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http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/6/30/175002.shtml?s=lh
Glasgow Attack Seen Tied to London Bombs
NewsMax.com Wires Sunday, July 1, 2007
GLASGOW, Scotland -- A Jeep Cherokee trailing a cascade of flames rammed
into Glasgow airport on Saturday, shattering glass doors just yards from
passengers lined up at the check-in counters. Police said they believed the
attack was linked to two car bombs found in London the day before.
Britain raised its terror alert to "critical" - the highest possible level -
and the Bush administration announced plans to increase security at airports
and on mass transit.
One of the men in the car was in critical condition at a hospital with
severe burns, while the other was in police custody, said Scottish Police
Chief Constable Willie Rae. He said a "suspect device" was found on the man
at the hospital and it was taken to a safe location where it was being
investigated.
Rae would not say whether the device was a suicide belt. British security
officials said evidence pointed toward the Glasgow attack being a suicide
mission.
"I can confirm that we believe the incident at Glasgow airport is linked to
the events in London yesterday," Rae said. "There are clearly similarities
and we can confirm that this is being treated as a terrorist incident."
Police foiled the plot Friday after two cars were found in central London
packed with explosives - one outside a nightclub near Piccadilly Circus and
another parked nearby.
A British government security official said the methods used in the airport
attack and Friday's thwarted plots were similar, with all three vehicles
carrying large quantities of flammable liquid.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of
the information.
Police and MI5 had no intelligence warning of a plan to attack Scotland, but
have monitored a host of suspected terrorists and plots there, he said. It
was not yet clear whether there was an international element to the planning
or funding of the attacks, the official said.
The new terror threat presents Prime Minister Gordon Brown, a Scot who took
office on Wednesday, with an enormous challenge and comes at a time of
already heightened vigilance one week before the anniversary of the July 7
London transit attacks, which killed 52 people.
"I know that the British people will stand together, united, resolute and
strong," Brown said Saturday in a televised statement.
The green Jeep barreled toward Glasgow's main airport terminal shortly after
3 p.m., hitting security barriers before crashing into the glass doors,
witnesses said.
Police subdued the driver and a passenger, both described by witnesses as
South Asian - a term used to refer to people from Pakistan, Afghanistan and
other countries in the region - arresting them and taking one to the
hospital. Witnesses said one of the men was engulfed in flames and spoke
"gibberish" as an official used a fire extinguisher to douse the fire.
Rae said a bystander was taken to the hospital with a leg injury.
The previous round of terrorist activity in Britain, in July 2005, was
largely carried out by local Muslims, raising ethnic tensions in Britain.
"The car came speeding past," said Scott Leeson, a witness. "Then the driver
swerved the car around so he could ram straight in to the door. He must have
been trying to smash straight through."
Passengers fled running and screaming from the busy terminal, Margaret
Hughes told the British Broadcasting Corp. "There was black smoke gushing
out where the car had obviously been driven into the airport," she said.
The airport was evacuated and all flights suspended. Flames and black smoke
rose from the Jeep outside the main entrance. It did not appear there were
any injuries aside from the suspect who had been set afire. Police said
Liverpool Airport and roads around Edinburgh were also closed.
The apparent attack left passengers shaken and stranded on the first day of
summer vacation for Glasgow schools. All flights from the airport were
suspended. At the time of the crash, the airport was bustling with families
heading out on vacation.
Meanwhile in London, police were gathering evidence from closed circuit
television footage, as forensics experts searched for clues into the foiled
bombings. The two Mercedes cars had been loaded with gasoline, gas canisters
and nails in one of the capital's busiest areas on a night when Londoners
like to go out and party. Security officials and police denied an ABC News
report that they had a "crystal clear" picture of one suspect from CCTV
footage.
The vehicles were found abandoned in the early hours of Friday in what
police believe was an attempt to kill scores or even hundreds of people.
Detectives said they were keeping an open mind about the bombers'
identities, but terrorism experts said the signs pointed to a cell linked to
or inspired by al-Qaida.
One car was abandoned outside the Tiger Tiger nightclub on Haymarket in the
heart of London's entertainment district. The other had been towed after
being parked illegally on nearby ****spur Street and was discovered in an
impound lot about a mile away in Park Lane, near Hyde Park.
Brown came to office pledging to win back the support of voters disenchanted
over the Iraq war. But he backed Tony Blair's decision to send troops to
Iraq in 2003 and has shown support for greater anti-terror measures that
have angered Britain's some 1.8 million Muslims.
President Bush was being kept informed of the situation, the White House
said. "We're in contact with British authorities on the matter," said Gordon
Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council, in Washington.
Lynsey McBean, who was at the terminal, said one of the men took out a
plastic gasoline canister and poured a liquid under the car. "He then set
light to it," said McBean, 26, from Erskine, Scotland. She said the Jeep
struck the front door of the airport but got jammed.
"They were obviously trying to get it further inside the airport as the
wheels were spinning and smoke was coming from them," she said.
AP photographs from the scene showed the car hit the building at an angle
and was poking into the terminal. The Jeep struck the building directly in
front of check-in counters, where dozens of passengers were lined up, police
said.
Leeson said bollards - security posts outside the entrance - stopped the
driver from barreling into the bustling terminal at Glasgow's airport. "If
he'd got through, he'd have killed hundreds, obviously," he said.
The incident carried reminders of a foiled plot in December 1999 to attack
Los Angeles International Airport, when customs agents stopped an
Algerian-born man in a car packed with 124 of explosives. He was jailed for
22 years and prosecutors said he was intent on bombing the Los Angeles
airport on the eve of the millennium.
Glasgow Attack Seen Tied to London Bombs
NewsMax.com Wires Sunday, July 1, 2007
GLASGOW, Scotland -- A Jeep Cherokee trailing a cascade of flames rammed
into Glasgow airport on Saturday, shattering glass doors just yards from
passengers lined up at the check-in counters. Police said they believed the
attack was linked to two car bombs found in London the day before.
Britain raised its terror alert to "critical" - the highest possible level -
and the Bush administration announced plans to increase security at airports
and on mass transit.
One of the men in the car was in critical condition at a hospital with
severe burns, while the other was in police custody, said Scottish Police
Chief Constable Willie Rae. He said a "suspect device" was found on the man
at the hospital and it was taken to a safe location where it was being
investigated.
Rae would not say whether the device was a suicide belt. British security
officials said evidence pointed toward the Glasgow attack being a suicide
mission.
"I can confirm that we believe the incident at Glasgow airport is linked to
the events in London yesterday," Rae said. "There are clearly similarities
and we can confirm that this is being treated as a terrorist incident."
Police foiled the plot Friday after two cars were found in central London
packed with explosives - one outside a nightclub near Piccadilly Circus and
another parked nearby.
A British government security official said the methods used in the airport
attack and Friday's thwarted plots were similar, with all three vehicles
carrying large quantities of flammable liquid.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of
the information.
Police and MI5 had no intelligence warning of a plan to attack Scotland, but
have monitored a host of suspected terrorists and plots there, he said. It
was not yet clear whether there was an international element to the planning
or funding of the attacks, the official said.
The new terror threat presents Prime Minister Gordon Brown, a Scot who took
office on Wednesday, with an enormous challenge and comes at a time of
already heightened vigilance one week before the anniversary of the July 7
London transit attacks, which killed 52 people.
"I know that the British people will stand together, united, resolute and
strong," Brown said Saturday in a televised statement.
The green Jeep barreled toward Glasgow's main airport terminal shortly after
3 p.m., hitting security barriers before crashing into the glass doors,
witnesses said.
Police subdued the driver and a passenger, both described by witnesses as
South Asian - a term used to refer to people from Pakistan, Afghanistan and
other countries in the region - arresting them and taking one to the
hospital. Witnesses said one of the men was engulfed in flames and spoke
"gibberish" as an official used a fire extinguisher to douse the fire.
Rae said a bystander was taken to the hospital with a leg injury.
The previous round of terrorist activity in Britain, in July 2005, was
largely carried out by local Muslims, raising ethnic tensions in Britain.
"The car came speeding past," said Scott Leeson, a witness. "Then the driver
swerved the car around so he could ram straight in to the door. He must have
been trying to smash straight through."
Passengers fled running and screaming from the busy terminal, Margaret
Hughes told the British Broadcasting Corp. "There was black smoke gushing
out where the car had obviously been driven into the airport," she said.
The airport was evacuated and all flights suspended. Flames and black smoke
rose from the Jeep outside the main entrance. It did not appear there were
any injuries aside from the suspect who had been set afire. Police said
Liverpool Airport and roads around Edinburgh were also closed.
The apparent attack left passengers shaken and stranded on the first day of
summer vacation for Glasgow schools. All flights from the airport were
suspended. At the time of the crash, the airport was bustling with families
heading out on vacation.
Meanwhile in London, police were gathering evidence from closed circuit
television footage, as forensics experts searched for clues into the foiled
bombings. The two Mercedes cars had been loaded with gasoline, gas canisters
and nails in one of the capital's busiest areas on a night when Londoners
like to go out and party. Security officials and police denied an ABC News
report that they had a "crystal clear" picture of one suspect from CCTV
footage.
The vehicles were found abandoned in the early hours of Friday in what
police believe was an attempt to kill scores or even hundreds of people.
Detectives said they were keeping an open mind about the bombers'
identities, but terrorism experts said the signs pointed to a cell linked to
or inspired by al-Qaida.
One car was abandoned outside the Tiger Tiger nightclub on Haymarket in the
heart of London's entertainment district. The other had been towed after
being parked illegally on nearby ****spur Street and was discovered in an
impound lot about a mile away in Park Lane, near Hyde Park.
Brown came to office pledging to win back the support of voters disenchanted
over the Iraq war. But he backed Tony Blair's decision to send troops to
Iraq in 2003 and has shown support for greater anti-terror measures that
have angered Britain's some 1.8 million Muslims.
President Bush was being kept informed of the situation, the White House
said. "We're in contact with British authorities on the matter," said Gordon
Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council, in Washington.
Lynsey McBean, who was at the terminal, said one of the men took out a
plastic gasoline canister and poured a liquid under the car. "He then set
light to it," said McBean, 26, from Erskine, Scotland. She said the Jeep
struck the front door of the airport but got jammed.
"They were obviously trying to get it further inside the airport as the
wheels were spinning and smoke was coming from them," she said.
AP photographs from the scene showed the car hit the building at an angle
and was poking into the terminal. The Jeep struck the building directly in
front of check-in counters, where dozens of passengers were lined up, police
said.
Leeson said bollards - security posts outside the entrance - stopped the
driver from barreling into the bustling terminal at Glasgow's airport. "If
he'd got through, he'd have killed hundreds, obviously," he said.
The incident carried reminders of a foiled plot in December 1999 to attack
Los Angeles International Airport, when customs agents stopped an
Algerian-born man in a car packed with 124 of explosives. He was jailed for
22 years and prosecutors said he was intent on bombing the Los Angeles
airport on the eve of the millennium.
