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US fuel tanker terror warning extended to London
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August 15, 2005

LONDON: US intelligence chiefs have warned that al-Qa'ida terrorists are plotting to drive hijacked fuel tankers into petrol stations in London, as well as US cities, in an effort to cause mass casualties some time in the next few weeks.

Details of the latest intelligence warning were leaked to the US media late last week, and published by The Weekend Australian, but no mention was made of the threat to London.

The leaked warning, contained in a bulletin issued by the US Department of Homeland Security last week, says the attacks will aim to create catastrophic damage at about the time of the fourth anniversary of the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.

The warning came as it emerged that the British Department of Transport had for the first time issued guidelines ordering tighter security around the British road tanker fleet.

The US warning has been circulated among law enforcement agencies and fuel transport agencies. Although a preamble states that "no other intelligence exists to corroborate this specific threat", the intelligence report is highly specific, saying al-Qa'ida planned to employ various types of fuel trucks as "vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices" in an effort to cause mass casualties before September 19.

The report says the terrorist cells thought to be planning the attack will "execute the plan upon receipt of an order". It goes on to speculate that the recent videotape released by Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qa'ida's deputy leader, may have been "the activation signal to the cells".

In the video, Zawahiri warned that attacks would continue in Britain until it pulled out of Iraq.

The report says Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, one of the alleged masterminds of the September 11 attacks, has told US interrogators he had developed plans for targeting petrol stations. This was because of "their apparent vulnerability and the potential destructive force of a fuel-driven explosion".

The new British security guidelines require carriers to be properly identified and transit sites to be made secure.

Australian and Californian authorities are introducing remote-controlled shutdown devices to stop any fuel tanker if it is hijacked. The Singapore Government has just begun putting tracking devices on petrol tankers to monitor their movements.

British officials declined to comment on the warning.

The Sunday Times

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FP: Why wouldn’t the Bush administration secure our borders? What are the advantages of leaving them unsecured? Is it too politically incorrect to secure them?
Farah: I've asked this question myself over and over. It is the most frequently asked question I hear from my radio audience and from the thousands of emails I receive from readers. President Bush candidly said it was a matter of cheap labor a few months ago. I believe that is dead wrong. I don't believe there is anything cheap about this labor. It is bankrupting our health-care system. It is taking jobs away from law-abiding American citizens. It is raising crime rates and it is threatening our national security.

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From the Front Page article

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=18986

For the CFR report referred to, go here

http://www.cfr.org/pdf/NorthAmerica_TF_final.pdf