UK > History > 2010 > Terrorism (I)

Anti-terror police arrest 12 in UK raids

Men aged between 17 and 28 detained
on suspicion of commission,
preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism

Monday 20 December 2010
08.55 GMT
Guardian.co.uk
Adam Gabbatt
This article was published on guardian.co.uk
at 08.55 GMT on Monday 20 December 2010.
It was last modified at 09.09 GMT
on Monday 20 December 2010.

West Midlands police today said 12 men had been arrested in a national counter-terrorism operation.

The men, aged between 17 and 28, were arrested this morning on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism in the UK.

Searches are being carried out on properties in Birmingham, Cardiff, London and Stoke-on-Trent.

"This is a large-scale, pre-planned and intelligence-led operation involving several forces," John Yates, the national lead for counter-terrorism policing, said.

"The operation is in its early stages, so we are unable to go into detail at this time about the suspected offences.

However, I believe it was necessary at this time to take action in order to ensure public safety."

Of those arrested, five – aged 23, 23, 25, 26 and 28 – are from Cardiff, while three, aged 17, 20 and 28, are from London.

Four of the men – two 26-year-olds, a 19-year-old and a 25-year-old – are from Stoke. All 12 were arrested under the 2000 Terrorism Act.

"The suspects were detained by unarmed officers at approximately 5am," West Midlands police said.

"All were arrested at or near their home addresses, with the exception of one suspect, from Stoke, who was at a domestic property in Birmingham.

"Searches are now being conducted at the home addresses, plus the address in Birmingham and another residence in London."

The suspects are being held at police stations in central London, the north-west and the West Midlands, police said.

The arrests were co-ordinated by West Midlands counter-terrorism unit but also involved the Metropolitan police's counter-terrorism command, south Wales police and Staffordshire police.

    Anti-terror police arrest 12 in UK raids, G, 20.12.2010, http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/dec/20/anti-terror-police-arrests-uk

Terror bombs were primed

to down cargo planes in mid-air

Security officials say explosive packages found on US-bound aircraft in UK and Dubai were meant to bring them down

Saturday 30 October 2010
17.18 BST
Guardian.co.uk
Jamie Doward and Mark Townsend
This article was published on guardian.co.uk at 17.18 BST on Saturday 30 October 2010.
It was last modified at 23.55 BST on Saturday 30 October 2010.

Security officials at East Midlands airport after an explosive package was found on a cargo plane Security officials inspect UPS containers in the cargo area of East Midlands airport after an explosive package was found on a plane from Yemen. Photograph: David Jones/PA

Sophisticated bombs contained in packages sent from Yemen were designed to explode in the air and bring down the cargo planes carrying them, the government confirmed.

Intelligence experts believe the use of the devices, contained in printer cartridges on board two Chicago-bound cargo planes, represents a shift in terrorist tactics to commercial targets.

President Barack Obama phoned David Cameron to thank him personally for the UK's "close co-operation" in helping disrupt the bomb plot. The pair agreed that their countries' respective authorities would remain in close contact in the coming days, the White House said.

Speaking ahead of a meeting last night with the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, Cameron said: "We have to do even more to crack down and cut out the cancer of al-Qaida in Yemen and the Arabian Peninsula. We have immediately banned packages coming to or through Britain from the Yemen.

"In the end these terrorists think our interconnectedness, our openness as modern countries, is what makes us weak. They are wrong – it is a source of our strength, and we will use that strength, that determination, that power and that solidarity to defeat them."

Cameron also spoke to Yemen's president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, who later said that security forces had arrested a Yemeni woman in Sana'a in connection with the plot. Officials told Reuters that the woman, who is believed to be in her 20s, had been traced through a telephone number she had left with a cargo company. She was said to be a medical student at Sana'a University.

The woman's lawyer said that her client's mother had also been detained.

Both of the devices, one discovered in the hold of a plane that landed at East Midlands airport after flying from Cologne, the other on a plane in Dubai, were described as "extremely professional" by intelligence officials.

One was linked to a mobile phone, while the other was attached to a timer. The Observer understands that the East Midlands device was so sophisticated an examination by experts initially suggested it did not contain explosives. "Even when it was examined, the sniffer dogs couldn't detect it," a security source said. "It was only when they [forensic experts] had a second look at it they realised what it was."

It has emerged the devices were discovered only after a tip-off from Saudi intelligence. "This… started with good information from the Saudis," the US homeland security secretary, Janet Napolitano, said. "We were then immediately able to work with other countries, particularly the UK and the UAE, to segregate these packages, to begin the analysis about what they were, what they could have done."

If the devices had blown up over the Atlantic, or any other large stretch of water, identifying the cause would have been difficult because there would have been little trace left of the planes. But the discovery of the packages – addressed to two American synagogues – is a potentially vital weapon for the security services. "Now we've got them, we can figure out how they have been made, who made them and how to stop them," one source said.

The sophistication of the devices is likely to raise concerns about airport security. Investigators in Sana'a searched 24 other suspect packages, according to a security official. Authorities were also questioning cargo workers at the airport and employees of the local shipping firms contracted to work with commercial logistics companies.

The home secretary, Theresa May, said a preliminary examination of the device found at East Midlands airport had confirmed it was viable: "The target of the device may have been an aircraft and, had it detonated, the aircraft could have been brought down," she said.

"But we do not believe the perpetrators … would have known the location of the device when they planned for it to explode.

"At this stage we have no information to indicate another attack is imminent. The threat level is already at severe, meaning that a terrorist attack in this country is highly likely. We do not plan to change that threat level at this stage."

The Metropolitan police said "early indications suggest [the device] had the potential to bring down an aircraft in flight if detonated".

All unaccompanied air freight originating in Yemen and moving into or through the UK has been suspended.

    Terror bombs were primed to down cargo planes in mid-air, G, 30.10.2010, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/30/cargo-plane-bombs-explode-midair

Barack Obama says explosive package terror threat is 'credible'

• Terror alert as explosive packages found on US-bound planes
• Suspicious package on cargo plane at East Midlands airport
• Another package found on FedEx plane at Dubai airport

Saturday 30 October 2010
The Guardian
Vikram Dodd, Dan Milmo, Richard Norton-Taylor and Chris McGreal in Washington
This article appeared on p1 of the Main section section of the Guardian on Saturday 30 October 2010.
It was published on guardian.co.uk at 00.23 BST on Saturday 30 October 2010. It was last modified at 09.09 BST on Saturday 30 October 2010.

Security services yesterday thwarted a terrorist attempt to send packages containing explosive material hidden in printer ink cartridges by air from Yemen to strike targets in the US.

Last night Barack Obama called the attempt a "credible threat".

The packages were discovered yesterday in the UK and Middle East aboard planes in an apparent change of tactics by al-Qaida- inspired terrorists who had targeted synagogues in Chicago. The incident sparked an international terror alert on three continents following a tip-off from MI6 to the Americans, the Guardian understands.

One device was intercepted early yesterday morning at East Midlands airport, near Leicester, en route from Yemen to Chicago, via the UK. It had wires protruding from an eight-inch ink cartridge which also had traces of white powder. A second device, described as identical, was intercepted aboard a freight plane in Dubai, whose journey had also started in Yemen, a country identified by western officials as home to terrorists who have tried to strike against the US.

Counter-terrorism sources told the Guardian the device discovered in the UK was not found by chance but specific intelligence led to a decision to subject cargo on the plane to extra searches. Last night John Brennan, assistant to the US president for homeland security and counter-terrorism, said Saudi Arabia had provided vital information.

Officials in Britain and the US were trying to ascertain what the devices were capable of and what the terrorists intended.

Barack Obama said in a statement last night that both packages contained "explosive material" and represented a credible terrorist threat to the US. One UK security source said despite Obama's announcement the aim was probably to cause panic and not to bomb any target.

Obama, speaking in Washington and days before midterm elections, said Yemen's president had pledged to cooperate in the investigation. He effectively named the Islamist group al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula as being chief suspects.

Obama said: "I've also directed that we spare no effort in investigating the origins of these suspicious packages and their connection to any additional terrorist plotting. Although we are still pursuing all the facts, we do know that the packages originated in Yemen. We also know that al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, a terrorist group based in Yemen, continues to plan attacks against our homeland, our citizens, and our friends and allies."

The first device discovered, said Obama, was in the UK. It sparked intense activity at the White House as officials scrambled to meet what they believe was the latest terrorist attempt to strike the US.

The plane that landed in the UK was operated by the parcel company UPS. It had taken off from Yemen, and was due to fly to two locations in the US. It made a routine stop at the UK's largest freight airport, East Midlands, at 3.30am on Friday morning and, sources said, intelligence reports led it to be subjected to extra searches.

A source with close knowledge of the events said a large box was found by employees carrying out screening checks in the UPS facility at East Midlands. Initial checks were inconclusive and the UPS flight, which had come from Yemen, was allowed to fly on to the US without the box on board. But the discovery of a freight bomb in Dubai prompted a further check which revealed that a toner cartridge for a Hewlett Packard printer contained a hidden suspect device. The source said the bomb was "cleverly disguised" and a "substantial" device which contained explosives. It was wired with a mobile phone, most likely to act as a timer to detonate the device.

After its discovery the device was then split in two and sent for detailed scientific investigation by the authorities. It is understood that the Dubai bomb was identical.

Minutes after the find in the Midlands, Obama was told in Washington of the discovery, amid concerns that some sort of terrorist action emanating from Yemen was feared.

Scotland Yard said: "Early today, Friday 29 October, an American-registered cargo plane arrived at East Midlands airport from the Yemen en route to Chicago via Philadelphia.

"The plane stopped at East Midlands airport as part of a routine stopover. Cargo removed from the plane was examined. Further tests were carried out. Following this a number of items have been sent for additional scientific examination."

Theresa May, the home secretary, confirmed the package at East Midlands contained explosive material, but it was not clear whether it was a "viable explosive device". May, who spoke with her US counterpart Janet Napolitano yesterday, said: "We have been working closely with US counterparts following the discovery of a suspect package on a flight to Chicago which had landed in transit at East Midlands airport.

"At this stage I can say that the device did contain explosive material. But it is not yet clear that it was a viable explosive device. The forensic work continues."

She said that Cobra, the government's emergency planning committee, met yesterday and would meet again today.

She added: "We are reviewing the security measures for air freight from Yemen and are in discussion with industry contacts."

Yemen has been of increasing concern to western counter-terrorism officials, who suspect its use as a base for al-Qaida inspired terrorists. American officials said intelligence agencies have, over recent months, tracked three other packages out of Yemen for delivery to the US that appeared to be trial runs for the smuggling of a bomb on board a cargo plane. They said that the grounding of planes from the US and UK to Dubai for further searches was in part based on that intelligence.

Their suspicion has been that al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula – which was responsible for the failed attempt to blow up a passenger aircraft over Detroit on Christmas Day last year using a Nigerian suicide bomber – was planning an attack on cargo planes.

American law enforcement officials warned Jewish groups in Chicago and New York that they may be a target for dangerous packages. Fed Ex said it was suspending all deliveries from Yemen.

Gordon Brown banned direct passenger flights from Yemen to the UK in January. The US Department for Homeland Security said it had taken a "number of steps" to enhance aviation security last night.

Brennan said: "The United States is grateful to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for their assistance in developing information that helped underscore the imminence of the threat emanating from Yemen.

"Their assistance, along with the hard work of the US counter-terrorism community, the United Kingdom, the UAE, and other friends and partners, helped make it possible to increase our vigilance and identify the suspicious packages in Dubai and East Midlands airport."

    Barack Obama says explosive package terror threat is 'credible', G, 29.10.2010, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/29/bomb-scare-sinister-packages-planes

Three men found guilty of plotting to murder hundreds of people

Men among eight tried in connection with al-Qaida-inspired liquid bomb plot on planes bound for US and Canada in 2006

Press Association
Guardian.co.uk
Thursday 8 July 2010
15.31 BST
This article was published on guardian.co.uk at 15.31 BST on Thursday 8 July 2010.
It was last modified at 15.42 BST on Thursday 8 July 2010.

Three men were found guilty today of conspiring to murder hundreds of people in a terrorist attack.

Ibrahim Savant, Arafat Waheed Khan and Waheed Zaman were convicted by a jury at Woolwich crown court.

The three men were among eight tried in connection with an al-Qaida-inspired plot to detonate homemade liquid bombs on transatlantic jets. They were cleared by a jury of their role in targeting aeroplanes but put on trial again to face charges of conspiracy to murder.

Savant, of Stoke Newington, north London, Khan, of Walthamstow, east London, and Zaman, also of Walthamstow, will be sentenced tomorrow. Abdulla Ahmed Ali, of Walthamstow, Assad Sarwar, of High Wycombe, and Tanvir Hussain, of Leyton, east London, were found guilty of the airline bomb plot last year.

The plot, led by Ali, involved smuggling liquid bombs in drinks bottles on to planes bound for the US and Canada. The hydrogen peroxide devices would have been assembled and detonated in mid-air by a team of suicide bombers.

Ali singled out seven flights to San Francisco, Toronto, Montreal, Washington, New York and Chicago that departed within two and a half hours of each other. If successful, the explosions could have exceeded the carnage of the 9/11 attacks.

Counterterrorist police and security services spent more than £35m foiling the plot and bringing Ali and the others to justice. Their arrests in August 2006 sparked tight restrictions on carrying liquids on to aircraft, which initially caused travel chaos.

The jury rejected the defence of Ali, Sarwar and Hussain that the plot was an elaborate publicity stunt. Sue Hemming, head of the CPS counterterrorism division, said the convictions were the culmination of years of work by police, the security services and prosecutors.

She said: "Savant, Khan and Zaman were actively working alongside other men on a plot to cause death and injury on a massive scale.

"They were cleared in the previous trial of being aware of the ultimate targets of the plot, but we say that they were committed to the principle and practice of violent jihad to the point of targeting innocent people in an attempt to further their cause.

"The charges against these men were so serious that, following two previous trials where juries could not reach verdicts, the director of public prosecutions decided that the evidence must be properly tested before a jury for a third time.

"The verdicts demonstrate that the crown prosecution service was right to pursue a third trial."

The verdicts bring to a conclusion a marathon series of prosecutions that began with a five-month trial in April 2008. Ali, Hussain and Sarwar were convicted of conspiracy to murder people unknown, but not of plotting to blow up aeroplanes. Mohammed Gulzar was acquitted.

They were put on trial again in March 2009 and convicted of the plot to destroy transatlantic aircraft. The jury acquitted Savant, Khan and Zaman of their role in the aeroplane plot, but was hung on charges of conspiracy to murder. A third retrial was then called.

Evidence included 26,000 exhibits, 9,710 statements, 142 interviews with defendants and 800 seized electronic devices. Police examined 14,000GB of data, including 15,000 CDs and DVDs and 500 floppy disks.

    Three men found guilty of plotting to murder hundreds of people, G, 8.7.2010, http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jul/08/three-guilty-terrorism-airline-plot

Appeal judge watered down Binyam Mohamed torture ruling

Government persuaded Lord Neuberger to delete damning references to MI5 'culture' of suppressing evidence

Wednesday 10 February 2010
13.50 GMT
Guardian.co.uk
Ian Cobain
This article was published on guardian.co.uk at 13.50 GMT on Wednesday 10 February 2010.
It was last modified at 16.34 GMT on Wednesday 10 February 2010.

The government launched a successful last-minute bid to persuade the court of appeal to erase the most damning details of MI5's complicity in torture from its decision in the Binyam Mohamed case – but has been unable to suppress a letter that details some of the contents of the original draft ruling.

On Monday, Jonathan Sumption QC wrote to the court warning that the paragraph in question was "likely to receive more public attention than any other parts of the judgments".

This, Sumption pointed out, was because the paragraph would state that MI5 did not operate in a culture that respected human rights or renounced "coercive interrogation techniques".

The letter also reveals that the judgment, before being rewritten, said this was particularly true of the MI5 officer known as Witness B who gave evidence in the case – and that this man's conduct was characteristic of MI5 as a whole.

Furthermore, the letter shows, the judges originally ruled that MI5 officers had "deliberately misled" the Intelligence and Security Committee, the body of MPs and peers supposed to oversee its work, on the question of coercive interrogations, and that this "culture of suppression" reflected its dealings with the committee, the foreign secretary and the court.

Finally, the letter makes clear that the court ruled MI5's culture of suppression "penetrates the service to such a degree" that it undermines any government assurance based upon information that comes from MI5 itself.

The master of the rolls, Lord Neuberger, told the court this morning that he had discussed Sumption's request with the lord chief justice, and decided to amend the relevant section "quite significantly". However, it transpired that Sumption's letter had not been circulated to all the other parties. "I have received a number of letters from interested parties complaining about the way the amendment was made."

The editor of the Guardian, Alan Rusbridger, wrote to the court after the Sumption letter came to light, as did Liberty and Justice.

Judges were entitled to change their draft judgments, the master of the rolls said, but "it was over-hasty of me" to do so without giving others the opportunity of making representations.

He would therefore give parties who wished to object until 4pm on Friday to make representations, when he would decide whether to reinstate his judgement.

Rusbridger said: "It is good news that – after a challenge from the Guardian and other news organisations – the courts have finally ordered the government to reveal evidence of MI5 complicity in torture. This is a watershed in open justice in an area in which it is notoriously difficult to shine a light.

"But it was extremely disturbing that the government's lawyers made a successful last-ditch attempt to get the master of the rolls to rewrite his judgment, which had already been circulated in draft form.

"There are now effectively two judgments. The one released today is a watered down version of the original judgment – diluted at the request of the government, via its leading counsel, Jonathan Sumption QC. A crucial passage has been removed.

"The Guardian and Liberty and Justice intervened last night to express their concern at what had happened. We are today publishing Sumption's extraordinary letter, which describes the passage which was dropped from the published judgment. It is good that the master of the rolls has agreed to reconsider his decision to rewrite his judgment in response to government representations."

    Appeal judge watered down Binyam Mohamed torture ruling, G, 10.2.2010, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/feb/10/binyam-mohamed-judge-deleted-ruling