| UK terror plot thwarted | |
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CuZzA - Student  |
Britain bans hand luggage fearing 'liquid chemical' device; arrests made LONDON - British police thwarted on Thursday what they said was a plot to blow up aircraft in mid-flight between Britain and the United States and arrested more than 15 people. Both countries stepped up security, causing severe delays at airports following the revelation of the plot, which a police source said was believed to involve a “liquid chemical” device. “A major terrorist plot to allegedly blow up aircraft in mid-flight has been disrupted,” a London police spokesman said. “The police acting with the security service MI5 are investigating an alleged plot to bring down a number of aircraft through mid-flight explosions, causing a considerable loss of life,” Interior Minister John Reid said. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security raised the threat level for all commercial aircraft to high and U.S. authorities banned liquids, including drinks, from all U.S. commercial flights. Britain’s security services raised the threat level in the country to “critical” from “severe,” the highest of its five ratings which means “an attack is expected imminently.” The British Airports Authority said it had asked all European carriers to suspend flights to London’s main Heathrow airport where new security measures caused severe delays. The news came amid high international tension over the war in Lebanon and the week British Prime Minister Tony Blair headed on holiday to the Caribbean. London police said they believed the intention was to target flights from Britain to the United States. Shares in European airlines fell on the news, with British Airways shares opening nearly 5 percent lower. The pound also fell against the dollar and the euro. Blair’s office said the prime minister had briefed President Bush on the operation during the night and had been in constant contact with Britain over the situation. Severe threat Reid said it was a “very significant plot.” “We are doing everything possible to disrupt any further terrorist activity,” he said in a statement. “This will mean major disruption at all UK airports.” Air passengers found they could take little on board. “We cannot take on anything except wallets, passports and medicine,” Dana Cojocaru-Ivoska, 28, trying to get on a flight to return to her home in St. Louis, Missouri. The security alert comes 13 months after four British Islamic extremist suicide bombers killed 52 people and injured about 700 on London’s transport network. In a speech on Wednesday, Reid said Britain was in the most sustained period of severe threat since the end of World War Two and warned there was no room for complacency. A police source said more than 15 people had been arrested. “We don’t think that it was planned to happen today,” the source told Reuters. “We had intelligence and we had to move against what was a planned attack. “The plan was to take a ready-made explosive device rather than something which would be made up on board,” the source said. Weak spot in security Independent terrorism expert Paul Beaver said hand luggage was a weak spot in airport security. “A laptop computer can carry enough explosives to blow up an aircraft,” he said. “Hold baggage and cargo can be sniffed for explosives. You can’t do that for hand luggage at the moment. The technology is there, but it’s time consuming and expensive.” Beaver said the nature of the alleged plot suggested a connection to al-Qaida. “In the last two months al-Qaida promised that it would avenge Iraq and Afghanistan by attacking British and American aviation assets -- I see a direct link with that,” he said. Britain has come under fire from Islamic militants for its military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan. Blair has also come under strong criticism at home and abroad for following the U.S. lead and refusing to call for an immediate cease-fire in the conflict between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas. British Airways said no hand baggage would be allowed on any of its planes leaving British airports. It said no electrical or battery powered items would be allowed in the cabin, including laptops and mobile phones. British Airports Authority said all passengers on flights to the United States would be subject to a secondary search at the boarding gate and all liquids would also be removed. The Home Office Web Site showed the threat rating had been raised to “critical” from “severe” earlier on Thursday. Britain has a five level rating for security threats, ranging from low to critical, which is the highest level. _______________ - Even if Carlsberg made "w*nkers", Christiano Ronaldo would still be the biggest "w*nker" in the world |
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Mic Den Octela - Student 
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Quote: The police did a very good job. However, I was surprised the names of the 'terrorists' were revealed in full the very same day - after all, innocent until proven guilty, right? They're still suspects. And when apprehended their names can be released under most circumstances. It doesn't violate their rights or the innocent until proven guilty. Listen to Buzz, he's pretty much always right. Forgive my dual post. :S _______________ -Padawan of Virtue -Brother of Menaxia, *|irael, Krynn Adept, Majno, Ris Win Juljul, DaMi3N, Beowulf, Dash Starlight, Carrock and Yuken Zalak Bartender at Munes bar. Sir Mic of Nippledom! Proudly beating Wang, since '07. (Crackdown) This comment was edited by Mic Den Octela on Aug 12 2006 03:38am. |
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Mic Den Octela - Student 
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Quote: Good job by the police and MI5. On another note the inability of this community to have a sensible discussion or debate on anything serious never ceases to amaze me. I maintain the fact that, even though this is a serious matter, I left my opinion. I said what i wanted to said and was serious about it. There was no malicious intent and definatly no jabs at anyone who didn't deserve it. I've said my serious bit, and i followed it up with something to lighten the mood. Its a sad topic, so instead of everything everyone says being aggressive and down, i left another message to bring it up a bit. That doesn't mean i wasn't taking it seriously, it just means i like the world to be that little bit brighter.  In other news: It still frightens me to this day that these people had a British citizenship. They had homes, families and friends. For all we know, i could have been talking to one in town the other day. Its a scary prospect that has me on edge to this day. _______________ -Padawan of Virtue -Brother of Menaxia, *|irael, Krynn Adept, Majno, Ris Win Juljul, DaMi3N, Beowulf, Dash Starlight, Carrock and Yuken Zalak Bartender at Munes bar. Sir Mic of Nippledom! Proudly beating Wang, since '07. (Crackdown) This comment was edited by Mic Den Octela on Aug 12 2006 03:36am. |
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WHITLOCK - Student |
My father and my brother are both in what we refer to as the "Law Enforcement Biz" and believe me, I am all too familiar with how much the media can hurt an investigation. I can't blame them for being a little upset. This comment was edited by WHITLOCK on Aug 12 2006 01:53am. |
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Rinzler - Student 
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who cares says us, i wouldnt expect anything else for terror suspects. _______________ I fite for teh usars!1 |
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Gil-Galad - Student 
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The names were released not by the police but by the bank of england, as the assets of those arrested were frozen. Reportedly the police are somewhat upset about it, but hey-ho, the media love it  _______________ |JAA| since 02/05/06 Green for life |
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thedestroyer - Student 
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I heard that those terrorists were on the way to the U.S (sorry if its in the post, I didn't read all of it  ), and that the aprehencion of it prevented another 9/11. |
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Buzz - Student 
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Quote: The police did a very good job. However, I was surprised the names of the 'terrorists' were revealed in full the very same day - after all, innocent until proven guilty, right? They're still suspects. And when apprehended their names can be released under most circumstances. It doesn't violate their rights or the innocent until proven guilty. _______________ When you are going through Hell, keep going. -Sir Winston Churchill. Those who seek power and control of others, no matter the level, no matter the intentions, should never be given it. |
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Monteeeeeee - Nugget 
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Quote:
Quote:
Quote: On another note the inability of this community to have a sensible discussion or debate on anything serious never ceases to amaze me. go find a gaming community that has sensible conversations about literally anything. i dare you. haha you make a good point I guess I compare it too much to other online communities that probably have totally different demographics. Nevermind eh. By the way it turns out some of the terrorists were white british males, who had converted to Islam. As a white british male I find it hard to understand how, no matter how much you may disagree with British foreign policy, you could turn to such extreme measures. the riddler has been set free from batman forever! _______________ If you add me to MSN, tell me who you are
Best Movie Character EVER!! |
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Kenyon - Lord of the Dance 
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The police did a very good job. However, I was surprised the names of the 'terrorists' were revealed in full the very same day - after all, innocent until proven guilty, right? They're still suspects. |
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PlooKoon - Student 
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thank god for eurostar >.> _______________ Moo |
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Gil-Galad - Student
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Quote:
Quote: On another note the inability of this community to have a sensible discussion or debate on anything serious never ceases to amaze me. go find a gaming community that has sensible conversations about literally anything. i dare you. haha you make a good point I guess I compare it too much to other online communities that probably have totally different demographics. Nevermind eh. By the way it turns out some of the terrorists were white british males, who had converted to Islam. As a white british male I find it hard to understand how, no matter how much you may disagree with British foreign policy, you could turn to such extreme measures. _______________ |JAA| since 02/05/06 Green for life |
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Rinzler - Student
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Quote: On another note the inability of this community to have a sensible discussion or debate on anything serious never ceases to amaze me. go find a gaming community that has sensible conversations about literally anything. i dare you. _______________ I fite for teh usars!1 |
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CuZzA - Student 
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I can't see why it really matters so much, but I can't remember where I got it from tbh. _______________ - Even if Carlsberg made "w*nkers", Christiano Ronaldo would still be the biggest "w*nker" in the world |
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Gil-Galad - Student 
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Good job by the police and MI5. On another note the inability of this community to have a sensible discussion or debate on anything serious never ceases to amaze me. _______________ |JAA| since 02/05/06 Green for life |
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Buzz - Student
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And cuzza, you really should link your source when you do a copy paste job like that. BBC news I take it? _______________ When you are going through Hell, keep going. -Sir Winston Churchill. Those who seek power and control of others, no matter the level, no matter the intentions, should never be given it. |
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Buzz - Student 
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Motives are lies by the terrorists to try and get you to remove their motives. "We do not fight you so that you will give us things, we fight you so that you will die" That is their mindset. If you exist and aren't submitting to them then you must die, and they're willing to start pushing at the little things first. You remove Iraq from their complaints and it becomes US bases in the mideast. You eliminate that, and its because you show people eating pork. You get rid of pork and its because you actually allow women to show their hair and act like whores by showing more skin than just their ankles. You eliminate that and its because Spain still has not been returned to muslim rule. _______________ When you are going through Hell, keep going. -Sir Winston Churchill. Those who seek power and control of others, no matter the level, no matter the intentions, should never be given it. |
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JamesF1 - Student 
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Quote: Because that's clearly the reason terrorist are doing this: because of involvement in Iraq. Please use some common sense and don't go "zOMG its all because of that stinky Bush in Iraq that the terrorists want to kill us!" I didn't say that, but that situation surely hasn't helped things. Besides, by admission of detained persons in previous raids by UK police, motives have been listed as the West's continuing involvement in Iraq. I'm by no means intending on stating this is the only reason - but it sure doesn't help. _______________ Website |
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Lirael - Jedi Council 
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9/11 came before Iraq, I think that's often forgotten. _______________ I can write my name with my sparkler. My sparkler > your lightsabre |
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Buzz - Student
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Quote: Thwarted... for now. I just hope they're this "good" / "lucky" / whatever you want to call it, in the future. When we (Blair and Bush) stick our big fat noses (Armies) in where they don't belong (Iraq), we're bound to get a slap. Because that's clearly the reason terrorist are doing this: because of involvement in Iraq. Please use some common sense and don't go "zOMG its all because of that stinky Bush in Iraq that the terrorists want to kill us!" _______________ When you are going through Hell, keep going. -Sir Winston Churchill. Those who seek power and control of others, no matter the level, no matter the intentions, should never be given it. |
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WHITLOCK - Student |
Why someone would want to kill so many innocent people is just beyond me. I'm glad they caught this one. I hope it wasn't just luck because we all know that their will be a NEXT TIME. |
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JamesF1 - Student
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Thwarted... for now. I just hope they're this "good" / "lucky" / whatever you want to call it, in the future. When we (Blair and Bush) stick our big fat noses (Armies) in where they don't belong (Iraq), we're bound to get a slap. _______________ Website |
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Mic Den Octela - Student
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There's only me in the UK. Didn't you know that? Everyone else emigrated to Budapest last week. ... No really... _______________ -Padawan of Virtue -Brother of Menaxia, *|irael, Krynn Adept, Majno, Ris Win Juljul, DaMi3N, Beowulf, Dash Starlight, Carrock and Yuken Zalak Bartender at Munes bar. Sir Mic of Nippledom! Proudly beating Wang, since '07. (Crackdown) |
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CuZzA - Student
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I'm baffled as to why nobody else has commented on this. _______________ - Even if Carlsberg made "w*nkers", Christiano Ronaldo would still be the biggest "w*nker" in the world |
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{JF}Jesse - Student |
Terrorists got pwned. |
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Mic Den Octela - Student
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My girlfriend's dad flies from America to England alot for work issues. I hope he gets back okay. But yeah, the only other thing I have to say is... BUSTED! And good thing too, idiots. _______________ -Padawan of Virtue -Brother of Menaxia, *|irael, Krynn Adept, Majno, Ris Win Juljul, DaMi3N, Beowulf, Dash Starlight, Carrock and Yuken Zalak Bartender at Munes bar. Sir Mic of Nippledom! Proudly beating Wang, since '07. (Crackdown) |
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