A terrorist plot to explode a plane from the United Kingdom to the U.S. has been discovered and foiled. Middle East terrorists tried to put bombs aboard a jetliner leaving Edinburgh, but fortunately, the bombs were found and no one died.

Still, it's a sad reminder of the post-9/11 world we now live in and of the terrorist problem that isn't going away any time soon. Considering all the lives lost on that trgic day five years ago, we're fortunate no one was killed. But the United States isn't the only terrorist target nowadays, and now security measures are being beefed up again. Let's pray, though, there will be no more deaths by terrorism in the near future.

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By DANICA KIRKA, Associated Press Writer 8 minutes ago

LONDON - British authorities said Thursday they had thwarted a terrorist plot to simultaneously blow up several aircraft heading to the U.S. using explosives smuggled in carry-on luggage. Britain's Home Secretary John Reid said 21 people had been arrested in London, its suburbs and in Birmingham, including the alleged "main players" in the plot.


Huge crowds formed at security barriers at London's Heathrow airport as officials searching for explosives barred nearly every form of liquid outside of baby formula.

Officials raised security to its highest level in Britain and banned hand-carried luggage on all trans-Atlantic flights.

The extreme measures at a major international aviation hub sent ripple effects throughout the world. Heathrow airport was closed to most flights from Europe.

The U.S. government responded by raising its threat alert to its highest level for commercial flights from Britain to the United States amid fears the plot had not been completely crushed. The alert for all flights coming or going from the United States was also raised slightly.

In Washington, two U.S. counterterrorism officials said the terrorists had targeted United, American and Continental airlines. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case.

A U.S. intelligence official said the plotters had hoped to target flights to major airports in New York, Washington and California, all major summer tourist destinations.

Britain's Home Secretary John Reid said 21 people had been arrested in London, its suburbs and in Birmingham following a lengthy investigation, including the alleged "main players" in the plot. Searches continued in a number of locations.

The suspects were "homegrown," though it was not immediately clear if they were all British citizens, said a police official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case. Police were working closely with the South Asian community, the official said.

The official said the plotters intended to simultaneously target multiple planes bound for the United States.

"We think this was an extraordinarily serious plot and we are confident that we've prevented an attempt to commit mass murder on an unimaginable scale," Deputy Commissioner Paul Stephenson said.

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More Here.

Edit. Some spelling errors in quote fixed by me.

Here are some more articles:

- 3 ringleaders were IDed (http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/08/abc_exclusive_t.html) This same article says the plot involved a sports drink and would be triggered with the flash of a disposable camera.

- ABC news had a breaking news alert saying at least 2 of those arrested had made martyrdom videos.

- This CNN article said the plot involved a sports drink and an MP3 player (http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/08/10/us.security/index.html)

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CNN (talking to ITV reporter) is reporting now that one arrested worked at Heathrow airport and that he was wearing Heathrow pants/overalls when arrested.

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- This MSNBC blog written by a correspondent on a plane said that the flight attendent informed them that there was no water even on the plane (http://dailynightly.msnbc.com/2006/08/a_whole_new_way.html#below-fold)

- ALL flights now have restricted carry-ons (in US): http://news.monstersandcritics.com/northamerica/article_1188979.php/U.S._air

- Here's a Q&A article on liquid explosives (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4780391.stm)

And one more article:

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/08/10/D8JDP19G0.html

The terrorists may have been planning a dry run within the next two days and this is why the police took them down this morning.

How horrific this could have been had it all gone to plan for the terrorists. It's a moot point because I've no plan on travelling anywhere by plane but I really think I would have a second thought about international flying these days.

Even domestic flights are affected. Not even permitted to take our handbags (purses to those in the US).

I am wondering why people were not allowed to carry water? Lots of people reporting on their return to HK that that was the case.

I just hope my sis, who's out of the country at the moment, doesn't have too much trouble reorganizing her luggage to get back. It goes without saying that I can't think of a word of relief and gladness half descriptive enough, but it'll take more than this sort of thing to keep me from worrying too much about flying. Dad's a pilot, sis is hopping all over the globe while she works on her doctorate... don't have room to worry about what is still a minimal risk when there are so many other less-than-minimal risks involved.

From what I can gather, the terrorists were taking the explosive devices on board in sections, ie the detonator in a disposable camera, the liquid explosive in a soft drinks bottle etc. No drinks therefore can be taken on board other than a baby's bottle - and whoever has that must take a sip of the contents in the presence of security staff, to prove that it is actually milk. The only hand luggage allowed is a clear plastic bag with essentials in it. Even spectacles cases are not allowed.
Latest reports say 24 people have been arrested. Some reports online say they are all British citizens of Pakistani descent.

Funny how terrorists are British of Pakistani descent but match winning sportsmen are just British.

Unless Dean Jones is commentating ...

Even baby milk has to be tested by the person trying to take it on board, can you imagine the shrieks when babies see their mothers drinking from their bottles. Then there is the hygiene question. I assume that supplies such as tampons will be permitted in these see-through bags, embarrasssing.

Presumably it is permitted to have chequebooks, credit cards and money too, I wouldn't want to pack that in my suitcase. I dread to think what will go missing in transit.

One wonders if we will ever be able to return to carrying our handbags onboard.

Yes, the so called female hygiene products are still allowed on hand luggage. So is money, and keys. Although I saw a few people on the news who had had to pack their keys in their suitcases, and then the suitcases went missing!

From a very selfish point of view I'm very happy that I flew back from Australia (through Heathrow) 6 days before this happened, not after!

A bloke from Qantas this morning said that the handluggage restraints were only for flights going through Heathrow. If you left from Sydney (for example) and your flight was terminating in London then it was as normal ... it was only passengers that were continuing on from London that had to have the restrictions.

edit to add: how boring would long distant flight be without a book, ipod, magazine, writing paper or whatever you fancy? I would go up the wall.

lol Leau - the last long distance flight I took was with Gulf Air and barely half the screens were working in that plane. Get what you pay for!

Luckily I'm not flying, but my two nieces, and their two friends, are due to come from Southampton to Cheshire today. They were supposed to fly home, but they have decided to catch the train instead, I think it is the safer option.
I just wonder why sometimes that terrorists enjoy making so much trouble to innocent people

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The plot involved liquid explosives, from what the media is reporting, or modifying a sports drink container so you could still drink out of it but it could contain explosive material as well.

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Thanks Lady Mac I see now. At that point they had not shown us the involvement of liquids in the process, so I was puzzled about the water. Thanks for clearing that up.

One of the most alarming aspects of this situation was reported this morning. An un named FBI source told the press that this was orchestrated by 'homegrown' terrorists - with no real ties to al Qaida at all. So apparently technology is plentiful and obviously being shared among fringe groups like these. What are thought of by the authorities as 'wanna be' terrorists are now organised and sophisticated enough to plan an attack like this one, having learned what they know from older groups. Their prowess and projected venues of attack are becoming more creative all the time. It will be all we can do to second guess them as time passes.

I remember having everything searched when I arrived in France from India. I mean, everything, including little souvenir statuettes and other things. They checked my prescription for Bactrim (a wide spectrum antibiotic for those times when nothing else will do) and then took out all my very personal items on the table in front of everyone, actually had a peek into a few for form's sake, then said it was ok, and I could pack it all up. However, I understand that passengers returning from a country with drugs readily available would be searched this way. I think we all realize that they have to do this, but, the way they do it varies from place to place and is carried out in a chaotic way. Ie, sometimes you must take off your shoes, sometimes you don't. My last time via SF, I just wore slip on sandals for this reason and they didn't bother! I keep wondering if the perpetrators don't realize this and take their chances. Some of the things they work on are not terribly logical and passengers aren't clear of why they're doing something, even the most cooperative people.

My last trip to the States via Amsterdam (Post-9/11)was interesting because they had a color coding entry system that separated people into random groups, and I found myself translating for the Italian passengers because they had no idea what was going on. They distributed cards to each person but it separated families from time to time. Then, the lady and her baby and mother had to wake the baby up in his little carrier and the authorities had him picked him up to examine the carrier thoroughly for drugs, weapons what have you. You know, even though this seems rather harsh, they have to do what they have to do, and the Italians shrugged as most Europeans are used to terrorism threats on a reasonably frequent basis. During my last eight year stay, we had constant alerts and tape in front of public buildings etc. The airports were always tense in France, the UK and Italy. I think we were accustomed to these measures.

As to the baby formula/milk, I suppose that it being powder or liquid that could easily hide a chemical, someone totally deranged could use this method as a cover for a bomb because few would suspect anyone of such a terrible thing. We were talking about it last night and my mother said, 'well, nursing mothers are safe from being inspected I suppose.' and strangely enough, I'd thought about just that aspect. Whenever we had some delay during the times when our babies were very small, I remember mothers panicking and telling the personnel they did not have enough in their hand luggage to hold out for another day if we were sent to hotels after a four hour delay on the runway in our seatbelts. They actually asked if anyone could spare it.

I remember feeling slightly smug that as long as I had a few glasses of water now and then, I'd be ok at being the main provider for the infant! I had a very young son with me then, about four or five months.
But some families were pretty worried that if our flight had to finally turn around and go to the airport and they would have to try and get their baggage back from security and go to a hotel, the hours passing would be dangerously close to the end of their supply of milk for the baby that they had with them.

Plus if they send you out to a hotel in the area around the airport, your chances of finding formula in a convenience store are pretty slim. One flight, Pan Am I believe, finally dumped us in the waiting room and forbade us to go any further for security reasons...then they finally dumped all of our luggage onto the floor of the waiting room and told us to wait in line for vouchers for hotels or food. The second place was full of people from outside the airport, so, the security was null and void then. You basically had to fight your way through lines of irate weary passengers who'd been kept on the runway in their seats for four hours, then in a waiting room, then the exterior waiting room with a free for all to get vouchers to stay the night for the next day. No one tells you anything, nor helps you as they are in over their heads anyhow.

I'm wondering how a formula fed baby is going to react to this type of delay and my hearts go out to the parents.
Even if they do make the parents taste the milk to prove it's milk, they probably won't be able to pack enough to withstand a long delay in an airport without any help from the authorities.

Don't you think that duty free merchandise could be tampered with too? We were thinking about that last night as well. I can't remember if you actually are walking around with it for awhile in the airport at which time you could go into the restroom and tamper with it.

What a sad state of affairs!

I think what I feel is that most of us accept the sad state of the world and submit to whatever form of inspection or privation we must, but all the while, we feel saddened that it's come to this and the reality of dealing with this during your travels is dismal.

From what I've been reading, the 'only wallet/keys/medications' restriction is for any flight going to/from the US and UK.

And for keys, if you have anything electronic on the keys, you cannot bring that on board, it must be checked (like a keyless entry remote).

Medications must have the prescription in the name of the ticket holder (so keep it in the box that the medication came in if you have something such as an epi-pen or a nasal spray).

If you buy a drink after security, you have to consume it before you get on (although I did read one report where the person was allowed on with what they purchased at the duty free - but I don't think this was for a flight to the UK).

You cannot even bring a book with you to read.

Flights in the US and Canada (domestic and international) simply are not allowed to have any liquid or gels. (Basically, put your toiletries in your checked luggage.)

Yes, you can bring sanitary supplies/diapers on flights from/to the US and UK.