Threat Level Raised for Aviation Sector

A makeshift sign greets travellers at Belfast International Airport after a terrorist plot was foiled by British police and security services, Thursday Aug. 10, 2006. Airlines across Europe canceled flights bound for London's Heathrow Airport as some airports said they were ready to take on more traffic after a terror attack aimed at aircraft flying from Britain was revealed Thursday.

Passengers wait to check in at the Easyjet desk shortly before several flights were cancelled at Gatwick Airport Thursday Aug. 10, 2006.

Armed police officers patrol Manchester Airport. Police have said they had foiled a plot to blow up planes to the United States in mid-air, putting the nation on its maximum terror alert and snarling air traffic around the world.

Airplanes wait on the tarmac after increased security measures were put into place at Manchester Airport in England, Thursday Aug. 10, 2006.

COMMENTLINE
It was only a matter of time. A countdown is in progress for the first statement that President Bush is using the incident for political gain.

NEWSBYTES
Threat Level Raised for Aviation Sector
August 10, 2006 (2:40 a.m. EDT) -- Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced a targeted raise in the threat level in light of today’s arrests in the United Kingdom. “The United States Government has raised the nation’s threat level to Severe, or Red, for commercial flights originating in the United Kingdom bound for the United States. This adjustment reflects the Critical, or highest, alert level that has been implemented in the United Kingdom. To defend further against any remaining threat from this plot, we will also raise the threat level to High, or Orange, for all commercial aviation operating in or destined for the United States.”

British Police Thwart Major Terror Plot
(washingtonpost.com) -- British authorities said today they had disrupted a "major terrorist plot" to blow up passenger flights between the United Kingdom and the United States, prompting a full-scale security clampdown at U.S. and British airports and a cascade of delays in trans-Atlantic flights.

W Post Video: Terror Plot Cancels American-Bound Flights

British Police Thwart Aircraft Bomb Plot
LONDON (AP) -- British authorities said Thursday they had thwarted a terrorist plot to simultaneously blow up several aircraft heading to the U.S. using explosives smuggled in carry-on luggage. Britain's Home Secretary John Reid said 21 people had been arrested in London, its suburbs and in Birmingham, including the alleged "main players" in the plot.

AP Video

Related Book: Londonistan

'Airlines terror plot' disrupted
(BBC) -- A plot to blow up planes in flight from the UK to the US and commit "mass murder on an unimaginable scale" has been disrupted, Scotland Yard has said.

ON THE WIRE

Reuters: Britain says it foils "mass murder" plane bomb plot

Reuters: UK police hold 21 over foiled plot to bomb planes

AFP: Britain on maximum terror alert after bomb plot foiled

Reuters: US raises air security alert to red for first time

Statement by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff Announcing a Change to the Nation’s Threat Level for the Aviation Sector

Britain facing 'most sustained threat since WWII', says Reid

2 held on terror charges in Ohio

Bomb plot causes worldwide airline chaos

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