Eye on Qaida sympathetic group foiled 'Bojinka'

London, Aug 11: The operation to foil plot known as the 'Bojinka' attack on about 10 planes began with MI5 officers keeping a strict vigilance on a group of people in London who were sympathetic towards al-Qaida.

The group is among 1,000 terror suspects that the Security Service had under investigation.

The group, with links throughout the country, in east London, High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, and Birmingham as well as abroad, was believed to be taking an interest in aircraft and homemade explosives and in ways to smuggle the latter amid airport security.

The handful of suspects, aged between 17 and 35, grew to more than 20. Most of the suspects arrested are of Pakistani descent and include women. But a few of the alleged plotters are also of north African descent. One suspect was a white British man in his 20s living in High Wycombe, who converted to Islam about six months ago.

The Metropolitan Police's anti-terror branch was alerted about the plans in December. The targets were followed, their meetings and conversations recorded, their backgrounds investigated and their bank accounts scrutinised. MI6 became involved and contacted a dozen counter-intelligence agencies in the United States, Pakistan, north African countries and Germany, for information and checks on the suspects.

Information from phone taps and bugging devices built a profile of an organised and motivated group, sympathetic to Al-Qaeda.

Links with Pakistan and north Africa were established, including several visits to Pakistan.

According to a report in The Independent, the plotters were allegedly planning to commit phased attacks in which three or four aircraft would be blown up over the sea, thereby destroying any clues about how the bombs were smuggled on board. After the initial attacks, the terrorists would wait until fear and panic had spread, then commit two more series of attacks, each involving three or four planes. In total, they intended to bring down nine or 10 aircraft.

This plot, which was foiled, is known as the 'Bojinka' attack.

The suspects were also allegedly heard discussing targets. On information presumably passed on by British police, US authorities said they had identified six to 10 airlines including United, American and Continental, all US carriers. Ten of their aircraft could hold as many as 2,800 passengers and crew.

UNI