Foiled air plot on scale of September 11-US official

WASHINGTON, Aug 11 (Reuters) The plot foiled by Britain to blow up US-bound flights would been as horrific as the September 11 attacks that killed almost 3,000 people, US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said.

The suspected plotters were ''a couple days from a test, and a few days from doing it,'' according to a US intelligence official. Chertoff said the plan would have involved coordinated multiple suicide bombings.

''If these plotters had succeeded in taking down multiple jets carrying hundreds of people, we would have seen a disaster on a scale comparable to 9/11 with hundreds and maybe thousands of people being killed,'' Chertoff said in an interview on PBS's ''NewsHour With Jim Lehrer.'' He said al Qaeda might have been involved, and that the United States was in a race against ''terrorist ingenuity.'' The US government heightened security on passenger planes, barring air travelers from carrying any liquids after Britain said it had thwarted the plot to target about 10 trans-Atlantic flights.

The bombers planned to hide explosive gel or liquid in a sports drink and then detonate it with the flash from a disposable camera, ABC News reported.

US officials said the aim was to blow up the planes in flight rather than to attack cities. The plot involved flights to an undetermined number of US cities including New York, Washington, Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston, a US intelligence official said yesterday.

President George W Bush said the plot was a ''stark reminder'' the United States was ''at war with Islamic fascists,'' while tighter security at airports caused chaos as passengers were forced to throw out seemingly innocuous items like bottles of water.

The US Homeland Security Department barred passengers from carrying liquids, including drinks, hair gels and lotions.

Officials had said that the foiled plot involved a liquid chemical device.

National Guard forces were to be activated in Massachusetts and California to assist airport screeners.

For travelers, tighter security at airports nationwide meant longer waits than usual at security checkpoints.

''I don't like flying on the best of days,'' said Sophie Bartholomew, 30, traveling with her 9-week-old daughter, Chloe, and her husband, Jason. She was allowed to take baby formula on board but was told at New York's John F Kennedy Airport that one of the parents might have to taste it.

'TYRANNY AND FACISM' US Muslim groups criticized Bush for using the words ''Islamic fascists.'' ''The problem with the phrase is it attaches the religion of Islam to tyranny and fascism, rather than isolating the threat to a specific group of individuals,'' said Edina Lekovic, spokeswoman for the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Los Angeles.

Charles Allen, chief intelligence officer at the US Department of Homeland Security, would not confirm an ABC news report that British police were seeking five more people.

British police said 24 people were in custody in connection with the plot. All were British, Allen told reporters.

A US official speaking on condition of anonymity said Continental Airlines, United Airlines and American Airlines flights had been targeted for attack.

Chertoff said the government took the unprecedented step of raising the threat level for US-bound commercial flights originating in Britain to ''severe'' or red, its highest level.

The threat level for all other commercial aircraft operating in or destined for the United States would be raised to ''high,'' or orange, he said.

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