FBI Wants Instant Access to British Identity Data

Americans seek international database to carry iris, palm and finger prints

Each person's iris is as individual as their fingerprint, but with 266 identifiable features is much more detailed. Photograph: Science Photo Library

The Guardian reports:

Senior British police officials are talking to the FBI about an international database to hunt for major criminals and terrorists.

The US-initiated programme, "Server in the Sky", would take cooperation between the police forces way beyond the current faxing of fingerprints across the Atlantic. Allies in the "war against terror" - the US, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand - have formed a working group, the International Information Consortium, to plan their strategy.

Biometric measurements, irises or palm prints as well as fingerprints, and other personal information are likely to be exchanged across the network. One section will feature the world's most wanted suspects. The database could hold details of millions of criminals and suspects.

The FBI is keen for the police forces of American allies to sign up to improve international security. The Home Office yesterday confirmed it was aware of Server in the Sky, as did the Metropolitan police.

The plan will make groups anxious to safeguard personal privacy question how much access to UK databases is granted to foreign law enforcement agencies. There will also be concern over security, particularly after embarrassing data losses within the UK, and accuracy: in one case, an arrest for a terror offence by US investigators used what turned out to be misidentified fingerprint matches.

Britain's National Policing Improvement Agency has been the lead body for the FBI project because it is responsible for IDENT1, the UK database holding 7m sets of fingerprints and other biometric details used by police forces to search for matches from scenes of crimes. Many of the prints are either from a person with no criminal record, or have yet to be matched to a named individual.

IDENT1 was built by the computer technology arm of the US defence company Northrop Grumman. In future it is expected to hold palm prints, facial images and video sequences. A company spokeswoman confirmed that Northrop Grumman had spoken to the FBI about Server in the Sky. "It can run independently but if existing systems are connected up to it then the intelligence agencies would have to approve," she said.

The FBI told the Guardian: "Server in the Sky is an FBI initiative designed to foster the advanced search and exchange of biometric information on a global scale. While it is currently in the concept and design stages, once complete it will provide a technical forum for member nations to submit biometric search requests to other nations. It will maintain a core holding of the world's 'worst of the worst' individuals. Any identifications of these people will be sent as a priority message to the requesting nation."

In London, the NPIA confirmed it was aware of Server in the Sky but said it was "too early to comment on what our active participation might be".

The FBI is proposing to establish three categories of suspects in the shared system: "internationally recognised terrorists and felons", those who are "major felons and suspected terrorists", and finally those who the subjects of terrorist investigations or criminals with international links. Tom Bush, assistant director at the FBI's criminal justice information service, has said he hopes to see a pilot project for the programme up and running by the middle of the year.

Although each participating country would manage and secure its own data, the sharing of personal data between countries is becoming an increasingly controversial area of police practice. There is political concern at Westminster about the public transparency of such cooperation.

A similar proposal has emerged from the EU for closer security cooperation between the security services and police forces of member states, including allowing countries to search each other's databases. Under what is known as the Prum treaty, there are plans to open up access to DNA profiles, fingerprints and vehicle registration numbers.

A Battle Rages in London Over a Mega-Mosque Plan

The New York Times reports:

Disputes over mosques have broken out across Europe. Residents from Belgium to France to Germany have expressed unease at minarets competing in the urban landscape with the spires and stones of centuries-old cathedrals.

But the fight raging over an abandoned lot in London’s East End is of an altogether grander scale. A large and secretive Islamic sect proposed building what would have been the largest mosque in Europe, smack at the gateway to the 2012 Olympic Games, and within sight of London’s financial district.

That plan was sent back to the drawing board to be scaled down, but not before raising a furor of equal size and discomforting questions about the right of Britain’s Muslims to take up a public space commensurate with their growing numbers.

Abdul Khaliq Mian, a British businessman and the driving force behind plans for a mega-mosque, at the project site in London.

Alan Craig, at home in London, started a one-man campaign against the mosque that has gained national prominence.

This summer on the Web site of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, more than 250,000 critics of the proposed mosque supported a petition initiated by a backer of the conservative British National Party. Some of them said a large mosque had no right to exist in such a prominent place in a Christian country.

When, around the same time, Karen Armstrong, a historian of religion, wrote an article in the liberal Guardian newspaper commenting favorably about the mosque, the paper’s Web site was deluged with complaints.

In Newham, the borough where the mosque would stand, Alan Craig, the leader of the Christian Peoples Alliance Party in the East End, started a one-man campaign against the mosque a year ago that has grown and gained national prominence.

He began by emphasizing the size of the mosque. But now he focuses on its sponsor, Tablighi Jamaat, a worldwide evangelical Islamic group based in Pakistan with millions of followers that professes to encourage Muslims to be more loyal to their faith.

American and European law enforcement officials say Tablighi Jamaat’s simple message masks a fertile recruiting ground for terrorists. Two of the suicide bombers who attacked the London transit system in July 2005 had attended Tablighi Jamaat gatherings, British security officials said.

Tablighi Jamaat “is a separatist organization,” Mr. Craig said in an interview in his living room where a picture of the crucifixion of Christ hung on a wall, a cross rested on a bookshelf, and a Bible lay on the coffee table.

“They refer to us as kafir,” a term of contempt, he added. “That’s not what we need. We don’t want this mosque in East London. It will be disastrous.”

That Mr. Craig’s immediate neighbors include a Pakistani family on one side of his row house, and immigrants up and down the block, speaks to the changes in the East End, where South Asian Muslims are among the latest wave of immigrants.

The area has welcomed newcomers to London over the ages, starting with the French Huguenots and including Jews in the 19th century. Now nearly 30 mosques, most of them small, are crowded during Friday Prayer.

The 2001 census shows 34.2 percent of the Newham borough population is white. South Asians and blacks predominate. Christianity remains dominant at 46.8 percent and Muslims make up 24.3 percent.

The driving force behind the plan to build a grander mosque has been Abdul Khaliq Mian, 55, a British businessman born in Pakistan and a longtime follower of Tablighi Jamaat.

In an interview, Mr. Mian explained how in 1996 he helped raise £1.6 million, or about $2.9 million at the time, from the Tablighi community to buy an abandoned lot that was once the site of a sulfuric acid plant.

Mr. Mian, who came to Britain at age 11, said that in the late 1990s officials on the Newham Borough Council, which includes Muslims, encouraged Tablighi Jamaat to build a grand mosque befitting the scale of the land.

“I was told it was a very, very strategic site,” Mr. Mian said. “They said, ‘Get a planner and the best architect you can and build the biggest mosque you can.’”

An up and coming architect, Ali Mangara, 40, a Muslim born in South Africa, produced a design that envisioned wind turbines instead of minarets, and generous use of gardens, courtyards and restaurants. In all, with the use of awnings as cover, about 70,000 worshipers would be accommodated, Mr. Mangara said.

“It was intended to reach out and bring new people into the complex,” he said, showing off a model of his futuristic design.

The size of the congregation and avant garde nature of Mr. Mangara’s plans fueled Mr. Craig’s opposition. He accused Tablighi Jamaat of seeking financing from Saudi Arabia, though there is debate about this.

After raising money for the land, Mr. Mangara said, the group never provided additional financing for permits to build his design. Several months ago, his plan that had created the furor was dropped, and Tablighi Jamaat pushed Mr. Mian aside, though he remains a follower.

In Mr. Mangara’s place, an establishment London architectural firm, Allies & Morrison, known for projects like refurbishing Royal Festival Hall, has been hired to build a smaller version, which would hold about 12,000.

A developer, Sohail Sarbuland, a Muslim but not a member of Tablighi Jamaat, has pledged the money for the building permits.

Mr. Mangara and others say any breaking of ground will be delayed until after the 2012 Olympics. The issue will be finessed by a slow design process, and delays in the planning process, he said.

On the 10 Downing Street Web site, the prime minister’s office notes that no planning application has been made, and makes clear that the government has taken no position.

A London public relations firm, Indigo, which has put up a Web site about the mosque, abbeymillsmosque.com, has been hired by Tablighi Jamaat to speak for it.

An Indigo spokesman, Nick Kilby, said Tablighi Jamaat trustees would not talk to the news media. Phone calls to Tablighi Jamaat drew no response.

Mr. Kilby, whose job is to stem the controversy, said the final design by Allies & Morrison would not be done soon. “The Olympics are not the deadline,” he said.

UK Prime Minister Brown Told, "Move Troops To Iran's Border"

The Telegraph reports:

General David Petraeus will press Gordon Brown to increase the number of British troops patrolling the Iraqi border with Iran when he meets the Prime Minister this week.

The US commander in Iraq wants Britain to move a significant proportion of the 5,000 troops garrisoned at Basra airport to cut off the smuggling of Iranian weapons to Shia militias.

But British commanders fear that the move carries a serious risk of embroiling the UK in a war with Iran at a time when they want to withdraw from Iraq.

A former US under-secretary of defence who is now a Pentagon adviser told The Sunday Telegraph that Gen Petraeus would use the meeting to brief Mr Brown on how Iran is stepping up the supply of weapons and the training of insurgents.

"He will argue that action must be taken soon to stop or at least reduce these activities, and that Britain should be a part of this action," the official said. "He will talk about the possibility of increasing security along the Iraqi border with Iran.

"While he will not make the request, he will present the argument that some British forces now being withdrawn from Basra should be transferred to the border security mission."

Last week, at the Americans' request, 350 British troops from 1 Mechanised Brigade began patrolling the border east of Basra and the Shatt al-Arab waterway.

But The Daily Telegraph has revealed that in November about 2,500 of the Basra contingent could be moved out of harm's way across the border into Kuwait, from where they will escort convoys and train Iraqi troops. The move will put Britain further at odds with US commanders.

An adviser to President George W Bush said Britain should think about sending far more troops to the Iranian border instead.

"There are 5,000 troops there," he said. "We want them to stay in Iraq but we also want them to do something useful."

Dan Goure, a Pentagon consultant, said: "Petraeus will be looking for what the British can do to shore up the Iranian border. We are putting a new base there and it's logical we would seek help from our allies."

The move, in the words of an adviser to Mr Brown, leaves the Prime Minister "spinning like a top between the Americans and Richard Dannatt", the head of the Army, who secured a promise from Tony Blair's government that it would not have to fight on two fronts, in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Gen Petraeus will also call on Britain to keep SAS special forces engaged in Iraq and to maintain control of the headquarters unit overseeing southern Iraq. He will ask for a long notice period if, as expected, the bulk of British troops are ordered home early next year.

For their part, the Americans hope Iranian meddling will force British troops to stay in Basra longer.

But a defence insider who has discussed the issue with officials at the highest levels in the Ministry of Defence said: "They are worried that if they do more on the Iranian border there will be nasty incidents for us at the fag end of a campaign and that we could get sucked into a long-lasting conflict with Iran."

A government official acknowledged: "Gen Petraeus is the commander of coalition forces. If he makes a request, then as long as we have troops there it will be hard to ignore."

Gen Petraeus's trip is designed to damp down angry exchanges over the future of Britain's Iraq deployment.

The Sunday Telegraph has learnt that the US commander in Baghdad, Gen Ray Odierno, is furious at British plans for withdrawal and believes that the Defence Secretary, Des Browne, misled him on the reason for the recent pullback from Basra.

An adviser to Gen Petraeus said: "Odierno said: 'If there's one thing I hate more than being lied to by an American politician, it's being lied to by foreigners'. Browne had to come back to him and admit that it wasn't because the job was done but because the Army can't do both [Iraq and Afghanistan]."

Gen Petraeus will hold a press conference on Tuesday to address British concerns and, in his meetings with Mr Brown and defence chiefs, he will "give assurances that the fighting in Afghanistan is not being neglected as the result of developments in Iraq".

In return, Gen Dannatt is expected to discuss leaving some troops in the Basra headquarters. A US senator who has discussed the issue with Gen Petraeus said: "As far as he is concerned, they are staying."

The Power of the Postcode

The Telegraph reports:



There's no lottery about postcodes. It is a precise ... and revealing ... science, writes Jasper Gerard

It's in the DNA of the British to keep up appearances. Even the Queen patches her carpets.

Telltale code: your postcode can reflect your lifestyle
Meanwhile, the middle class kits itself out from Boden clearance sales and supplements the weekly shop in Waitrose with a crafty whizz round Lidl.

But postcodes, we now learn, strip away our pretence and lay bare just how smart we really are. An Englishman no longer gives away his life story by opening his mouth, but by opening an envelope marked with that telltale code.

How long you are put on hold is now determined by it. Whenever some call centre operative from Bangalore asks for your postcode, he will have "frighteningly accurate" information about your salary, credit rating, property value, hobbies, relationships, holidays, political affiliations, even what TV shows you watch, your interest in current affairs, what newspaper you read, which websites you check.

CCTV cameras may document where you are through the day, but now companies can instantly summon an image of how you live - thanks to your postcode.

And this will not be some generalised punt, such as that if you live in Gloucestershire you are probably gin and Jag, into wife-swapping and with a weakness for flashing the cash. It will be detailed, about you and your most immediate neighbours.

Your friends think you are swanky to strut around in Manolos, but you know they are hand-me-downs from your sister who found they gave her blisters. And guess what? Your new friend from Bangalore knows that, too - my dear, he can tell instantly that anyone down your street could barely afford Russell & Bromley.

Contrary to popular myth, there is no lottery about postcodes: the richer you are, the smarter your area and the more attractive you are to companies desperate to flog you stuff. So far from being a lottery, it is an increasingly precise science.

Professor Roger Burrows, who this week presented a paper on postcode profiling at the British Association Festival of Science in York, says: "In some call centres, a message will flash up 'wealthy customer, handle with care'." And the intelligence is freely available: "Everyone can access information about others in the country based on their postcode."

Employers and dates already scour Facebook for background, but you can edit that information. There is no such protection from other websites that publish what you - poor, naïve soul - might consider "private". I've just had a gander, and I'm reeling from the avalanche of detail cascading down after a few clicks.

Check out www.upmystreet.com: peeping toms will be in paradise. Everything you ever wanted to know about your neighbours and much more is there. Are they, it asks, "Sun readers or Guardianistas?" It's like curtain-twitching, just more scientific.

My Kentish village (TN8) is described in detail. I am, apparently a "type 3" - that is, a commuter who lives in a desirable shire village whose income is "very high" (open to debate, I fear). But I am also told my postcode's average wage, how much nearby houses have sold for - and even that three folk nearby claim the Jobseeker's Allowance. Those of us with jobs are, I learn, "highly astute" (don't laugh) senior managers and work-from-homers who shop online and are into fine art, opera, the National Trust and The Daily Telegraph. I learn that my neighbours are charitable, Christian, married (some for the second time), and are also getting on a bit. It doesn't tell me if they are swingers, but I suspect plenty of other websites will.

And then there is www.checkmyfile.com, which tempts me to snoop around the postcodes of famous people. The average price of a semi in David Cameron's West Kensington (W10), I discover, is a perky £2,943,752, and his neighbours mostly cycle to work - though it fails to tell me if their chauffeurs also drive behind. Charlotte Church's neighbours in Cardiff, by contrast, read mid-market tabloids, earn between £10,000 and £15,000, and really do shovel muck for a living - which might explain why the language of the "voice of an angel" borders on the agricultural.

Who you happen to live next door to really matters, and not merely because their Leylandii block your light: if one of them has a dodgy credit rating, this will limit your access to loans as financial-service companies calculate risk by the proportion of local households that have defaulted.

Barclaycard has stopped direct delivery to certain postcodes. A mail-order firm has cut fraud losses by 80 per cent through extra checks on orders from just 17 per cent of postcodes. It makes financial sense, but stigmatises people merely according to geography. Very precise geography, it must be said: companies will classify houses differently just yards apart.

Prof Burrows found a street in London's East End that contained five different categories, gradually changing from a smart, gentrified enclave right down to a grimy bit that wouldn't recognise Cath Kidston if it smacked it in its rather common chops.

Postcodes now do far more than help Postman Pat. They dramatically affect property values, with residents of a Birmingham development threatening to sue the builder after finding themselves in the "wrong" postcode; developers in London's Raynes Park (SW20) lobbied furiously to have the area rechristened "West Wimbledon" (SW19).

Just as the capital's telephone designations - 0207 for inner London, 0208 for outer - caused consternation among the many outed as "suburban", so the British have long been snobbish about the code at the end of their address. W1 (Mayfair) was always smart, while W2 meant, oh dear, you lived "north of the park" and, worse, now next door to the Blairs.

Windsor, rather than dropping bombs on Slough, simply requested the town be dropped from the Windsor postcode. An Old Etonian of my acquaintance was perturbed when he discovered the great country pile he had just bought carried the prefix "MK", for Milton Keynes - how non-U. A postcode has long damned not just an area but a way of life: if a Labour luvvy from Hampstead said something silly, he was ridiculed for being "so NW3".

But what has changed is the sheer detail that can be gleaned and how this will be used, determining your chances of gaining that platinum card or the right deal for that holiday to the Maldives.

Postcode data is not all bad: government resources, notably money for health, can be better targeted to where they are most needed, though inevitably this encourages Labour's habit of robbing the suburbs to give to the poorer inner cities. There's nothing you can do about it.

And nor is there any place to hide: ring a call centre - even from your mobile - and the person who answers will immediately ask for your postcode. You can refuse, of course; but then the company may refuse to do business.

Should you be suffering from "postcode cringe", though, stuck in an unfashionable area, don't book the removal van yet. Even the smartest postcodes - such as the Telegraph's SW1 - can be "contaminated" by, say, the number of bedsits around Victoria Station. Horton in Surrey and Grange Park in Northampton are in the highest household incomes bracket, areas not normally associated with Burlington Berties.

And items such as pet insurance might be discounted in unfashionable postcodes as vets will be cheaper. Oh, and live in a crummy area and you could receive a higher pension - because your area's so ghastly you will die quicker.

It's still so terribly complicated, being British. Shaw would recognise all of this. John Major announced "the classless society", but far from abolishing class, we have invented hundreds of new classes. We can go ex-directory; if only we could go ex-postcode.

KT19: LIFE IS SWEET

If you live in Epsom, you're more likely to live in a semi-detached house, have a managerial job, and invest in ISAs. Your household income will be around £59,000pa - the country's highest average. You shop for food at Waitrose, Sainsbury's and M&S, and for clothes in Next or French Connection. You go to the gym, play golf and enjoy skiing breaks. As well eating out, you'll appreciate wine and the odd cigar.

L5: SHAPE UP

If you live in Everton, chances are you're a single pensioner living in a high-rise block of flats. With an average household income of around £16,000pa, you're unlikely to have much to save. Unemployment is twice the national average and you don't own a car. Your inactive lifestyle is fuelled by a poor diet and nights in the pub, which contributes to the likelihood of long-term illness.

UK's Generals To New PM: "Military Campaign In Afghanistan On Verge Of Catastrophic Failure"

Military chiefs warn No.10 that defeat could lead to change of regime in Pakistan

The Guardian reports:

Britain's most senior generals have issued a blunt warning to Downing Street that the military campaign in Afghanistan is facing a catastrophic failure, a development that could lead to an Islamist government seizing power in neighbouring Pakistan.

Amid fears that London and Washington are taking their eye off Afghanistan as they grapple with Iraq, the generals have told Number 10 that the collapse of the government in Afghanistan, headed by Hamid Karzai, would present a grave threat to the security of Britain.

Lord Inge, the former chief of the defence staff, highlighted their fears in public last week when he warned of a 'strategic failure' in Afghanistan. The Observer understands that Inge was speaking with the direct authority of the general staff when he made an intervention in a House of Lords debate.

'The situation in Afghanistan is much worse than many people recognise,' Inge told peers. 'We need to face up to that issue, the consequence of strategic failure in Afghanistan and what that would mean for Nato... We need to recognise that the situation - in my view, and I have recently been in Afghanistan - is much, much more serious than people want to recognise.'

Inge's remarks reflect the fears of serving generals that the government is so overwhelmed by Iraq that it is in danger of losing sight of the threat of failure in Afghanistan. One source, who is familiar with the fears of the senior officers, told The Observer: 'If you talk privately to the generals they are very very worried. You heard it in Inge's speech. Inge said we are failing and remember Inge speaks for the generals.'

Inge made a point in the Lords of endorsing a speech by Lord Ashdown, the former Liberal Democrat leader, who painted a bleak picture during the debate. Ashdown told The Observer that Afghanistan presented a graver threat than Iraq.

'The consequences of failure in Afghanistan are far greater than in Iraq,' he said. 'If we fail in Afghanistan then Pakistan goes down. The security problems for Britain would be massively multiplied. I think you could not then stop a widening regional war that would start off in warlordism but it would become essentially a war in the end between Sunni and Shia right across the Middle East.'

'Mao Zedong used to refer to the First and Second World Wars as the European civil wars. You can have a regional civil war. That is what you might begin to see. It will be catastrophic for Nato. The damage done to Nato in Afghanistan would be as great as the damage done to the UN in Bosnia. That could have a severe impact on the Atlantic relationship and maybe even damage the American security guarantee for Europe.'

Ashdown said two mistakes were being made: a lack of a co-ordinated military command because of the multinational 'hearts and minds' Nato campaign and the US-led Operation Enduring Freedom offensive campaign against the Taliban. There was also insufficient civic support on, for example, providing clean water.

Ashdown warned: 'Unless we put this right, unless we have a unitary system of command, we are going to lose. The battle for this is the battle of public opinion. The polls are slipping. Once they go on the slide it is almost impossible to win it back. You can only do it with the support of the local population.

'There is a very short shelf life for an occupation force. Once that begins to shift against you it is very very difficult to turn it round.'

The warnings from Ashdown and the generals on Afghanistan will be echoed in a report this week by the all-party Commons defence select committee. MPs will say that the combination of civilian casualties, war damage and US-led efforts to eradicate lucrative poppy crops risk turning ordinary people towards the Taliban.

Stepped-up reconstruction efforts are essential, the MPs will suggest, in order to ensure local residents understand the longer-term aim of the British-led Nato mission - a point echoed, during the committee hearings on Afghanistan earlier this year, by returning British commander General David Richards.

The report is also expected to criticise some Nato members for failing to provide sufficient troops or other support for the Afghan mission.

Adam Holloway, a Tory member of the committee who is a former Grenadier Guards officer, said: 'We are getting to the point where it will be irretrievable. That's where we are now. We are in danger of a second strategic failure [after Iraq], which we cannot afford.'

Pan Am 103 Revisited

CBS News reports:

Three days before Christmas in 1988, the biggest mass murder in British history occurred. Pan Am Flight 103, Heathrow to JFK, had been in the air around 35 minutes when a bomb in the luggage hold exploded, sending the jumbo jet and its 259 passengers crashing into Lockerbie, Scotland. Another 11 were killed on the ground by the wreckage that rained down on them.

It took 13 years and a trial costing $160 million to put someone away for that crime. Former Libyan intelligence officer Abdel Basset Ali al Megrahi was found guilty and sentenced to life in a Scottish prison. Megrahi insists he's innocent. He tried to appeal, but that was turned down.

Now, however, he may get another day in court, after the independent Scottish Criminal Case Review Commission suggested strongly there may have been a miscarriage of justice and said there should be a new trial. Its 800 page report says there is new evidence and that evidence was withheld at the original trial. There were also serious questions raised about the credibility of the prosecution's forensic experts, conflicting forensic evidence, and witness inconsistencies.

Megrahi's lawyers contend Britain and the U.S. tampered with the evidence, disregarded witness statements and deliberately diverted the investigation away from the real culprits, Iran and Palestinian terrorists. They claim the bombing of the Pan Am flight was Iran's revenge for the shooting down of an Iranian passenger plane by the U.S. months earlier.

After Meghahi's conviction, you would have expected the families of those who'd been killed to be relieved, but many weren't. They believed the Libyan was framed.

Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora was a stewardess on the flight, says exactly that: "Framed." He sat in court and came out shaking his head. In Swire's view, "the trial ensured that a politically-desired result was obtained."

Swire asks why the West would want to blame Libya, which insisted its hands were clean. Swire answers his own question this way: The first Gulf War was about to happen, and the coalition didn't want Syrians and Iranians moving against it, "so they picked on Libya."

It was a convenient choice: Libya's Colonel Gaddafi was anti-West and had funded terror in other parts of the world, so why not? Libya was even forced to pay $270 million in compensation, as a condition for the lifting of U.N. sanctions. It did this begrudgingly, admitting no guilt.

If Megrahi gets a new trial, and that's not yet certain, he may still be found guilty, or he may not be. That's what a fair trial is supposed to decide. As still-grieving father Jim Swire says, "It's no good trying to have closure on false foundations. A house built on sand cannot stand."

After the commission's report, Megrahi said, "I wish, like the relatives, the whole truth about Pan Am 103 to be exposed."

There may be others in very high places that do not.

3 Sought After 2nd Car Bomb Found in London

Explosives-laden vehicles could have killed hundreds, authorities say

MSNBC reports:

British authorities were seeking three men Friday after police defused two car bombs that they said could have killed hundreds of people had a cell-phone trigger not failed.

The three men have been identified and are believed to be from the Birmingham area, a center of radical Islamic unrest in Britain, U.S. officials who had been briefed on the developments told NBC News.

Police said the two cars, a light green and a light blue Mercedes-Benz, were found early Friday morning in London’s theater district. The green Mercedes was defused at the site. The blue Mercedes was not discovered to be a threat until early Friday evening, after it had been issued a parking ticket and towed to an impoundment lot near Hyde Park.

“These vehicles are clearly linked,” said Peter Clarke, chief of Britain’s antiterrorism police. “The discovery of a second bomb is obviously troubling.”

Chilling new threat: Iraq-style devices
The car bombs were similar to highly destructive explosives used in Iraq and could have killed hundreds of people, U.S. and British officials told NBC News. British officials warned that the country was facing a “serious and sustained” terrorist threat.

A law enforcement official indicated that a catastrophe was only narrowly averted. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official told NBC News that the bomber or bombers apparently tried to detonate at least one of the cars but failed.

The first car, which had been stolen in Scotland, was found about 2:30 a.m. parked under a blue awning near the popular Tiger Tiger nightclub, which was jammed with as many as 2,000 people on Ladies Night.

Authorities believe it was intended to be set off by remote control by a cell phone found inside. The cell phone had received at least two calls, which should have detonated several gallons of gasoline, but when the calls came in, the bomb failed to go off, the official said.

Had it done so, that blast then would have ignited six to eight tanks of propane in a mist to make a fuel-air explosion, creating a fireball the size of a small house and propelling 18 to 20 boxes of roofing nails around a large area at bullet speed, counterterrorism officials said.

Clarke told reporters that the second car was similarly laden with gasoline, propane and nails. It was parked illegally nearby, ticketed and towed about 3:30 a.m., he said.

U.S. officials told NBC that the devices resembled the highly explosive car bombs that had been seen in Iraq but not, until now, in the West.

Islamist terrorist suspects convicted in recent London cases have spoken of moving up to more deadly fuel-air explosives, authorities said. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Ian Blair said earlier this year that “vehicle-borne weaponry is the greatest danger that we can face.”

Authorities told NBC News that police had learned a great deal from the cell phone, which recorded incoming and outgoing phone numbers. In addition, they were trawling through footage from the scores of high-resolution closed-circuit television cameras that record nearly everything that happens across the city.

Authorities told NBC News that one of the three men sought for questioning could be an associate of Dhiren Bharot, who was sentenced to life in prison last year for plotting to blow up financial institutions in the United States and Britain.

Police did not name the three men they were seeking, but they said the men were believed to be from the Birmingham area, home to Britain’s second-largest Muslim population and a strong recruiting base for the controversial Muslim group Hizb ut-Tahrir, or the Party of Liberation.

They said one of the three men could be an associate of Dhiren Bharot, an Indian convert to Islam who was sentenced to life in prison last year for plotting to fill limousines with explosives similar to those found Friday and park them in garages beneath hotels and office complexes.

Bharot, whom police described as a high-level al-Qaida operative, also planned to attack five financial landmarks in the United States: the New York Stock Exchange and the Citigroup Tower in New York; the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, both in Washington; and the Prudential Building in Newark, N.J.

Second car bomb unspotted for hours
The two cars were left at the same place, but their discoveries were very dissimilar.

The first car was immediately recognized as a threat and disarmed at the scene. The second car, however, sat unrecognized for most of the day after it was hitched up to a tow truck and carted down London’s streets to a police impoundment lot, its deadly payload intact for the entire trip.

It was clear that the devices, had they exploded, would have caused great damage and many casualties in the area, which is packed with restaurants, bars and theaters.

“This is a busy area that time of night,” the police official told NBC News. “There could have been a fireball that could have penetrated the club, and with the nails, it could have caused serious casualties.”

Somber start for Brown
The attempted bombing comes just days after Gordon Brown succeeded Tony Blair as prime minister and a week before the second anniversary of the July 7 London bombings that killed 52 people.

Brown’s new home secretary, Jacqui Smith, said the country was confronted with “the most serious and sustained threat to our security from international terrorism.”

President Bush scheduled a Cabinet meeting for late Monday afternoon in Washington to assess the situation. But Michael Chertoff, secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said U.S. officials had no evidence of a threat to U.S. security and that there were no plans to raise the U.S. security threat level.

With the approach of Independence Day, however, New York officials said they were ramping up security in light of the developments in London, where a New York police official was coordinating with local authorities.

“Some of you will notice, some of you won’t — but we have to be cognizant,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said on his weekly radio show.

Islamist Militant Linked to UK Bomb Plot

ABC News reports:


British and US officials are increasingly convinced that two cars found in London and laden with explosives were part of a foiled "terror plot involving Islamic extremists."

ABC News has learned that police have a clear closed-circuit television camera image of the driver of one vehicle left near Piccadilly Circus. They believe the man on the video is a known associate of jailed Islamist militant Dhiren Barot.

The two cars, both filled with "fuel, gas canisters and nails" and found near each other in central London "are clearly linked" to each other, said Peter Clarke of Scotland Yard's anti-terror command.

The first bomb, found in a green Mercedes parked near Piccadilly Circus in the early morning hours Friday, was defused by police technicians. Later that day, police identified a suspicious blue Mercedes near Hyde Park and subsequently cordoned off Park Lane, a busy thoroughfare.

British police defused the Piccadilly Circus car bomb, made from 33 gallons of gasoline and capable of causing "significant loss of life." The bomb also included propane canisters and nails and was wired to be detonated by cell phone.

Watch World News with Charles Gibson at 6:30 p.m. EDT for the latest developments on the story.

The target of that car bomb may have been a nightclub just around the corner, with hundreds of people inside.
A robot was used to investigate the suspicious vehicle found on Park Lane and the car was removed from the area.

By rush hour Friday evening, Fleet Street had been reopened to traffic but Park Lane remained closed as investigators looked for a possible link to the suspicious vehicle there and the Piccadilly Circus car bomb.

Police called on Londoners to remain vigilant and promised to minimize disruptions to traffic as much as possible.

"I'd ask Londoners to be alert and report anything suspicious to the police," said Tarique Ghaffur, an assistant commander at Scotland Yard. "In incidents of this nature there is disruption and we're trying to minimize that, we're grateful to the public for their continued reporting and continued vigilance. We are working under tried and tested systems, many of which were brought in after 7/7."

Word of the Piccadilly Circus car bomb came in the early hours of Friday morning from an ambulance driver who was treating someone nearby and saw smoke coming from a blue Mercedes shortly after it careened into a barricade. The driver had apparently fled.

The alert brought central London to a standstill. Police cordoned off parts of Piccadilly Circus and surrounded the car.

Calling the device a "significant bomb," bomb technicians first approached the car with a robot. The smoke inside the car was so thick that the robot's camera could not record anything, sources said.

A bomb technician in a heavy kevlar suit approached the car and, sources say, was surprised to find a carefully constructed bomb. The bomb contained 33 gallons of gasoline in containers stuffed onto the car's right front seat and in its trunk. Also in the car were cylinders of propane and butane.

At great personal risk, sources say, the bomb technician then defused the bomb by hand.

According to U.S. security officials briefed on the matter a cell phone was to be used as a detonator.

The incident happened just hours after newly installed British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced his new Cabinet. He said the British people must remain vigilant

"As we have said on so many occasions, we face a serious and continued security threat to our country," Brown told reporters outside his residence at 10 Downing Street.

Scotland Yard's Peter Clarke told reporters the incident shows the terror threat "is real, it is here and it is enduring."

A British government source told ABC News that the authorities here in the middle of investigating significant anti-terror activities right now, with a number of investigations under way at once, including ones with links to Pakistan and al Qaeda.

London is just days away from the anniversary of the July 7, 2005, bombings that killed 52 people. There have long been fears of a repeat, with authorities monitoring both homegrown terrorists and threats outside the country.

In Washington, President Bush commended the swift action of British authorities and pledged U.S. support in the ongoing investigation.

"We commend the British security services for their action today. U.S. officials are in contact with their U.K. counterparts and will continue to monitor the situation. Bush was informed this morning during his daily briefing," said Gordon Johndroe, National Security Council spokesman.

White House spokesman Tony Snow said the president has yet to speak with the newly appointed Prime Minister Gordon Brown or other British officials but "if they need anything, they'll get it."

The FBI is working closely with the British, checking on the registration of the vehicle, trying to determine who the driver might have been, and if they get any names, looking for associates to see if those people have been to the United States. The July 4 holiday is approaching, and U.S. officials are always concerned about that holiday.

Michael Chertoff, secretary of Homeland Security, said there was no threat to U.S. security but called on Americans to be vigilant over the holiday.

"At this point, I have seen no specific, credible information suggesting that this incident is connected to a threat to the homeland," he said.

ABC News has reported for a while on disturbing evidence that terror groups have been specifically training agents to wreak havoc in Europe and the United States, using bombs.

ABC's Brian Ross just three weeks ago reported on a video of an alleged al Qaeda terrorist graduation ceremony, claiming that suicide bomb teams were to be dispatched around the world. The video, obtained by ABC News from a Pakistant journalist, shows the men going through a terror training camp somewhere in Pakistan. Teams of 50 to 60 men were supposedly dispatched to Europe and the United States after the ceremony.

The existence of the tape put British and German security experts on edge. As well, it was just last year when an al Qaeda operative was convicted in a London court of planning suicide attacks in London and the United States using limousines, not unlike the car discovered in London this morning. It is too early to know if today's incident was the work of al Qaeda.

British officials are also checking gas and chemical trucks, cement trucks, limousines as well as all vehicles coming to and from the famed Wimbledon tennis tournament that began this week outside London.

Was London Bomb Heralded On Web?

Internet Forum Comment From Night Before: "London Shall Be Bombed"

CBS News reports:

Hours before London explosives technicians dismantled a large car bomb in the heart of the British capital's tourist-rich theater district, a message appeared on one of the most widely used jihadist Internet forums, saying: "Today I say: Rejoice, by Allah, London shall be bombed."

CBS News found the posting, which went on for nearly 300 words, on the "al Hesbah" chat room. It was left by a person who goes by the name abu Osama al-Hazeen, who appears regularly on the forum. The comment was posted on the forum, according to time stamp, at 08:09 a.m. British time on June 28 -- about 17 hours before the bomb was found early on June 29.

Al Hesbah is frequently used by international Sunni militant groups, including al Qaeda and the Taliban, to post propaganda videos and messages in their fight against the West.

There was no way for CBS News to independently confirm any connection between the posting made Thursday night and the car bomb found Friday.

Al-Hazeen's message begins: "In the name of God, the most compassionate, the most merciful. Is Britain Longing for al Qaeda's bombings?"

Al-Hazeen decries the recent knighthood of controversial author Salman Rushdie as a blow felt by all British Muslims. "This 'honoring' came at a crucial time, a time when the whole nation is reeling from the crusaders attacks on all Muslim lands," he said, in an apparent reference to the British role in Iraq.

"We say to Britain: The Emir of al Qaeda, Sheikh Osama, has once threatened you, and he carried out his threats. Today I say: Rejoice, by Allah, London shall be bombed," the message reads.

Speaking at a news conference Friday after the bomb scare in central London, the Metropolitan Police force's Counter-Terrorism Commander Peter Clarke said that officials had "no indication that we were going to be attacked this way".

Prior to the Thursday night posting by al-Hazeen, there had been no specific allusions to threats against London or Britain seen on al Hesbah, or any other major jihadist forums in recent weeks.

Several responses to the posting by other forum members expressed hope that an attack against London would be realized in the near future.

In response, al-Hazeen urges patience, saying, "Victory is very close, but you are just rushing it."

Reached by CBSNews.com Friday, the Metropolitan Police's media office could not confirm whether investigators were aware of the Internet posting on al Hesbah.

Intelligence sources who spoke to CBS News Friday morning seemed to express surprise at the discovery of the device, suggesting there had been "no warning, no intel, no smell" as a prelude to the plot — a vacuum of information which reportedly had Britain's domestic intelligence agency "very, very worried".

The attempted bombing in London's Haymarket area came one week before the second anniversary of the July 7 bombings that killed 52 people on London's transportation network.

Also Friday, a London jury was expected to hand down a verdict in the case against five young men who were charged with trying to blow up city buses and trains in 2005.

The men, all from London, were arrested after police found homemade devices on trains and buses that had failed to detonate properly — sending puffs of smoke from backpacks that frightened commuters, but injured no one.

Early reports from law enforcement officials indicate that the car bomb found Friday morning may also have failed to detonate properly — causing smoke to appear in the passenger area. It was the smoke that prompted people to call explosives officers to the scene.

One explosives expert told the British Broadcasting Corporation that the device — comprised of gas canisters and nails — appeared to be a fairly crude construction, and not the work of anyone with an extensive knowledge of weaponry.

Britain has wrestled since the July 7, 2005, over how to deal with the threat of "homegrown" terrorism. Young men from the country's large Muslim population are easy prey for radical clerics and propaganda campaigns propagated on Internet forums such as al Hesbah.

In addition to messages calling for jihad in Britain, detailed video demonstrations of how to construct bombs using gas canisters are readily available on the forums.

Sky News reports:

Police have confirmed that not one, but two massive car bombs were set to explode in the heart of London's West End.

The first car, in Haymarket, was a metallic green Mercedes packed with petrol, gas cannisters and nails, and was defused after police were alerted by an ambulance crew called to an incident at a nearby nightclub in the early hours of Friday morning.

The second bomb was in a car that was illegally parked nearby and towed to the Park Lane car pound.

Staff there alerted police because "it smelled of gas."
Car removed from scene

That device has also been made safe and has been taken away for examination.

In a news conference Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke said the second car, a blue Mercedes, was parked a few hundred yards from the first in Cockspur Street which runs between Haymarket and Trafalgar Square.

It was issued with a parking ticket at around 2:30am on Friday before being towed to the Park Lane car pound where staff alerted police.

DAC Clarke said: "The vehicle was found to contain very similar materials to the first vehicle in Haymarket.

"There was a considerable amount of fuel and gas cannisters, as in the first vehicle. There was also a substantial quantity of nails.

"This device, like the first was potentially viable and was made safe by explosives officers. The vehicles are clearly linked."

"The discovery of a second bomb is obviously troubling and reinforces the need for the public to remain vigilant."

He also asked anyone who may have seen the blue Mercedes parked in Cockspur Street to come forward.

Hyde Park and Park Lane sealed off
Sky News sources say one of the first police officers on the scene of the Haymarket car bomb may have saved dozens of lives by defusing the explosives before the bomb squad arrived.

It is believed the quick-thinking cop recognised that the car was wired to blow up, jumped in and disconnected the trigger device, thought to be a mobile phone.

The device, which contained 60 litres of petrol, a large amount of nails and several gas canisters, was found in the Mercedes early this morning.

Police had received reports of a suspicious vehicle close to the Tiger Tiger nightclub in Piccadilly shortly before 2am on Friday morning.

An ambulance crew, who treated a person in the club in an unrelated incident, reported that there was smoke inside the car.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said the UK is "currently facing the most serious and sustained threat" and authorities are doing everything they can to protect the public.

Police believe they have foiled a major terror attack and said if the Haymarket bomb had gone off it could have caused "significant injury or loss of life".

Vehicle examined for clues
The timing coincided with hundreds of revellers leaving nightspots, but police said there was no intelligence to suggest such an attack.

The area was cordoned off by officers who examined the metallic green car, outside an American Express foreign exchange, and then discovered the device.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, head of Scotland Yard's counter-terrorism command, paid tribute to those who manually defused it, saying they had not only saved lives but gave forensic officers the opportunity to gather a substantial amount of material.

Officers have appealed for witnesses who may have seen anything suspicious in the Haymarket area. The number is 0800 789 321.

Extra police patrols are taking place across London following the incident.

Whitehall sources said that the police and security services are looking at possible international links - including similarities to car bombs used by insurgents in Iraq.

Device found in Haymarket
Mr Brown said the incident reminds us that Britain faces "a serious and continuous threat" and the public "need to be alert" at all times.

The Haymarket is in the heart of London's theatreland, which is packed with thousands of people through most of the day and night.

Detectives are looking at CCTV footage from the area surrounding the Haymarket and interviewing witnesses, including staff from bars and nightclubs.

Congestion charge cameras, which recognise number plates and run 24 hours a day, will be able to track the route of the vehicle into the capital.

Former head of the Flying Squad John O'Connor said the attacker had most probably "bottled it" and was likely to be a homegrown terrorist.

The Home Secretary chaired an emergency Cobra meeting about the terror scare and then briefed the Cabinet.

Enhanced security measures have been put in place at the Houses of Westminster in the wake of the incident.

The discovery of the car bomb comes just under two years since suicide attacks killed 52 people in the capital.

Another 784 were injured when four bombs exploded on London's transport network on July 7, 2005.

London Bomb Scare: A Chronology of Attacks

CNN reports:

A chronology of bombings and attempted bomb attacks in the mainland UK since the 1970s:

June 29, 2007: Police defuse a bomb consisting of 200 liters of fuel, gas cylinders and nails found in an abandoned car in Haymarket, central London.

July 21, 2005: Two weeks after the deadly 7/7 bombings, four men are alleged to have attempted to carry out a second wave of attacks against London's transport network at three London underground stations and aboard a bus. But their alleged rucksack bombs fail to explode.

July 7, 2005: Four suicide bombers detonate themselves aboard three underground trains and a bus in a morning rush hour attack against London's transport network, killing 52 people and injuring around 700 more. Al Qaeda claims responsibility in a video statement. (Gallery)

August 2004: Anti-terrorist police disrupt a plot by Islamic militants to blow up targets including the Ministry of Sound nightclub and the Bluewater shopping center in southeast England using explosives packed into limousines and large vehicles. Seven men are convicted in May 2007 and sentenced to up to 26 years in prison.

March 2001: A car bomb explodes outside the BBC's London headquarters, wounding one man. Police blame the Real IRA, a republican splinter group opposed to the IRA's cease fire.

April 1999: Three people die when a nail bomb explodes in the Admiral Duncan pub in London's gay district -- the third in a spate of series of nail bomb attacks also targeting immigrant areas of the city that left dozens injured. A 23-year-old self-declared "Nazi", David Copeland, is sentenced to six life terms.

June 1996: A massive IRA bomb explodes in a shopping center in central Manchester, injuring more than 200 people.

February 1996: Two people die as IRA terrorists detonate a bomb in London's Docklands area, causing damage estimated at around $170m and ending the group's 17-month cease fire.

April 1993: An IRA truck bomb devastates part of London's financial district, killing one and wounding 44.

March 1993: Two boys aged three and 12 are killed and dozens are injured by two bombs left in litter bins in Warrington, northern England. The IRA admits planting the bombs.

April 1992: A huge IRA car bomb in London's financial district kills three people and wounds 91.

February 1991: IRA terrorists launch a mortar attack at Prime Minister John Major's Downing Street offices. No-one is injured.

September 1989: Eleven people die and 22 are wounded when an IRA bomb explodes at a Royal Marine music school in Deal, southern England.

December 1988: A Pan Am airliner explodes over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, killing 259 aboard and 11 people on the ground. Libyan agent Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, convicted of the attack in 2001, was this week granted the right to mount a fresh appeal. (Full story)

October 1984: Five people die in an IRA bomb attack on a hotel in Brighton, southern England, where Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her cabinet are staying for the Conservative Party's annual conference.

December 1983: An IRA bomb at London's Harrods department store kills six people.

July 1982: Two IRA bomb attacks on soldiers in London's parks kill 11 people and wound 50.

October-November 1974: A wave of IRA bombs in British pubs in Birmingham and Guildford kill 28 people and wound more than 200.

February 1974: A coach carrying soldiers and families in northern England is bombed by the IRA, killing 12 and wounding 14.

Two Explosive-Laden Cars in London Linked

Story Highlights
• NEW: Anti-terror chief: "These vehicles are clearly linked"
• Two vehicles loaded with fuel and nails safely removed
• Police hunt driver who abandoned explosives-packed car outside nightclub
• Bomb could have resulted in serious loss of life, anti-terror chief says

CNN reports:

As authorities were investigating an explosives-packed car discovered outside a nightclub near Piccadilly Circus on Friday, a second vehicle was found in London that had similar explosive material inside, security sources said.

Both cars were laden with large amounts of fuel, gas canisters and "a substantial quantity of nails," British police anti-terror chief Peter Clarke said.

"These vehicles are clearly linked," he said.

The second car had been parked underground near Trafalgar Square in an area where parking was not allowed.

Workers towed it to a lot on Park Lane near Buckingham Palace and thought it smelled of gasoline. Given the reports that gas canisters were among the explosive material found in the other car, they became suspicious, security sources said.

Authorities then blocked off a section of Park Lane while they examined the car and discovered the material.

Earlier Friday, a section of Fleet Street also was cordoned off briefly, then reopened without incident.

Inside the first car near Piccadilly Circus, a device was found loaded with fuel, gas cylinders and nails, said security sources, and it was set up for remote detonation.

Security sources said the "relatively crude device" contained at least 200 liters, or about 50 gallons, of fuel in canisters.

Police said the car was found shortly before 2 a.m. Friday and deactivated. The device could have caused huge numbers of casualties, police said.

Clarke said detectives were examining security camera footage for clues to the driver of the vehicle.

The incident renewed fears of a terrorist strike almost two years after London's transport network was hit by suicide bombers.

Security sources with knowledge of the investigation said a cell phone was found as part of the first device, but it was not immediately clear whether it was to be used as a detonator or timer, or in some other way.

Clarke said the car was discovered when a quick-thinking ambulance crew noticed it was filled with smoke outside the popular Tiger Tiger nightclub.

Explosives officers discovered the fuel and nails attached to a "potential means of detonation" inside the vehicle. Officers "courageously" disabled the trigger by hand, Clarke said.

"Even at this stage it is obvious that if the device had detonated, there could have been severe injuries and loss of life," Clarke said. He said it was too early to say who was responsible.

Witness Daniel Weir said he was walking home from work when he noticed police had cordoned off the area around the nightclub and a nearby vehicle.

He snapped several photos, including one that showed a canister labeled "patio gas." (See the photos)

"If I had known what was actually ... going on, I don't think I would have been hanging about," he told CNN hours later.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, appointed two days earlier in a transition of power seen as a potential spur for extremists to mount an attack, said the incident was a reminder of the dangers facing the country. (Full story)

Brown, whose predecessor Tony Blair's support of the Iraq war provoked anger among Islamic militants, said Britain faced "a serious and continuous threat" and the public needs to be alert at all times.

The incident came a little more than a week before the second anniversary of July 7, 2005, when four Islamic extremist suicide bombers killed 52 people and injured hundreds more on London's transport system in the deadliest strike on the city since World War II.

'Rude awakening'

CNN international security correspondent Paula Newton said the Piccadilly Circus bomb was potentially aimed at theatergoers or nightclubbers, echoing plots recently thwarted by anti-terror police in which Islamic militants intended to attack prominent dance venues and shopping malls.

London has a long history of bomb attacks and alerts during decades of violence mounted by Northern Irish guerrilla groups. Lone attackers also have previously targeted the city's gay and immigrant communities. (Timeline of attacks)

Friday's incident could prove to be the first major test for Brown, a former finance minister, who has only just appointed his Cabinet, including new Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, in charge of domestic security.

"For Gordon Brown, it is a rude awakening to the realities you take on as prime minister," CNN's European political editor Robin Oakley said.

Smith on Friday attended a meeting of Britain's so-called Cobra emergency committee -- consisting of intelligence and security chiefs -- and later briefed Brown's Cabinet.

"As the police and security services have frequently said, we face one of the most serious and sustained threats to our security at the moment," Smith told reporters.

Police later said they were deploying an enhanced presence to provide extra security across the capital, but said the reinforcements were not in response to a specific incident.

Reports Circulate About Second Suspicious Vehicle in London

USA Today On Deadline reports:

As London reels from this morning's discovery of a car bomb in the theater district, CNN is quoting anonymous police and security sources who say similar components were found in a vehicle that parking enforcement towed from Trafalgar Square to an underground parking garage near Hyde Park.

ITN says officials won't confirm reports that explosives were found in the second car. But CNN quotes "a senior U.S. official with knowledge of the London investigation" saying "the car was linked to the vehicle outside the club, and that some materials found inside the car were very similar to explosive materials found in the car near Piccadilly Circus."

Sky News reports that the second vehicle, described as a blue hybrid Mercedes, was parked illegally on the West End and towed to the Park Lane impound lot early this morning. "Staff at the pound became suspicious and alerted police because they said 'it smelled of gas,'" the network says. "Forensic officers and bomb disposal teams spent several hours examining the car, however Park Lane has now re-opened."

An international manhunt is underway, with counter-terrorism investigators said to looking for the person who seen leaving the first vehicle outside a nightclub early this morning.

Update at 3:30 p.m. ET: CBS News focused this afternoon on reports that someone posted information about a bombing in London to the Internet long before police found the car near Piccadilly Circus. "Today I say: Rejoice, by Allah, London shall be bombed," the person wrote Thursday night on a jihadist forum, according to the network.

ABC News has an urgent alert in bright red letters splashed across the top of its website: SEVERAL EXPLOSIONS WERE PLANNED USING MULTIPLE VEHICLES BY ISLAMIC EXTREMISTS IN LONDON BOMB PLOT, U.S. AND BRITISH OFFICIALS TELL ABC NEWS.

That may be true, but so far there's little evidence in the network's story to back up the claims in its headline. Here's the first sentence: "British and U.S. officials have become increasingly convinced that two cars found in London and laden with explosives are part of a 'terror plot involving Islamic extremists,' according to ABC News's Brian Ross."

That's the only part of the story that addresses the claims in the headline and the breaking-news alert.

Judging by the chatter on the all-news channels, many experts believe that Islamic extremists were in fact responsible for the car bomb that police discovered early this morning outside a London nightclub. But we have yet to see any confirmation of these claims from named sources, and some reports have been careful to note the possibility that the car bomb was tied to criminals instead of terrorists.

As for the second vehicle, there are conflicting reports as to whether or not it contained bomb-related materials. Several major news organizations are quoting unidentified officials who say the car contained explosives or bomb-making components. But Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., tells MSNBC that his briefings suggest that further investigation showed that the vehicle wasn't a threat.

Update at 3:57 p.m. ET: British police just held a very short press conference during which they confirmed that the two cars were linked. "This second vehicle has been examined ... the vehicle was found to contain very similar materials to those that had been found in the first car in Haymarket earlier today," Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke says. "There was a considerable amount of fuel and gas canisters. As in the first vehicle, there was also a substantial quantity of nails."

Clarke, head of the counter-terror squad, says the bomb squad disabled both devices.

"These vehicles are clearly linked," he says. Clarke didn't take any questions.

Central London Terror Plot Foiled By Chance

ITN reports:


A plot to kill hundreds of London revellers was foiled when police found a car packed with nails, petrol and gas canisters by chance.

Carnage was averted in the early hours of Friday morning when police defused a bomb in the Mercedes saloon car left outside the Tiger Tiger nightclub in The Haymarket, just yards from Piccadilly Circus.

Hours later, Park Lane was sealed off by police examining a vehicle left in the entrance of a car park. The prestigious London road has reopened but Metropolitan Police are refusing to confirm reports that explosives were found in the car.

The vehicle carrying the Haymarket bomb was first spotted by a vigilant London ambulance crew who had been called to the area to attend an injured man. They saw what appeared to be smoke coming from the car and phoned police.

Officers believe the smoke was vapour released from at least 60 litres of volatile petrol held inside the car. The club was evacuated and the area cordoned off while explosives officers made the device safe.

Scotland Yard declined to comment on reports that a mobile phone was found in the Mercedes that may have been intended to trigger the explosion. Some reports claim a quick-thinking officer disconnected the phone before bomb squad officers arrived.

A massive international manhunt is now under way for whoever fled the metallic light green car. Counter-terror detectives, working with MI5 officers, are believed to have a description of the suspect.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, head of Scotland Yard's counter-terrorism command, said: "There was no intelligence whatsoever that we were going to be attacked in this way."

Hundreds of revellers were in The Haymarket area at the time of the first incident. The club is close to celebrity haunts such as Chinawhite and the famous Trocadero complex.

A source said it is too early to tell if the perpetrator was a lone individual or part of a wider plot. Commuters have suffered delays as Piccadilly Circus Tube station remains closed.

Mr Clarke said the courage of bomb squad officers saved lives. He added: "It is obvious that if the device had detonated, there could have been significant injury or loss of life. We are doing absolutely everything we can in our power to keep the public safe.

"The threat from terrorism is real and is here. Life must go on but we must all stay alert to the threat as we go on with our lives."

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the incident showed that Britain faces "a serious and continuous threat" and the public need to be alert at all times.

The Government's emergency response committee, Cobra, met this morning before briefing the Cabinet on the dramatic events.

Speaking in her first full day in the job, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said: "What I think is very important is that the public remain vigilant at all times."

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell said: "We should praise the police for their professionalism and diligence.

Responding to the incident, Defence Secretary Des Browne said: "It does appear to be a very serious incident. My first reaction to this is, thank God that we have police and explosives experts who can make these devices safe, and that nobody has been injured."

The plot might have been inspired by terrorist mastermind Dhiren Barot, who was jailed for life last November. He conspired to park limousines packed with gas canisters underneath high-profile buildings before detonating them.

The gang behind the fertiliser bomb plot planned to target nightclubs such as the Ministry of Sound in London. The five members, jailed for life earlier this year, had close links with the July 7 London bombers.

The incident comes almost two years after four suicide bombers brought carnage to London's transport network, claiming the lives of 52 innocent people on July 7.

Explosives-Packed Car Defused in London

Forbes.com reports:

Police in London's bustling nightclub and theater district on Friday defused a bomb that could have killed hundreds after an ambulance crew spotted smoke coming from a Mercedes filled with a lethal mix of gasoline, propane and nails, authorities said.

The bomb near Piccadilly Circus was powerful enough to have caused "significant injury or loss of life" - possibly killing hundreds, British anti-terror police chief Peter Clarke said.

The discovery resurrected fears that followed the July 7, 2005, suicide bombings that killed 52 people on three London subways and a bus and failed attacks on the transit system just two weeks later.

"We are currently facing the most serious and sustained threat to our security from international terrorism," Britain's new home secretary, Jacqui Smith, said after an emergency meeting of top officials.

But in Washington, two U.S. officials briefed on the investigation said British authorities had so far found no terrorist link in the early hours of the investigation. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case, said the inquiry had yielded no suspects and no definitive description of anyone leaving the vehicle.

Police were examining footage from closed-circuit TV cameras, Clarke said, hoping the surveillance network that covers much of central London will help them track down the driver of the Mercedes.

U.S. Rep. Peter King, the ranking Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, said British authorities saw a man fiddling with a cell phone near the Mercedes.

"They found a cell phone and it was going to be used to detonate the bomb," said King, R-N.Y.

The events unfolded when an ambulance crew - responding to a call just before 1:30 a.m. about a person who had fallen at a Haymarket nightclub - noticed smoke coming from a car parked in front of the building, Clarke said.

The crew alerted police, and a bomb squad manually disabled the device, Clarke said.

Photographs of the metallic green Mercedes show a canister bearing the words "patio gas," indicating it was propane, next to the car. The back door was open with blankets spilling out. The car was removed from the scene after a bomb squad disabled the explosives.

Hours after the discovery, police closed a major road on the edge of Hyde Park to investigate a suspicious vehicle. Sky News and the British Broadcasting Corp. reported that the vehicle was linked to the foiled plot, although a police spokeswoman denied any connection had been established.

The busy Haymarket thoroughfare is packed with restaurants, bars, a cinema complex and West End theaters, and was buzzing at that hour. "Phantom of the Opera" is playing at Her Majesty's Theater down the street.

It was ladies' night Thursday, nicknamed "Sugar 'N' Spice," at the Tiger Tiger nightclub, a three-story venue that at full capacity can pack in 1,770 people and stays open until 3 a.m.

Police also were investigating the possibility that the planned attack could have been criminal in nature. Authorities closed the Piccadilly Circus subway station for eight hours and cordoned off a 10-block area around the scene.

A British security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the security details, said there were similarities between the device and vehicle bombs used by insurgents in Iraq. But the two officials in Washington said it was too early in the investigation to tell if those similarities were significant.

The British security official also said the domestic spy agency MI5 would examine possible connections between Friday's bomb attempt and at least two similar foiled plots - to attack a London nightclub in 2004 and to pack limousines in New York with gas canisters and shrapnel.

In the 2004 plot, accused members of an al-Qaida-linked terror cell were convicted of conspiring to cause explosions. One of the possible targets M15 overheard them discussing was the Ministry of Sound, one of London's biggest and most famous nightclubs.

One man is heard saying the plan was to "Blow the whole thing up."

Gordon Brown, who only Wednesday succeeded Tony Blair as prime minister, called it a reminder that Britain faces a serious and continuous threat of terrorist attacks: "I will stress to the Cabinet that the vigilance must be maintained over the next few days."

There had been no prior intelligence of planned attacks from the al-Qaida terror network, a British government official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation.

Londoners were relatively unfazed by the news. People crowded onto buses and subway trains during the afternoon rush hour, shopping streets were busy and sidewalk cafes did brisk business.

"Sure, it's disturbing, and obviously it reminds everyone of 7/7," said Ian Hiskos, 32, eating at a cafe across the block from the police cordon on Haymarket. "I try not to think about these things."

The terror threat level in Britain has remained at "severe" - meaning a terrorist attack is highly likely - since last August.

On Friday, Metropolitan Police said it sent more officers on the streets of central London. Authorities also stepped up security at Wimbledon.

One analyst said the bombers could be trying to send Britain's new leader a message.

"It's a way of testing Gordon Brown," said Bob Ayers, a security expert at the Chatham House think tank. "It's not too far-fetched to assume it was designed to expedite the decision on withdrawal (from Iraq)."

The U.S. government urged Americans abroad to be vigilant but officials said they saw no potential terrorist threat in the United States ahead of next week's July 4 Independence Day holiday.

"At this time we are characterizing this as a localized incident in London," said Laura Keehner, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security.

New York strengthened its already tight security as a precaution, putting additional police in Times Square and the mass transit system.

"We're going to ramp up a little bit, but nothing dramatic," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said on his weekly radio show. "We'll take a little bit of extra precaution. Some of you will notice, some of you won't - but we have to be cognizant."

New British PM Gordon Brown Unveils 'Cabinet of Talents'

Story Highlights
• British PM Gordon Brown holds first meeting with newly appointed cabinet
• Brown promises "new government with new priorities"
• Alistair Darling named finance minister; David Miliband foreign secretary
• Jacqui Smith becomes UK's first female home secretary

CNN reports:

Newly installed British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has held his first cabinet meeting following the UK's biggest government shake-up since the Labour Party came to power in 1997.

Alistair Darling, a longterm political ally of Brown and formerly in charge of transport, was named to the key position of Chancellor of the Exchequer -- the finance role previously held by the new prime minister himself for 10 years.

Former environment minister David Miliband replaced Margaret Beckett as foreign secretary, becoming at 41 the youngest politician since the 1970s to hold one of the UK government's four senior cabinet posts.

"I am tremendously honored," said Miliband, a rising star within Labour ranks who had been tipped as a possible challenger to Brown for the party's leadership.

"The opportunities and challenges of the modern world require, in my view, a diplomacy that is patient as well as purposeful, which listens as well as leads," he told reporters.

Jacqui Smith became the UK's first female home secretary, replacing John Reid as he stepped down from government, while Jack Straw, a former home secretary and foreign secretary, was appointed justice minister.

Despite speculation that Brown would look beyond Labour ranks in building his cabinet, the only non-party appointment saw the former United Nations deputy secretary-general Mark Malloch Brown accept the job of minister for Africa, Asia and the U.N.

Marking the UK government's first change of leadership in a decade, Brown promised "a new government with new priorities" as he addressed reporters outside Dowing Street after taking over from Tony Blair on Wednesday.

"I will build a government that uses all the talents. I will invite men and women of good will to contribute their energies in a new spirit of public service."

Brown faces the task of re-building faith in a Labour administration which has seen its achievements -- including three straight general election victories, peace to Northern Ireland and a sustained economic boom -- tarnished by the Iraq war, the cash-for-honors row and the Blair government's perceived preoccupation with media spin.

Blair was questioned by police for a third time in their investigation of allegations that honors were offered for political contributions, the UK's Press Association reported Thursday. (Full story)

In other developments on Thursday, Brown split the Department of Education into two cabinet posts, separating responsibility for schools and children from a new Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills.

He also abolished the Department for Trade and Industry, creating a new Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.

CNN's European Political Editor Robin Oakley said Brown would introduce a different style of government, restoring a more serious tone to British politics after the "sofa-style" decision-making of the Blair years.

"He is a very serious, committed politician very much driven by the values that he learnt from his Presbyterian minister father. We're going to see a lot less glitz and glamour," said Oakley.

"It will be very much a more 'get on the with the job' style of government," said Oakley. "There will be a lot of serious purpose."

New British PM Gordon Brown Unveils 'Cabinet of Talents'

Story Highlights
• British PM Gordon Brown holds first meeting with newly appointed cabinet
• Brown promises "new government with new priorities"
• Alistair Darling named finance minister; David Miliband foreign secretary
• Jacqui Smith becomes UK's first female home secretary

CNN reports:

Newly installed British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has held his first cabinet meeting following the UK's biggest government shake-up since the Labour Party came to power in 1997.

Alistair Darling, a longterm political ally of Brown and formerly in charge of transport, was named to the key position of Chancellor of the Exchequer -- the finance role previously held by the new prime minister himself for 10 years.

Former environment minister David Miliband replaced Margaret Beckett as foreign secretary, becoming at 41 the youngest politician since the 1970s to hold one of the UK government's four senior cabinet posts.

"I am tremendously honored," said Miliband, a rising star within Labour ranks who had been tipped as a possible challenger to Brown for the party's leadership.

"The opportunities and challenges of the modern world require, in my view, a diplomacy that is patient as well as purposeful, which listens as well as leads," he told reporters.

Jacqui Smith became the UK's first female home secretary, replacing John Reid as he stepped down from government, while Jack Straw, a former home secretary and foreign secretary, was appointed justice minister.

Despite speculation that Brown would look beyond Labour ranks in building his cabinet, the only non-party appointment saw the former United Nations deputy secretary-general Mark Malloch Brown accept the job of minister for Africa, Asia and the U.N.

Marking the UK government's first change of leadership in a decade, Brown promised "a new government with new priorities" as he addressed reporters outside Dowing Street after taking over from Tony Blair on Wednesday.

"I will build a government that uses all the talents. I will invite men and women of good will to contribute their energies in a new spirit of public service."

Brown faces the task of re-building faith in a Labour administration which has seen its achievements -- including three straight general election victories, peace to Northern Ireland and a sustained economic boom -- tarnished by the Iraq war, the cash-for-honors row and the Blair government's perceived preoccupation with media spin.

Blair was questioned by police for a third time in their investigation of allegations that honors were offered for political contributions, the UK's Press Association reported Thursday. (Full story)

In other developments on Thursday, Brown split the Department of Education into two cabinet posts, separating responsibility for schools and children from a new Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills.

He also abolished the Department for Trade and Industry, creating a new Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.

CNN's European Political Editor Robin Oakley said Brown would introduce a different style of government, restoring a more serious tone to British politics after the "sofa-style" decision-making of the Blair years.

"He is a very serious, committed politician very much driven by the values that he learnt from his Presbyterian minister father. We're going to see a lot less glitz and glamour," said Oakley.

"It will be very much a more 'get on the with the job' style of government," said Oakley. "There will be a lot of serious purpose."

Tony Blair Questioned in Honors Probe

CNN reports:

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair was questioned by British police for a third time in their investigation of allegations that honors were offered for political contributions, the Press Association reported Thursday.

The agency, citing unidentified sources, said the interview may have occurred within the past week. The Metropolitan Police refused to say whether Blair had been interrogated again.

No charges have yet resulted from the investigation of claims that honors -- including seats in the House of Lords and knighthoods -- were given in exchange for financial support.

Blair's fund-raiser and Middle East envoy, Lord Levy, and senior aide Ruth Turner are among four people who have been arrested and questioned in the long-running probe.

Police have said previously that Blair had not been questioned under caution, an indication that he was not suspected of any crime.

Lockerbie Bomber Wins New Appeal

Story Highlights
• Libyan man convicted of 1988 Lockerbie bombing granted new appeal
• 270 people killed when Pan Am flight bombed over Scottish town in 1988
• Abdel Basset al-Megrahi found guilty in 2001; currently serving a life sentence

CNN reports:

Scotland's High Court must hear a new appeal by Libyan intelligence agent Abdel Basset al-Megrahi against his conviction for the 1988 Lockerbie airliner bombing, an independent review body said on Thursday.

The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) said it was referring Megrahi's case to the High Court, a step it takes in cases where it believes there may have been a miscarriage of justice.

Megrahi was found guilty in 2001 of the bombing of a Pan Am flight over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, which killed 270 people. He is serving a life sentence in a prison near Glasgow.

He took his case to the review commission in September 2003 after his original appeal in 2002 was turned down. The SCCRC announced Thursday's decision in a press release but did not make public its statement of reasons, which runs to more than 800 pages plus numerous volumes of appendices.

Recent history suggests Megrahi's appeal will have a good chance of success -- 25 out of 39 cases, or 64 percent of those settled after being referred by the commission to the High Court, have ended with appeals being granted.

Some victims' relatives and independent observers have long harbored doubts about Megrahi's conviction. These focus on the reliability of prosecution witnesses and forensic evidence.

Libya, seeking international rehabilitation after Washington had branded it for years a rogue state, paid more than $2 billion in compensation to victims' relatives since telling the United Nations in 2003 it "accepts responsibility for the actions of its officials".

Lawyers and analysts say that carefully worded formula could enable Libya to deny any role if Megrahi's conviction were eventually quashed. Some believe it may even demand compensation from the United States and Britain.

At the original trial, three Scottish judges accepted evidence that the bomb was placed aboard a plane in Malta and transferred to a Pan Am "feeder" flight at Frankfurt before ending up on Flight 103 from London's Heathrow to New York on Dec. 21, 1988.

They acknowledged, however, that there were "a number of uncertainties and qualifications" regarding the evidence.

Ever since the bombing, alternative theories have focused on the possible involvement of an Arab militant group, the Syrian-backed Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command, acting at the behest of Iran.

Five months before Lockerbie, the U.S. navy mistakenly shot down an Iranian Airbus in the Gulf, killing 290 people.

"Iran had the most potent motive of anybody for destroying an American airliner," said Jim Swire, a Briton whose daughter Flora was killed on Flight 103 and who speaks on behalf of victims' relatives.

Bandar Bush Named in British Scandal

An aerospace company reportedly placed up to $2 billion into accounts held by a key ally of the Bush administration.

The LATimes reports:

Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the powerful former Saudi ambassador to the U.S. who has been one of the Bush administration's strongest allies in the Middle East, was publicly linked to a widening British corruption scandal Thursday with reports that a British aerospace company secretly transferred up to $2 billion into bank accounts at the Saudi Embassy in Washington.

The new allegations point a finger directly at Bandar, the son of the Saudi crown prince and a man who has been a key ally for President Bush and his father, as well as a frequent contact of Vice President Dick Cheney. For years, the prince has been considered the most important go-between in the close and often secretive relationship between the U.S. and the royal family.

According to reports by the BBC and London's Guardian newspaper, documents show that BAE Systems made cash transfers to Bandar every three months for 10 years or more, drawn from a confidential account to which British government departments had access.

The alleged payments grew out of a 20-year, $86-billion oil-for-arms deal under which Britain supplied Saudi Arabia with 120 Tornado warplanes, Hawk training jets and other military equipment. The deal, known as Yamamah ("dove" in Arabic), was Britain's largest export contract.

A former BAE official has said the company made legal payments to "agents" beginning in the 1980s. But the news reports said that money was funneled to Bandar, with some of the cash going to fund the prince's private Airbus. The money reportedly was described as fees for marketing services.

"Hundreds of thousands and millions of dollars were involved," U.S. bank investigator David Caruso told the BBC. He confirmed his account in a brief interview with the Los Angeles Times. "There wasn't a distinction between the accounts of the embassy, or official government accounts as we would call them, and the accounts of the royal family," he said.

The reports suggested for the first time that Britain's Ministry of Defense had authorized the secret payments, and they also left open the possibility that payments occurred after 2001, when Britain made it illegal to bribe foreign officials.

The Yamamah contract already was the center of a government investigation. But in December, that three-year probe was halted in the interests of Britain's "national and international security" with the approval of Prime Minister Tony Blair. The new allegations reignited controversy over that decision.

The Serious Fraud Office's decision to close its probe led to charges that Britain was attempting to shore up its negotiations to sell a $20-billion new fleet of Eurofighter Typhoon jets to the desert kingdom.

But British officials said their real fear was losing Saudi Arabia's cooperation in the war on terrorism. Atty. Gen. Peter Goldsmith told Parliament the heads of Britain's security and intelligence agencies, as well as the nation's ambassador in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, had warned that the investigation could seriously damage relations.

Blair, whose final weeks as prime minister threaten to be shadowed by talk of slush funds and coverups, again defended the decision to call off the probe.

"This investigation, if it had gone ahead, would have involved the most serious allegations and investigations being made into the Saudi royal family," Blair told reporters Thursday in Germany, where he was attending the Group of 8 summit.

"My job is to give advice as to whether that is a sensible thing in circumstances where I don't believe the investigations would have led anywhere except to the complete wreckage of a vital, strategic relationship for our country in terms of fighting terrorism," he said.

But in London there were calls for reopening the inquiry.

"What's new about these revelations are several things. First of all, it's the sheer scale of the payments: It may well be a billion pounds being paid to this one prince," Vincent Cable, a Liberal Democratic member of Parliament who earlier had identified Bandar as a possible target of the probe, said in an interview.

"Secondly, this is the first time [Bandar] has been fingered in quite such a direct and clear way," he said. "The other key point, what's really new about all this and very alarming, is that it does appear that the British government was first of all aware of these payments, and very complicit in them, and moreover, they were made until very recently."

The Ministry of Defense said it could not comment on the reports "as to do so would involve confidential information about al-Yamamah, and that would cause the damage that ending the investigation was designed to prevent."

BAE spokeswoman Lisa Hillary-Tee said in a statement that the company had already handed all information on the contract in its possession to the Serious Fraud Office. "After an exhaustive investigation, it was concluded, over and above the interests of national security, that there was and is no case to answer," she said.

"The al-Yamamah program is a government-to-government agreement, and all such payments made under those agreements were made with the express approval of both the Saudi and the UK governments," she said. "We deny all allegations of wrongdoing," she added.

Payments to foreign officials to win contracts are also illegal under U.S. law. But such payments have long been a feature of contracts in the Middle East, and have been considered an important source of revenue for the Saudi royal family.

"It's widely assumed that members of the royal family get a share in business deals whether they do anything for that share or not," said Jon Alterman, Middle East program director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

"It's part of the way the system works, and in return the princes are often extraordinarily generous with charities and other institutions," he added.

He said Britain's concern over jeopardizing cooperation on security issues reflects the "deep and intimate contact between the Saudi government and Western governments on counter-terrorism" that is considered vital.

"It's not only counter-terrorism inside the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Muslims pass through Saudi Arabia to go on pilgrimage, so the Saudis have some of the best information about Muslims throughout the world. Their involvement in religious networks means they have both information and influence that reaches throughout the world."

"But to get things done, you need the cooperation of Saudi princes. And it's hard to get the cooperation of individuals who you are simultaneously investigating and accusing of crimes."