Jun 29, 2007 6:00 pm US/Pacific
London Police Foil Major Terror Plot
LONDON (CBS) ―
Police in London's bustling nightclub and theater district on Friday defused a bomb that could have killed hundreds after an ambulance crew spotted smoke coming from a Mercedes filled with a lethal mix of gasoline, propane and nails. Hours later, police confirmed that a second car bomb was found in the center of the city.
The first car bomb, found near Piccadilly Circus, was powerful enough to have caused "significant injury or loss of life" at a time when hundreds were in the area, British anti-terror police chief Peter Clarke said.
Clarke said Friday evening that the second car - another Mercedes - was originally parked illegally in same area, but had been towed from the West End to an impound lot near Hyde Park.
"The vehicle was found to contain very similar materials to those that had been found in the first car," he said. "There was a considerable amount of fuel and gas canisters. As in the first vehicle, there was also a quantity of nails. This like the first device was potentially viable."
Police later closed off a major street along Hyde Park for several hours to investigate a second suspicious car. Sky News and CNN reported that the car had been towed overnight from the West End, and reportedly smelled strongly of gasoline.
Despite the closure of Park Lane, a police spokesman said there was nothing to immediately suggest it was linked to the earlier incident. However, Sky News reported that official sources, speaking to them anonymously, had made the connection to the car bomb.
A British Broadcasting Corporation producer in the exclusive area of London said a vehicle inside an underground parking garage at Hyde Park seemed to be the focus of police activity.
CBSNews.com is reporting that hours before technicians dismantled the bomb,
a message appeared on one of the most widely used jihadist Internet forums, saying: "Today I say: Rejoice, by Allah, London shall be bombed."
CBS News found the posting on the "al Hesbah" chat room, but has not been able to independently confirm any connection between the posting made Thursday night and the car bomb found Friday.
Police were examining footage from closed-circuit TV cameras in the area, Clarke said, hoping the surveillance network that covers much of central London will help them track down the driver of the Mercedes.
A U.S. counterterrorism official said there has been some investigation into a second vehicle that could be associated with the first one, which contained explosives.
Deputy Metropolitan Police Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur said "our overriding objective is to protect, put in place cordons, and make sure areas are properly searched."
He said police were "reviewing plans" for events scheduled in London during the weekend.
"We are currently facing the most serious and sustained threat to our security from international terrorism," Smith told reporters after the emergency meeting. "This reinforces the need for the public to remain vigilant to the threat we face at all times."
Clarke said the car bomb was discovered after an ambulance crew was called to a nearby nightclub at about 1 a.m. because someone had taken ill inside. The crew noticed the car and what appeared to be smoke inside the passenger area.
Police were called and explosives officers dismantled the device by hand, for which Clarke commended their bravery and said they had not only prevented possible damage and injury, but provided investigators with valuable evidence.
Meanwhile in the United States, the government is urging Americans to be vigilant about suspicious activity after British police defused a bomb in downtown London, but officials said they saw no potential terrorist threat in the United States ahead of next week's Fourth of July holiday.
"At this point, I have seen no specific, credible information suggesting that this incident is connected to a threat to the homeland," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said in a statement.
"We have no plans at this time to change the U.S. threat level," he said. The current national threat level is yellow, or elevated, meaning there is a "significant risk" of terrorist attacks.
"We encourage the public to enjoy the upcoming holiday but ask, as always, that they be vigilant and report any suspicious activities to authorities," Chertoff said.
The BBC reported that almost 16 gallons of gasoline were found in the car, and that law enforcement sources said it was possible the device had failed to detonate before it was discovered.
Sky reported that police believed the device was to be detonated remotely by cell phone, and that an explosives officer who arrived early on the scene reached into the car and removed a phone that was part of the trigger system.
The central area of London where the device was found would have been packed with nightclub patrons at that hour of the night. Clarke said it was too early to tell whether the Tiger Tiger nightclub, outside of which the car was found, was the intended target of the plot.
"Forensic staff are still examining the device, but once we know more about it, we'll know more about what type of individuals are behind this," an official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the security details, told the Associated Press earlier.
CBS News correspondent Richard Roth said the investigation caused massive gridlock as police shut down streets around the scene — one of the busiest areas in London, known as Haymarket.
The incident also presented the first crisis for the cabinet of new Prime Minister Gordon Brown, reported Roth.
Brown, who took office on Wednesday, said the incident was a reminder that Britain faces "a serious and continuous threat" and the "need to be alert."
"I will stress to the Cabinet that the vigilance must be maintained over the next few days," Brown said.
British terrorism analyst Michael Clarke told CBS News that the device appeared to be part of an "amateur" plot using a homemade bomb — but a large one. He said the device appeared to be part of a "well-coordinated" plan.
Peter Clarke told reporters that it was "too early to speculate as to who might be responsible... we are keeping an entirely open mind." He said a full investigation had been launched.
A BBC report cited anonymous officials in the government as saying initial signs pointed to an "international element" in the plot.
Intelligence sources who spoke to CBS News Friday morning seemed to express surprise at the discovery of the device, suggesting there had been "no warning, no intel, no smell" as a prelude to the plot — which reportedly had the British domestic intelligence agency, MI5, "very, very worried."
At his news conference Friday, counter-terrorism chief Peter Clarke said there was "no indication that we were going to be attacked this way."
Michael Clarke said that if the device was part of plot by a major Islamic terror group, there could well have been more devices planted in the city.
Aside from urging the public to remain vigilant, British authorities had not given any specific warning about other suspicious devices in the capital city.
The Mercedes sedan was loaded onto the back of a truck to be removed for a thorough forensic examination — an operation carried out slowly and meticulously by investigators in full white suits.
The car and its driver were likely caught on video by at least 150 of the numerous closed circuit television cameras that canvas London, Michael Clarke told CBS News, adding that details of where it came from and how it ended up parked where it was could come out later Friday.
"It's impossible to make a bomb without leaving plenty of DNA behind, so more will come from that too," he said.
CBS News correspondent Mark Knoller reports that White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said: "We commend the British security services for their action today. U.S. officials are in contact with their U.K. counterparts and will continue to monitor the situation."
Former Scotland Yard detective John O'Connor told CBS' Early Show that terror activities in Britain usually involve fairly well-orchestrated networks, with strategists "behind the scenes who choose the targets, who advise on the construction of the bombs."
He said these planners "normally get some dupe, some guy they've convinced should become a martyr for Islam ... to deliver the bomb."
O'Connor drew comparisons to the device found in London and others that are frequently used by terror groups in hot spots around the world, such as the Gaza Strip and Iraq.
"It's the people that are behind it that matter," he said.
The incident comes a week before the second anniversary of the July 7 London bombings, when four British Muslim suicide bombers killed themselves and 52 bus and subway passengers.
For more than a year, the government has held the country's terrorist threat level at severe — which means a terrorist attack is highly likely.
The Haymarket, where the car was found, is the site of restaurants, bars, a cinema complex and, most famously, theaters. On a Thursday night, the area would have been buzzing with crowds of people. The broad street links Piccadilly Circus in the north to the Pall Mall at its southern end.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
