Indian hijack plot caused new UK terror alert: Report

Fears of a possible attempt by al-Qaeda-linked terrorists in Pakistan to hijack an Indian passenger jet and crash it into a British city may have prompted the UK to raise its terror alert to its second-highest level, a London media report claimed today.

The Sunday Times reported that the threat to hijack an Indian aircraft was uncovered during the interrogation of Amjad Khwaja, said to be a leader of Harkat-ul-Jihad-al- Islami, who was arrested in India.     

The paper claimed that MI5, the British internal intelligence agency, was told by the Indian authorities earlier last week about a suspected plot by militants linked to al-Qaeda in Pakistan to hijack an Air India or Indian Airlines flight from Mumbai to Delhi.

The warning, which came after the capture of Khwaja, was contained in a detailed "threat assessment" sent to MI5 by the Indian Intelligence Bureau, the report claimed.

It did not state that Britain was a specific target. But police security sources said it had raised fears in London that a British city might be attacked.

The warning revived long-running concerns following an al-Qaeda plot in 2003 in which a hijacked aircraft was to be flown into Heathrow airport.

British home secretary Alan Johnson on Friday announced that the threat level to Britain was being raised from "substantial" to "severe". That is the second-highest level and means that an attack is "highly likely".