From our correspondents
11 August 2006
LONDON/DUBAI — Britain claimed yesterday to have foiled a terrorist plot to blow up trans-Atlantic flights, and then brought Heathrow to a standstill even as there was no incident, and, strangely, no information was forthcoming about the alleged plot.
Chaos and confusion prevailed in Heathrow as also other British airports, as several flights were cancelled and the departure of large numbers of flights was delayed throughout the day, following the announcement of the alleged plot. It had its immediate impact at airports elsewhere, mainly in the US, as flight schedules were hit. The plot, as per a minute hint that came from the police, "involved a liquid chemical device" and the main targets were trans-Atlantic flights bound for the United States from Britain. Scepticism was palpable in several quarters, as this is the first time that the authorities remained tight-lipped about a "plot" of such magnitude. "It is a complete smokescreen to deflect attention from the fact that Britain is doing absolutely nothing about Lebanon", said Peter Donnelly, a British journalist now working in Dubai. "We're in a high alert situation and Blair goes on holiday? I don't think so", he added. "Why no details? Is this how Bush and Blair want to divert people’s attention |from the Israeli manslaughter in Lebanon?", a concerned citizen was heard asking at a pub in London, as he watched the scenes of airport chaos, from a television set. "We are confident we have disrupted a plan by terrorists to cause untold death and destruction, said London police's Deputy Commissioner Paul Stephenson. "Put simply, this was intended to be mass murder on an unimaginable scale". British Airways cancelled all its short-haul flights due Thursday between London's Heathrow and other British and European cities. Another airline, easyJet cancelled all its remaining flights of the day from three airports bordering London, like Gatwick, Luton and Stansted. However, later in the day, British airports operator, BBA, was given approval by air traffic control authorities to resume such flights from Heathrow. The scare led to arrest of over 20 people in swoops in London, southeast England and Birmingham. A British security source was quoted as saying an attack was "imminent and could have been carried out in the next couple of days". Those skeptical of the so-called plot had many questions to raise. "What is unusual about it? So many such suspected or real plots have been foiled by police intervention around the world. But, life remains as usual. When you say you foiled the plot, why all this disruption of flights? Why all this noise?", asked one. "The first thing is to say what was the plot all about, who hatched the plot, and how was it going to be implemented. Why are the police keeping quiet?", asked another. "Is this another ploy to justify the war on Hezbollah in the name of anti-terrorism?", asked yet another.
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