Aircraft Bomb Plot Was Set for 'Next Wednesday'

Aug. 12, 2006
The newspaper speculated that the tickets for yesterday would have been a 'dry run.'

Suspected terrorists plotted to blow up transatlantic flights next Wednesday, according to the latest reports.

Two airline tickets for United Airlines flights from London to the US for yesterday, August 11, and Wednesday, August 16, have been discovered by anti-terror police, according to The Evening Standard.

The newspaper speculated that the tickets for yesterday would have been a "dry run" and next Wednesday would have been the date the alleged plot was executed.

The mass terror raids across north and east London was the culmination of a massive 12 month investigation into an alleged plot by suspected British terrorists.

It was earlier reported that alarming new intelligence gathered in the past week of an 'imminent' attack triggered the raids and brought chaos to the country's airports.

It also emerged that two of the suspects left "martyrdom tapes", however the reports remain unconfirmed.

MI5 and Scotland Yard had tracked the suspected terrorists behind the plot since the July 7 London bombings, according to the latest international media reports.

But the 24 suspects were arrested and the terror threat put at critical after the arrest of two British men in Pakistan eight to 10 days ago.

A further five Pakistanis were detained for acting as local "facilitators".

The information gathered from the arrests convinced anti-terror police they had to act immediately to stop the plot.

"Both the men were British nationals of Pakistani origin and were key members of the Britain-based network of militants. The arrests in Pakistan were made prior to the action in London," a Pakistani official told AFP.

Meanwhile, the US news network CNN reported that an undercover British agent infiltrated the group.

US officials revealed that a substantial amount of money had been wired from Pakistan to two of the alleged terrorists in Britain, so that they could purchase airline tickets.

According to reports they were planning a "dry run" on flights from the UK to the US.

It's believed the alleged terrorists planned to bring down several UK to US flights with liquid explosives hidden in drink bottles and detonators disguised in electronic gadgets.

The attack could have been launched in two or three waves, with as many as 12 US commercial planes destroyed above the Atlantic.

News stories provided by third parties are not edited by "Site Publication" staff. For suggestions and comments, please click the Contact link at the bottom of this page.