TERROR IN THE AIR ANALYSIS ANALYSIS SEVEN-PAGE SPECIAL REPORT PART

0 Comments | Sunday Herald, The, Aug 13, 2006 | by NEIL MACKAY

Reid says he believes that all the main players are now safely in police custody, although he insists that Britain needs to remain vigilant against terrorist attack.

However, there has been speculation in US intelligence circles that a number of terrorists could still be at large. Frances Fragos Townsend, White House homeland security adviser, said: "I think it's pretty clear that in this case, we don't have everybody."

REPUBLICAN congressman Peter King went further saying: "They are on the loose. These are desperate, vicious people, who have a good degree of sophistication, and they are out there. If nothing else, they are available for further operations.

The more deadly threat is that there is a plan B that they would be able to implement."

Up to 50 people could have been involved in the conspiracy throughout the world. It underscored fears that more terrorists linked to the bomb team could be on the loose when on Friday further raids were made in Pakistan and up to 10 men were taken into custody, bringing the number of arrests internationally to over 40.

Pakistan says that two or three highprofile terrorists linked to the plot remain at large, including Matiur Rahman, a senior figure in Laskhar-e-Jhangvi, part of the al-Qaeda franchise. His name cropped up during the interrogation of one of the Pakistani detainees. Rahman is wanted in Pakistan for plotting to assassinate President Musharraf, sectarian attacks on Shi'ite Muslims and targeting Westerners in Karachi.

What terrifies British intelligence - as well as our allies - is that MI5 believes that there are around 1000 Muslim extremists living in the UK who have been radicalised by the so-called "war on terror". Intelligence sources say that UK police, anti-terror officers and MI5 are investigating "literally dozens" of other plots. As with the current plot, the men behind these other suspected terrorist conspiracies are all thought to be British- born. As one intelligence source said: "The people who want to kill Britons are British themselves and they live in Britain - that's the desperate truth of the situation that our country finds itself in. What we've uncovered shows that these people want to give Britain a present to remember - in the shape of our own 9/11."

HOW THE PLOT UNFOLDED

August 10

At around 2am, Britain's threat status is raised to "critical" after police report that they have thwarted a terrorist suicide- bombing plot to blow up transatlantic flights using liquid explosives. They reveal they are holding 24 people whom they rounded up during overnight raids in London, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire and Birmingham on the basis of information obtained from the Pakistani intelligence services.

Later that morning, chaos ensues at British airports as hundreds of scheduled flights are cancelled and security is stepped up. As the news breaks around the world, shares in airline companies and travel firms slump, with British Airways taking an especially hard hit.

The United States issues "code red" warnings for US-UK flights.