LONDON, 22 August 2006 — The wheels of justice are finally catching up with the suspects in the alleged London airport terror plot. Scotland Yard confirmed yesterday afternoon that eleven of the 23 suspects held in connection with the alleged plot have been charged with offenses under the 2006 Anti-terrorism Act.
The charges were announced as lawyers acting for some of the detained suspects started proceedings at the High Court in London challenging their clients’ continued detention by police.
Eleven days ago MI5 and officers from Scotland Yard’s anti-terrorism unit raided a number of premises in London, Birmingham and High Wycombe and arrested 24 people in connection with an alleged terror plot to blow up nine trans-Atlantic airliners, flying out of major UK airports to US cities, using liquid explosives disguised in soft drink bottles and smuggled on to the planes in hand luggage.
Britain was immediately placed on “critical” alert — the highest terror alert level — in response to the threat. The action also saw a security clampdown at major UK airports, especially Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted. That severely disrupted flights into and out of the UK, causing unprecedented chaos and misery for passengers who were arbitrarily informed that they could no longer take hand luggage on to the planes and no liquids of any kind, except essential medicines which had to be certified and baby’s milk which had to be test drunk by the mother before being allowed on to the plane.
The alert level was downgraded to “severe” after a week following one of the largest counterterrorism investigations, codenamed “Operation Overt”, undertaken in British criminal history.
Following subsequent searches at premises linked to some of the suspects and in King’s Wood, which is adjacent to one location in High Wycombe, police have found “matyrdom videos” in which some of the suspects appear; a bombmaking kit in a suitcase; two firearms; and 19,000 pounds in cash.
Scotland Yard working with the Crown Prosecution Service, both apparently in a “very buoyant” mood yesterday stressed that eight people have been charged with conspiracy to murder and preparing acts of terrorism.
Two other suspects have been charged with failing to disclose information concerning acts pertaining to terrorism and a 17-year-old with possessing articles useful to a person preparing acts of terrorism.
One woman has been released without charge. This leaves another eleven still detained without charges. They will either have to be released tomorrow or police will have to go to a High Court judge to seek a week-long extension to their detention period. No further information was released as to the identity of those charged and whether police expect to bring charges against the remaining eleven suspects.
Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, speaking to journalists yesterday afternoon, warned that the investigation would go on for many months.
“I can assure the public that we are doing everything we can to keep you safe so that you can live your lives without being in constant fear. The threat from terrorism is real. It is here, it is deadly and it is enduring. We cannot afford to be complacent,” he added.
Clarke confirmed that video and audio recordings, bombmaking equipment, electrical components, hydrogen peroxide and martyrdom videos had been found during police investigations.
