An intercepted call from pakistan to Britain helped investigators foil the terrorist plot to blow up 10 US-bound airplanes.
LONDON: The arrest of brothers across continents and an intercepted call helped investigators foil the terrorist plot in Britain to blow up 10 US-bound airplanes using liquid explosives.
The unravelling of the plot began with the arrest of Rashid Rauf, a British citizen, near the Afghan border in Pakistan last week, following information from a mole planted by the British police, a former Pakistani official said.
Soon after the arrest, investigators in Karachi intercepted a call from Pakistan to Britain urging the plotters to go ahead with the plan. The message, decoded by British agents to mean “Do your attacks now”, led to raids in Britain and the arrest of 24 people believed to be part of the cells that would carry out the attack.
One of the 24 people picked up by the British police was 22-year-old Tayib Rauf, Rashid’s brother.
Rashid was described as a “key figure” in the plot and his involvement indicated “Al Qaeda links”, investigators said. Several of the Britons arrested had visited Pakistan two months ago.
Among the two or three still at large, is Matiur Rahman, a rising figure in the Al Qaeda who is an explosives expert and believed to be the mastermind of the plot. Two of the suspected London plotters are reproted to have met Rehman in Pakistan.
Rahman is wanted in Pakistan in connection with attacks on minority Shiite Muslims, two failed attempts on the life of President Pervez Musharraf and the bombing of an American diplomat in Karachi.
Rashid had left Britain in 2002 after the death of his uncle, who was stabbed to death in Birmingham, and allegedly formed links with militant groups, while Tayib continued to live in Birmingham with his parents, two other brothers and two sisters. Friends described the family as intensely religious and close-knit. They said 25-year-old Rashid had visited the family two or three times.
The British government released the names of 19 of the 24 arrested in Britain -- many apparently British Muslims of Pakistani ancestry -- and froze their assets. One of the arrested was released and another cannot be questioned until a hearing regarding his arrest on Monday.
Police found tickets for a United Airlines flight for Wednesday, August 16, suggesting that was the day for the attack. At least one “martyrdom” tape was also found.
British Home Secretary John Reid told reporters officials were confident the main suspects in the plot were in custody. But authorities “would go where any further evidence takes us,” he said. The record of financial transactions, along with telephone and computer records, may help investigators trace more people in the alleged plot.
The plot called for attackers to assemble their bombs aboard the aircraft, with a peroxide-based solution disguised as a beverage or other harmless-seeming items, and using such electronic equipment like a disposable camera or a music player as detonator. Two attackers were to be deployed per plane and those involved did not know one another at all, a typical security of terror groups.
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