WASHINGTON - The well-advanced plot to blow up airliners flying from Britain
to the United States had the markings of al-Qaida, and it's not yet certain that
authorities have found everyone involved, the Homeland Security secretary says.
More will be learned in the next hours and days, Secretary Michael Chertoff
told reporters Thursday. In the meantime, the US airline system remains on high
alert, with tougher passenger inspections expected Friday.
Homeland Security
Secretary Michael Chertoff, left, speaks as Attorney General Alberto R.
Gonzales, right, looks on, during a press briefing Thursday, Aug. 10,
2006, in Washington about the terror threat uncovered in Britain. The US
government issued its highest terrorism alert ever for commercial flights
from Britain to the United States in response to a terror plot disrupted
Thursday in London and raised the threat level for all domestic and
international flights. [AP]
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Details
continued to emerge about the alleged plot, which officials said they had been
tracking for months. A congressman briefed by intelligence officials, who did
not want to be identified because of the sensitivity of the investigation, said
US intelligence had intercepted terrorist chatter and British intelligence
helped thwart the plot through undercover work.
British authorities arrested 24 people Thursday based partly on intelligence
from Pakistan, where authorities detained up to three others several days
earlier. More arrests were expected, an official said.
For the US traveling public, already heavy security restrictions got even
worse. Thursday night, British Airways banned carry-on bags from all flights
between the United States and Britain. On Friday, passengers in the US will be
subject to a second security check at airport gates to prevent anyone from
carrying onto planes liquids that could be used in an explosion, airline
officials said.
President Bush said the foiled plot showed the nation was "at war with
Islamic fascists who will use any means to destroy those of us who love freedom,
to hurt our nation."
"This country is safer than it was prior to 9/11," Bush said Thursday in
Green Bay, Wis. "We've taken a lot of measures to protect the American people,
but obviously we're not completely safe. ... It is a mistake to believe there is
no threat to the United States of America."
Bush's spokesman had earlier declared "it is safe to travel." The president
urged Americans to be patient with the many inconveniences that will result from
the increased threat level that the plot prompted him to approve.
The plot unfolded while Congress was on vacation, but that didn't prevent
some lawmakers from engaging in the same partisan sniping that has poisoned much
of the congressional session.
Ron Bonjean, communications director for House Speaker Dennis Hastert,
R-Ill., said Democrats have voted against strengthening the intelligence tools
"that saved the day" in the current plot.