 1. Cambridge beat Oxford in 158th Boat Race after midway halt
- 2. Gas flare at Total's North Sea platform self-extinguishes
- 3. A myth turns 100: Titanic still fascinates world
- 4. Source of North Sea platform gas leak located, says Total
- 5. Efforts under way to stop gas leak on North Sea platform
Older Talkback
page: 1
guess them bobbies should be more careful where they park their terror cars, can not blame people from the middle east if an honest cop finds them before then get set off.
dont get excited... one real incident happened early this morning in London the other one is pure fantasy. It is not hard to tell the differance or to tell that banner ads like tha have been lined up before the incident in Haymarket. there is enough in the world to complain about...but not that.
I find it amusing that the driver appeared to have been overcome by fumes to the extent that he lost control and then abandonned his car. What a muppet. Does anyone know,.. was he using unleaded petrol?
' Iraq Iraq Iraq ' . What was the excuse before Iraq ? Terrorists have always had an excuse to target the UK and others . They will always have an excuse and that will never change .
Interesting how just days after PM Gordon enters his new office, there would be an attempted attack. Especially since he has so publicly said he'd focus on domestic issues. I wonder if this wasn't just a ploy to pass a few new laws through parliament under the excuse of 'protecting against terrorism.' No one else finds it curious that a highly trained terror cell with a devestating plot was foiled by fumes?? Roll down a window... -- I think something is off center here.
The point here is that whether the device went off, or was discovered, the threat lingers. If bin Laden's aim was to disrupt Western civilizations' calm way of life, he succeeded.
As a result of 9/11, we've all been continually distracted, and the 'overhead costs' of just surviving have mounted, in terms of dollars.
The world has always endured 'terror', but it's essentially been a local matter. Read the history of bin Laden's fervor beginning with the Gulf War in 1991, when he asked the Saudis to lead a Muslim army against Saddam (and the Saudis wisely turned him down, and turned to the U.S. and allies), and you realize the initial trigger for all of this. Modern civilization allows for terror to be 'exported', and even a comparatively small device can get the headlines.
The war in Iraq might have been a good idea, if it had ended in 2 years with an Iraqi government, and some vestige of stability. Blame execution (or lack thereof) by this Administration, and Blair's approval rating took a massive hit by the time he left office. Now he's going to 'play diplomat' in a pretty hopeless scenario, so give him credit for at least trying.
The Brits have endured this kind of thing size the buzz-bombs of WW II, and are a good role model for how the public should handle what's become an ever-present overhang threat of attacks of their homeland.
To all those who've bought the bogus argument for the War ... 'Fight them there so we won't have to fight them here.'
So how's that workin for ya?
Re: To all those who've bought the bogus argument for the War ... 'Fight them there so we won't have to fight them here.
---
I agree that the premise was nonsensical. There's no armada of ships on the way from the Mideast, and this is not Tripoli and the Barbary Wars. Why send an army, when a group of terrorists can cause this much disruption, even when the tragedy is averted? Rumsfeld and Cheney could not let go of the 1991 model, when Saddam foolishly engaged our troops, and was militarily obliterated.
I took the premise to mean stabilizing Iraq so that terrorist factions could not take control. This is not a great plan with the inhabitants in an overt civil war, which Saddam bottled up for many years by going after Shiite militants. Al Qaeda has no following amongst the native Iraqis, but at this point both sides pay money for support - al Q is funded by that huge opium crop in Afghanistan. Remember Afghanistan - 9/11? Anyone? That's the job undone that has led to the current mess in Iraq.
I cannot even count the ways that this Administration has screwed things up, with Chavez in a state visit to Russia immediately before Putin's visit to Maine as an example. When the leaders of your enemies are cleverer than your own leadership, you have a problem. At this point, the 'leader of the free world' leads nothing, as money talks louder, and Russia and Iran have our allies as customers for oil and weapons.
' 'Fight them there so we won't have to fight them here.''
'I agree that the premise was nonsensical.'
Well it is when you import them 'over here'
'There's no armada of ships on the way from the Mideast, and this is not Tripoli and the Barbary Wars. '
....Duuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
----------------------------------------------------------------------- --------
ABC News is reporting that UK police have a clear picture of the man who drove that explosive-laden Mercedes in London today. And he looks a lot like a Muslim who was previously arrested in connection with another UK terror plot—but released.
I guess we can rule out the IRA or the Mafia now. (To name two absurd theories floated by UK authorities trying to avoid the T word.)
British police have a “crystal clear” picture of the man who drove the bomb-rigged silver Mercedes outside a London nightclub, and officials tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com he bears “a close resemblance” to a man arrested by police in connection with another bomb plot but released for lack of evidence.
Officials say the suspect had been taken into custody in connection with the case of al Qaeda operative Dhiren Barot, who was convicted of orchestrating a vehicle bomb plot involving targets in London, New York, Newark, N.J. and Washington, D.C.
Officials say a surveillance camera caught the suspect “staggering from the Mercedes” shortly after parking it outside the Tiger Tiger nightclub.
U.S. and British law enforcement officials tell ABC News it is increasingly clear Friday’s bomb plot in London involves multliple vehicles, and is described by a senior official as a “terror plot involving lslamic extremists.”
Repeating the completely false assumptions and rhetoric of Sean Hannity doesn't help your credibility.
Not one person has said to 'surrender'. You're simply regurgitating made-up, inflammatory and baseless crap from the far-right.
Sean likes to substitute reality with his wrong assumptions, then argue with himself about what his assumptions really mean.
Now you're doing it too.
Get a grip. Use real quotes of peoples intentions if you can, not those made up lies, repeated ad nauseum.
' 'Fight them there so we won't have to fight them here.''
'I agree that the premise was nonsensical.'
Well it is when you import them 'over here'
---
Whose fault is that??? Which President has NOT tightened up the Mexican border crossings, and constructed usable barriers??? Which President just added $4.4 billion to the immigration legislation that SHOULD have been allocated years ago??? Entry, even with visas, is not secure, and the unified terrorist watchlist Bush promised several times over the years does not exist. Meanwhile, 'Sam Jones', or anyone sounding LIKE a name on the existing system, gets hounded.
--------
'There's no armada of ships on the way from the Mideast, and this is not Tripoli and the Barbary Wars. '
....Duuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
-----
It's hard to respond to a 'sound', but I suppose in your case that passes for thought. The Barbary Wars of 1801-1805 and 1815 were against the North African 'pirates', quite a decent metaphor for some Middle Eastern states today. The Ottoman Empire was comprised of independent Muslim states. I'd suggest some catching up on Wikipedia. Or, you could try listening to the Marine Corps' hymn:
' ... to the shores of Tripoli ...'
'... On Jefferson's inauguration as president in 1801, Yussif Karamanli, the Pasha (or Bashaw) of Tripoli demanded $225,000 from the new administration. (In 1800, Federal revenues totaled a little over $10 million.) Putting his long-held beliefs into practice, Jefferson refused the demand. Consequently, in May of 1801, the Pasha declared war on the United States, not through any formal written documents, but by cutting down the flagstaff in front of the U.S. Consulate. Morocco, Algiers, and Tunis soon followed their ally in Tripoli. ... '
page: 1
TTJun 29th, 2007 - 14:00:47
I protest against the intrusive character of your Hostel Part II advert -- to go with the London carbomb story. Shame on you!
Report this comment