Top > World > 2006 > August > 2006-08-12

U.K. Terror Plot Addressed by DHS

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, speaking Thursday after the discovery of a terrorist plot in the U.K. that British police foiled, said that the terrorist plot to blow up several aircraft heading to America from Britain was "suggestive of an al-Qaeda plot." Secretary Chertoff said the plot "was sophisticated, it had a lot of members and it was international in scope."

"Because the investigation is still underway, we cannot yet form a definitive conclusion," Chertoff added. U.S. officials said the terrorists had targeted United Airlines, American Airlines and Continental Airlines. United and American were the two airliners that al-Qaeda terrorists used in the horrific terror attacks of September 11, 2001. Britain`s Home Secretary, John Reid, said 21 people had been arrested in London, throughout the city`s suburbs, and the city of Birmingham.

Chertoff said, "We believe that these arrests have significantly disrupted the threat, but we cannot be sure that the threat has been entirely eliminated or the plot completely thrawted." Chertoff discounted any plotters in the U.S. saying of the investigation and arrests there is "no indication of plotting within the U.S." However, the Department of Homeland Security has issued a red alert, its highest-level warning, defined as "a severe risk of terrorist attacks," for commercial flights from Britain to the United States. It is the first time a red alert has been issued since the system was put in place.