Posted on 08/05/2004 1:41:29 AM PDT by Straight Vermonter
LONDON -- Police in Britain are holding a senior al-Qaeda operative who was allegedly planning an attack on London's main Heathrow Airport, major newspapers reported today.
In a front-page article, The Times said the man was arrested after a tip-off from Pakistani intelligence, which claimed he was getting orders directly from Osama bin Laden "as head of al-Qaeda operations in Britain."
It cited unidentified Pakistani officials as saying that details about Heathrow, the world's busiest international airport, were found in the computer of a suspected al-Qaeda member arrested last month in Pakistan, Mohammed Naeem Noor Khan.
According to The Times, Mr. Khan had visited Britain at least six times in recent years and had disclosed after his arrest that the chief of al-Qaeda operations in Britain went by the code name "Bilal."
"Officials insist that Mr. Khan was in 'direct contact' with Bilal over the Heathrow mission," the report said. "But only Bilal knew the identities of others in the U.K. who would be used in the Heathrow operation."
The Times said its Pakistani intelligence source would not divulge details of any timetable or method of a Heathrow attack.
The Daily Telegraph, in a broadly similar front-page report, said the suspect in Britain used the alias Abu Eisa al-Hindi. "He was planning some sort of attack in Britain and his capture is a good signal that intelligence obtained from al-Qaeda operatives here [in Pakistan] is producing results," the paper quoted a Pakistani official as saying.
It added that police would not say whether the man was among the 12 suspects in custody after their arrest Tuesday in anti-terrorism raids in London and other parts of England.
London's Metropolitan Police, which led the sweep, refused to comment on today's reports. "We aren't being drawn on any of this speculation," a spokesman said.
The Guardian said British security sources were playing down any claims that they had foiled an imminent bomb plot, nor were they linking it to the seizure of computer files in Pakistan that suggested a threat to U.S. financial institutions. But it quoted British government officials as saying that Tuesday's operation was "not insignificant."
The Sun tabloid, however, said the raids were prompted by detailed information about Heathrow pulled from the computer of Mr. Khan, who was nabbed in Pakistan in July after a gunfight. That computer's files were also cited by U.S. officials in the warning issued Sunday about possible attacks being planned against major financial institutions.
Meanwhile yesterday, London police released one of the 13 men, aged 19 to 32, arrested in Tuesday's anti-terrorist sweep in London and towns north of the capital. The 12 others are being questioned and can be held up to two weeks without charges.
Police released no details of the nationality or religious affiliations of those arrested, but news reports suggested that at least some are of South Asian origin and are Muslims. The arrests brought complaints from the Muslim community that it is being targeted unfairly.
That view was supported yesterday in a hard-hitting report from a parliamentary committee which said the new British anti-terrorism law is discriminatory and should be scrapped.
"There is mounting evidence that the powers under the terrorism act are being used disproportionately against members of the Muslim community," said the report by the all-party Joint Committee on Human Rights.
The 2001 law gave police sweeping new powers, including the right to detain foreigners indefinitely on mere suspicion that they are involved in terrorism. The report said a measure that applies only to non-citizens is inherently discriminatory and undermines human rights.
What was it John Kerry said...?
Oh yes, the threat of terrorism has been greatly exaggerated.
we can't let the American people know. Its a secret.
Bttt...
The timing of this report is highly suspicious. < /sarcasm >
Yes, this will take the focus off of Kerry fondling corn. President Bush has stooped to a new low.
Well, why do you fish in the lake, instead of on the hill - BECAUSE THAT IS WHERE THE FISH ARE.
England is becoming hopeless.
This nasty world is really conspiring suspiciously to give the president encouragement in this war on terrorism. The terrorists are not helping the Demodogs and Fraudcasters and Old Media's efforts at all.
Their timing is very suspicious.
.
something like the Commubist Internationale of old....?
Police released no details of the nationality or religious affiliations of those arrested, but news reports suggested that at least some are of South Asian origin and are Muslims. The arrests brought complaints from the Muslim community that it is being targeted unfairly.
Its the New 'Internationale' again......
/sarcasm
Mohammed Naeem Noor Khan's and Ahmed Ghailani's capture is paying off big time.
Disproportionate to the number of Muslims who perpetrated 9-11 and the Madrid bombings? Not by a longshot.
We are at war against radical Islam. Get used to it.
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