Cargo planes may have been terror plot target

Printer cartridges with wires attached were found by security staff on two cargo planes – one at East Midlands airport and one in Dubai – reportedly containing the powerful explosive PETN, or pentaerythritol tetranitrate.

The packages containing the explosives were on planes bound for the US from Yemen and were addressed to synagogues in Chicago.

Mr Cameron said: “We believe that the device was designed to go off on the aeroplane. We cannot be sure about the timing when that was mean to take place. There is no early evidence it was designed to take place over British soil, but of course we cannot rule that out.”

He was speaking as Yemeni officials arrested a woman on suspicion of sending the two mail bombs, sparking an international terror alert.

He said the package started in Yemen, landed in Germany and was then transported to Britain en route to America, adding: “It just shows how united and determined we have to be to defeat terrorism.”

Yemeni officials said they were hunting a number of suspects who are believed to have been using forged documents and ID cards and to be linked to group al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

Following a meeting of Cobra, the UK government’s emergency planning committee, earlier today, Home Secretary Theresa May said: “The target may have been an aircraft and had it detonated the aircraft could have been brought down.”

Ms May said: “I can confirm that the device was viable and could have exploded.

“The target may have been an aircraft and had it detonated the aircraft could have been brought down.

“We do not believe that the perpetrators of the attack would have known the location of the device when it was planned to explode.

“Our investigation remains sensitive. We are working closely with international partners to increase our understanding of this case and of course to bring those responsible to justice.”

She continued: “At this stage there is no information to indicate another attack is imminent.”

Al-Qaeda Coming Home

It seems al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has just pulled off a spectacular coup and scared us all ahead of Halloween. It has successfully smuggled two explosive devices onto two cargo planes bound from Yemen for the United States, flying via Dubai in the Gulf and Cologne in Germany, writes Foreign Affairs Correspondent Jonathan Rugman.

True, the packages did not explode. But the first check by British police at East Midlands airport failed to spot anything suspicious. And the cargo would not have been checked at all if it had not been for a tipoff from Saudi intelligence. What’s more, I understand that the tipoff came after the UK-bound plane took off, with every indication that the device was supposed to explode mid-flight.

It is very likely that the bombmaker did not know the plane would go via the Midlands airport hub of the courier service UPS. The package was addressed to a Jewish community group in Chicago, so the perpetrator knew he was sending it in what he regarded as the right direction, but British officials believe he would not have known precisely where the bomb would have gone off.

So why is this a success for terrorism? After September 11th 2001, al-Qaeda changed the way the world travels by plane. In the last 48 hours, it has forced a change in the way much of globalisation works. The movement of commercial goods around the planet will never be the same again because of a type of bomb not seen before and very hard to detect.

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Yesterday, US President Barack Obama said he was dealing with a “credible terrorist threat” and was combating plots by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The White House said today that he had called Saudi King Abdullah and British Prime Minister David Cameron on Saturday to discuss the plot.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula: who are they?

‘Severe’ threat

The package found at East Midlands airport arrived on a UPS plane from the Yemen capital Sana’a, and was discovered following a tip-off from Saudi intelligence services.

Ms May said the threat level was at “severe”, meaning a terrorist attack is “highly likely” and there was no plan to change the level at this stage.

“We must take further precautionary measures,” she said. “I have agreed with the Transport Secretary (Philip Hammond) that we will take immediate action to stop the movement of all unaccompanied air freight originating from Yemen into or through the UK.

“Direct cargo and passenger flights from the Yemen were suspended in January this year for security reasons following an earlier attempt to bomb an aircraft destined for Detroit.” She said the police and intelligence agencies were working “tirelessly” on the case.

Ms May said she had been in regular contact with Prime Minister David Cameron and briefed him following the Cobra meeting.

Cargo plane explosives 'show al-Qaeda weakness'

It is deeply worrying that yet again extremists can succeed in getting explosive devices onboard aircraft destined for the UK and the US. But if this is indeed the work of al-Qaeda, it also demonstrates their weakness, writes Colonel Richard Kemp, a former chairman of the government's Cobra Intelligence Group and Head of the International Terrorism Team at the Joint Intelligence Committee.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsular is an evil and determined group. They are intent on attacking the USA but have failed this time as they failed last time.

Like the underwear bomber at Christmas last year, and of course Richard Reid, the 2001 shoes bomber, these devices apparently used PETN, a powerful but volatile explosive extracted from detonation cord and readily available from activities such as quarrying.

But we don't yet seem to know whether the devices discovered in East Midlands airport and in Dubai were viable bombs. If not it was either a bungled attempt or an effort to spread alarm and terror, and to further disrupt air travel. If that was the aim, it succeeded to some extent.

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The device in Dubai was found at courier giant FedEx’s hub in the emirate. FedEx subsequently stopped all shipments from Dubai and said they were liaising with the FBI. Earlier Dubai Police said the package discovered on a plane in Dubai contained explosives and an electrical circuit linked to a mobile phone SIM card.

“Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a terrorist group based in Yemen, continues to plan attacks against our homeland, our citizens, and our friends and allies.”
President Obama

Speaking in the White House last night, Mr Obama said: “I want to briefly update the American people on a credible terrorist threat against our country and the action that we have taken with our partners to respond to it.

“Last night and earlier today our intelligence and law enforcement professionals working with our friends and allies identified two suspicious packages bound for the US – specifically, two places of Jewish worship in Chicago.

“Those packages have been located in Dubai and East Midlands Airport in the UK.

“Initial examination of those packages has determined that they do apparently contain explosive material.”

‘Terrorist plotting’

He added: “I’ve…directed that we spare no effort in investigating the origins of these suspicious packages and their connection to any additional terrorist plotting.

“Although we are still pursuing all the facts, we do know that the packages originated in Yemen.

“We also know that al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a terrorist group based in Yemen, continues to plan attacks against our homeland, our citizens, and our friends and allies.”

United Parcel Service (UPS) jets in Philadelphia and Newark, New Jersey, were moved away from terminal buildings.

But the planes and their cargo were later cleared, the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said.

UPS said it was immediately suspending service out of Yemen until further notice “because security is of the utmost importance”.

The terror alert follows calls this week from airline bosses that existing security procedures such as shoe and laptop checks should be scrapped.

A spokeswoman for Heathrow said the airport was running as normal. She said: “There has been no effect on our operation at all. We take our lead from the Government and we have not been asked to increase security at this time.”

The United States has stepped up its training, intelligence and military aid to Yemen after a failed plot to blow up a US passenger plane on Christmas Day 2009, for which the Yemeni wing of al-Qaeda claimed responsibility. In the UK, direct flights were stopped from Yemen earlier this year over security concerns.