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David Leppard, London
August 22, 2005
SCOTLAND Yard believes it has thwarted an al-Qa'ida nerve gas attack aimed at ministers and MPs in the British parliament.
The plot, hatched last year, is understood to have been discovered in coded emails on computers seized from terror suspects in Britain and Pakistan.
Police and MI5 later identified an al-Qa'ida cell that had carried out extensive research and video-recorded reconnaissance missions in preparation for the terror attack.
The encrypted emails are said to have been decoded with the assistance of an al-Qa'ida "supergrass".
By revealing the terrorists' code, he was also able to help MI5 and GCHQ -- the British Government's eavesdropping centre at Cheltenham -- to crack several more plots.
The discovery of the suspected House of Commons nerve gas plot was behind the decision to increase security around parliament this northern summer.
A senior officer said that the scheme had led to the intervention of MI5 head Eliza Manningham-Buller to assess parliament's security.
The minutes of a meeting of senior police officers held last month at Specialist Operations 17 (SO17) -- the unit responsible for protecting parliament -- reveals the team was waiting to be briefed on the plot.
At the weekend, a senior officer disclosed that the thwarted plot involved a gas or chemical "dirty bomb" attack against the British parliament.
"The House of Commons was one of their targets, as well as the Tube," the officer said.
"They were planning to use chemicals, a dirty bomb and sarin gas. They looked at all sorts of ways of delivering it."
However, despite the successful police operation and upgraded security measures, senior officers are worried that security at parliament remains "unacceptable".
The police security memo, drawn up after London's July 7 attacks, reveals high-level fears that suicide terrorists could use a black cab or a visit to an exhibition to mark the 400th anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot -- the supposed attempt by Guy Fawkes to kill James I and those assembled in the British parliament on November 5, 1605, in retaliation for laws against Catholics.
The memo discloses that a military unit -- said to have been special forces -- recently carried out a secret examination of security measures at the House of Commons.
It is believed the exercise highlighted the ease with which terrorists could kill dozens of MPs in the debating chamber.
"(It was) felt all SO17 contingency plans should be reviewed against the new threat -- a plan for a Kratos (suicide bomber) incident was required," the minutes record.
A senior officer said that he "felt particular attention should be paid to cabs entering the (parliamentary) estate".
The memo records: "(A senior official) expressed grave concern at the shortage of security officers. He was worried that commitments, such as the forthcoming exhibition on the Gunpowder Plot, just could not be covered.
"He felt that an unacceptable number of posts were being closed down."