Al-Qaeda Plotting to Hijack Plane over Britain: Press

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, August 24, 2003

Al-Qaeda Plotting to Hijack Plane over Britain: Press

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The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has circulated a warning to US and UK airlines that al-Qaeda, the global terrorist network, is plotting to hijack an aircraft in Britain over the next two months and fly it into an important building, the Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported.

British Airways and other leading airlines operating in and outof Britain have been put on alert after the warning was passed to the country's security services, said the report.

"The most likely targets for the hijackers were aircrafts taking off from London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports," said the report, adding that the specific targets of the hijackers are not known, although al-Qaeda has once targeted the Houses of Parliament in an abortive plot.

The FBI and the US department for homeland security issued the warning on July 30, saying that terrorists working in teams of five are likely to try to hijack aircraft using "common items carried by travellers," such as cameras, to disguise weapons, according to the report.

"Recent reporting on al-Qaeda from intelligence sources indicated that terrorists might try to modify electronic items foruse as weapons in order to circumvent improved security screening," the warning was quoted as saying.

During the hijack they intend to tell passengers that it is an old-style hijacking and ransom operation, not a suicide mission, in order to prevent a heroic attack by passengers, the report added.

The report, quoting a FBI spokesman, said that the intelligence,which was collected during a raid on an overseas al-Qaeda residence this year, had also identified Italy, Australia and the United States as ground targets of the terrorists.

"At least one of these attacks could be executed by the end of the summer. Recognizing changes in aviation security measures since September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda is looking for new ways to circumvent enhancements in aviation security screening and tightening immigration requirements," the spokesman was quoted as saying.

"This is a real threat and show we have to be vigilant," a British security official told the newspaper.

Britain is thought to be a particular target because of its support for the war in Iraq and because many aircrafts stop here to refuel or transfer passengers to other flights.

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