[osint] How al-Qaeda's London plot was foiled

Wed Nov 24 06:41:24 PST 2004

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To: "Bruce Tefft" <btefft at community-research.com>
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From: "Bruce Tefft" <btefft at community-research.com>
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Date: Wed, 24 Nov 2004 08:00:08 -0500
Subject: [osint] How al-Qaeda's London plot was foiled
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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1372124,00.html

November 24, 2004

How al-Qaeda's London plot was foiled
By Michael Evans and Sean O'Neill

AL-QAEDA terrorists had to abandon a plan to fly hijacked airliners into
Canary Wharf, the London skyscraper, and Heathrow airport after being
"rumbled" by British and European intelligence services.

The plot was made public this year but senior Whitehall sources gave further
details yesterday of the intelligence work involved.

Reports on ITV News and in a newspaper implied that the attacks had been
thwarted recently. But, the sources said, the intelligence operation was in
fact completed at least two years ago.

Plots against Canary Wharf, in London Docklands, and Heathrow were confirmed
in July when intelligence officers in Pakistan found incriminating files on
computers that belonged to one of al-Qaeda's members.

Mohammed Naeem Noor Khan, 25, a suspected terrorist arrested after a raid in
Lahore, Pakistan, was at the centre of al-Qaeda's computer communications
hub. He encrypted and distributed messages between the network's leadership
and agents around the world.

Among the files on Khan's computers were a plan of the layout of Heathrow
and information from reconnaissance of the Canary Wharf complex, including
vehicle height restrictions for the underground car parks there.

There were also suggestions for "picture postcard" targets, such as the
Houses of Parliament and Windsor Castle, and discussions of potential
assassination targets. But the plots referred mainly to planning that
pre-dated the attacks in New York and Washington on September 11, 2001.

Whitehall sources said that a huge intelligence operation was also mounted
after Sept-ember 11 when it was feared that al-Qaeda would try a similar
hijacking over Britain. The sources said that there was credible
intelligence that al-Qaeda planners were preparing to send a hijacking team
to the UK.

To foil the terrorists, checks were carried out at airports and flying
schools in Britain and also in countries in Central and Eastern Europe, from
where it was believed that al-Qaeda members might set off.

Further checks on flying schools have been carried out in the past six
months as part of continuing anti-terrorist operations.

"They were rumbled," a source said. "We believe that al-Qaeda recognised
that aviation security in the UK was too tight for a repeat of the September
11 attacks in this country and that it was too difficult to hijack an
aircraft in our airspace.

"Our firm belief is that the Heathrow and Canary Wharf plot is no longer
extant. There is absolutely no evidence of any recent plotting against
either of these targets. All the intelligence we had dates back at least two
years."

Some of the key people who were involved in planning the Heathrow and Canary
Wharf plots were also by now either "deceased or arrested". The arrests had
taken place outside Britain.

Anti-terrorist agencies also said that there was no intelligence of any
current suicide hijacking plot against targets in Britain. Scotland Yard
sources were "bemused" by suggestions of a current plot.

Downing Street and the Home Office, stinging from reports that ministers are
trying to create a climate of fear before next year's election, distanced
themselves from the story.

A police source said: "If there was information that Canary Wharf was to be
attacked, then I think that we would know. There is no credence to reports
of any current threat."

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

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