Posted on 11/16/2002 4:41:22 PM PST by MadIvan
A GANG of suspected Al-Qaeda terrorists plotted to kill commuters on the London Underground by releasing poison gas in a crowded carriage.
Six north African men were arrested in London eight days ago in connection with the plot, which security chiefs said would have caused chaos across the capital.
The planned rush hour attack is believed to have been the trigger that prompted Tony Blair’s terror alert last week, and a Home Office warning, later withdrawn, of possible use by terrorists of poison gas.
MI5, the security service, had intelligence that the gang was planning to bring ingredients for a gas bomb into Britain. The most likely target was a crowded Tube train where the chemicals would be mixed to release toxic fumes, probably cyanide.
Blair was told of the plot at a Downing Street summit attended by David Blunkett, the home secretary, and security chiefs. He insisted police shut down the suspected terror cell and rejected a plan to delay any arrests until MI5 had established more about the gang and its Al-Qaeda links.
The alert followed the rise of “chatter” on terrorist networks.
The FBI warned this weekend of the threat of a “spectacular” Al-Qaeda attack. American authorities also revealed they were holding a senior Al-Qaeda suspect, but would not name him or say where he was being held. There was speculation that this was a reference to a suspect known as Mohsen F, who is being held in Kuwait.
The arrests in London on November 9 were by Scotland Yard’s anti-terrorist branch. Officers raided more than half a dozen addresses in north London, some used as drops-ins by Algerian, Moroccan and Tunisian immigrants, and took away items after searches.
Three men were charged last week under the Terrorism Act (2000) with possession of articles for terrorist purposes. All three were unemployed and aged in their thirties. They were remanded by Bow Street magistrates and will appear in court again tomorrow.
If the prosecutions fail, it is likely they will be held under laws introduced after September 11 allowing indefinite internment of foreigners considered a threat to national security. Three other men were released. No chemicals or bomb equipment were found.
Two days after the arrests, which were deliberately not publicised by Scotland Yard to avoid panic, Blair used a speech at the lord mayor’s banquet to appeal for vigilance against suicide bombings or chemical attacks. “Whether here . . . or when travelling abroad, all of us as citizens have to be alert,” he said.
MI5 believed the gang was acting on instructions from an Al-Qaeda commander in Europe, say No 10 sources.
The men are believed to belong to the North African Front, a group affiliated to Al-Qaeda.
One theory is that they planned to carry separate containers of a cyanide compound and another chemical into a train compartment where they would be mixed to generate a cloud of hydrogen cyanide. To avoid being overcome by the fumes, a gang member would throw the gas bomb through a connecting window between carriages into a compartment that was downwind.
“This is an alarming development,” said one Home Office source. “It means Al-Qaeda members and sympathisers are still active in Britain despite our efforts.”
The release of gas could have shut down much of London’s public transport system. “It is likely there would have been very serious casualties in a crowded train as people struggled to escape,” said one security expert. “For weeks afterwards transport authorities would have closed stations and Tube lines on the slightest warning.”
The 1995 poison gas attack on the Tokyo subway by the Aum Shinrikyo cult left 12 dead and is estimated to have cost the Japanese economy tens of millions of pounds in disruption. Cult members released sarin, a nerve agent, in five carriages in the morning rush hour. Most of those who died were within three feet of the containers used to release the gas.
“If cyanide gas was released in an enclosed Tube carriage it would have a devastating effect on those in the immediate vicinity,” said Sally Leivesley, a Home Office expert on the effects of terrorism.
Details of the London plot coincided with a period of intense activity on terrorist networks picked up by British and US listening stations. A Home Office warning issued on November 7, two days before the arrests, of a potential poison gas or dirty bomb attack was later hastily withdrawn.
Whitehall blamed the confusion on clerical error. However, the mix-up and Blair’s banquet speech point to what appears to be a growing split in Whitehall over counter-terror tactics.
The Bali bomb and criticism that warnings went unheeded are believed to have stung Jack Straw, the foreign secretary, into insisting on immediate action. Blunkett, who is responsible for MI5, is inclined towards a “longer game”.
Blair pointed to the dilemma, saying in his speech: “The purpose of terrorism is not to just kill and maim. It is also to scare people, disrupt their normal lives (and) produce chaos and disorder.”
The rounding up of a suspected terror cell is regarded by the Home Office as a coup for MI5, which has intensified its efforts to infiltrate radical Islamic groups. The organisation, boosted by millions of pounds in extra funding, is keeping under surveillance at least 36 Al-Qaeda-linked Islamic extremists in Britain.
The “risk management” strategy of watching them is to allow for intelligence gathering or because of lack of evidence.
Two Algerians were last month sentenced by a French court to life imprisonment for bombs on the Paris Métro in 1995 that killed eight people and wounded 200. The men were members of Algeria’s Armed Islamic Group (GIA), One bomb was on a crowded commuter train in the Paris Latin quarter. A third suspect in the bombings is still being held in Britain after unsuccessful extradition attempts. MI5 is understood to be investigating whether the three charged in connection with the Tube plot are linked to the group.
Al-Qaeda has a history of experimenting with cyanide. A haul of books and documents recovered by The Sunday Times last year from an Al-Qaeda house in Kandahar, Afghanistan, included chemistry texts showing how to make hydrogen cyanide gas.
Video tapes recovered from a training camp in Afghanistan showed dogs being poisoned with a white vapour, thought to be cyanide. In February Italian police arrested four Moroccans who had 9lb of potassium ferro-cyanide which they planned to use in a gas attack on the US embassy in Rome.
Germany’s international counter-terrorist chief warned last week that an Al-Qaeda leader trained in the use of toxins could be planning an attack in Europe. Abu Musab Zarqawi, a Jordanian, is believed to be an expert in the mixing of poisons and has already carried a toxic substance disguised as an ointment into Turkey.
The British government has drawn up fresh plans to cope with a terrorist attack in London, including mobile mortuaries and disposal of contaminated rubble.
Beg pardon?
Regards, Ivan
If you use public transport regularly to commute into London you might consider getting a British army S10 gas mask. It would provide protection against a chemical or biological weapons attack. Although, if al Qaeda used mustard gas, without an NBC suit, you'd suffer serious skin burns. But a military grade gas mask would protect you from Hydrogen Cyanide and Sarin, which have to be inhaled. I work with Cyanide compounds on a regular basis, we use standard lab grade gas masks (below military standard).
Its strange that these blokes were trying to import the ingredients for a Cyanide bomb from outside Britain. If you know where to go you can buy all the chemicals you'd need for a wicked Cyanide bomb here in Britain. But I'd better not give the scumbags any ideas.
Nope. Created it. Sold it (for a nominal fee).
Regards, Ivan
Doing fine, and you? Yes, I am relieved.
If you use public transport regularly to commute into London you might consider getting a British army S10 gas mask. It would provide protection against a chemical or biological weapons attack.
As I understand it, cyanide is mostly odourless. If it's my time to go, it's my time to go - I am not going to go mad about it.
Its strange that these blokes were trying to import the ingredients for a Cyanide bomb from outside Britain. If you know where to go you can buy all the chemicals you'd need for a wicked Cyanide bomb here in Britain. But I'd better not give the scumbags any ideas.
Please don't. One of the advantages we have is that many of them are about as idiotic as Richard Reid. ;)
Regards, Ivan
...and it will be so as long as there are Muslims present.
I'm fine, although up to my eyeballs in work right now.
As I understand it, cyanide is mostly odourless.
Cyanide smells of almonds. I think you would know that something was happening when people started to fall down in the primary release area. Also, there would be a device thrown, or even an explosion, so you'd kown something was up. Anyway, its your choice, but the public transport system in London must be a primary target and you can get an S10 on in under two seconds.
If it's my time to go, it's my time to go - I am not going to go mad about it.
My dear Ivan, that's a bit of a fatalistic attitude! Its a damn shame we Brits aren't allowed to carry any sort of weapon, since that makes us very vulnerable to these sorts of attacks. Perhaps, the Conservative party might consider making some suggestions for temporary emergency legislation to allow British citizens to combat terrorists. The security forces can't be everywhere at once and 9/11 proved that massive casualties can be inflicted against an unarmed population with unimpressive weapons (boxcutters).
What did Churchill have to say about how we should behave during a German invasion: "You can always take one of them with you". The government passed emergency legislation during WWII to allow householders to own firearms for household defence. We need a leader with vision now, like Churchill, not a PC statist wimp like Blair.
I will consider getting that mask.
Regards, Ivan
From the article:
To avoid being overcome by the fumes, a gang member would throw the gas bomb through a connecting window between carriages into a compartment that was downwind.
As I mentioned, the cowards might be unwilling to die for jihad in such a messy way. If you were in the affected car and masked, you could dispose of said device, and possibly apprehend one or more jihadists.
I think you are right. This has the earmarks of an intentional leak. Probably the facts are mostly correct. Probably, also, there was much more to the story than these leaks lets on, and the preparations were farther along than we know.
It's far better to have it and never need it than to need it and not have it.
Regards,
L
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