'Qaeda plots to blow up US craft'
2 July 2012 7:32 AM GMT
Al-Qaeda is plotting to blow up an American airliner in the run-up to this month's London Olympics and has trained a Norwegian Muslim convert in an attempt to evade airport security, a media report said on Sunday.
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula [AQAP] has trained the Norwegian convert and is understood to have also selected a target, believed to be a US passenger jet, The Sunday Times quoted intelligence sources as saying.
'The Norwegian recruit goes under the name of Muslim Abu Abdurrahman. He is understood to be in his thirties and a 'clean skin', with no previous criminal record,' it said.
'He converted in 2008 and quickly became radicalised. He later travelled to Yemen, where he has spent several months, to complete his training,' the paper said.
The plot confirms fears among US and British intelligence agencies that al-Qaeda is seeking to recruit radicalised westerners in an attempt to evade airport security, it said.
The Norwegian was believed to have been in the southeastern town of Azzan, the longtime home of AQAP, until last month. He then moved to Dammaj, a town in the north.
The new plot is the terror group's fourth to be detected since 2009, when AQAP sent a Nigerian-born British student on a plane with an underpants bomb. The bomb failed to detonate over Detroit and the man was arrested and jailed.
In 2010, it sent two bombs hidden in printer cartridges on cargo planes destined for Chicago. They were intercepted and defused in Dubai and Britain, the paper said.
Two months ago, a third plot was averted when a British undercover agent, who had infiltrated AQAP, volunteered to be a suicide bomber. He smuggled out the latest version of the sophisticated underpants bomb to US authorities.
'There is terrorist plotting going on irrespective of the Olympics (from 27 July to 12 August). The only thing that connects this to the Olympics is the fact that they are about to happen,' said a Whitehall official.
The intelligence officials said the latest plot should be seen in the context of Al-Qaeda's continuing ambitions to blow up American planes.
AQAP has no history of targeting Britain. However, that did not mean British citizens were not at risk.
'If you are blowing up aeroplanes you are likely to be killing Brits or having a big impact on the European or British economy. [So it] would in effect be an attack against Britain,' the official said.
Britain's MI5 chief Jonathan Evans recently said the destination of home-grown recruits had shifted to Yemen and North Africa in recent years from Afghanistan and Pakistan, where the West has succeeded in disrupting al-Qaeda's command.
UK PLANS TO DEPLOY MISSILES AMIDST THREATS
Britain is planning to deploy surface-to-air missiles on six sites in London, amidst reports that al-Qaeda is plotting to blow up an American airliner and has trained a Norwegian Muslim convert in an attempt to evade airport security before the Olympics.
Residents in London areas where the Rapier missiles are proposed to be deployed on Saturday staged a protest and signed a petition opposing the move.
The six sites where the missiles are proposed to be deployed include the Lexington Building in Tower Hamlets, Fred Wigg Tower in Waltham Forest, east London, Blackheath Common; Oxleas Wood, Eltham; William Girling Reservoir, Enfield and Barn Hill in Epping Forest.
On the deployment of missiles, the Ministry of Defence said the safety of the 27 July - 12 August Olympic Games was paramount and a 'broad range of community engagement' had taken place.
During a major Olympics-focussed security exercise in April, Commander General Sir Nick Parker explained there must be a plan which could deal with that might exist to the Olympic Park. He said: 'It's an air threat which we would need to intervene.'
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula [AQAP] has trained the Norwegian convert and is understood to have also selected a target, believed to be a US passenger jet, The Sunday Times quoted intelligence sources as saying.
'The Norwegian recruit goes under the name of Muslim Abu Abdurrahman. He is understood to be in his thirties and a 'clean skin', with no previous criminal record,' it said.
'He converted in 2008 and quickly became radicalised. He later travelled to Yemen, where he has spent several months, to complete his training,' the paper said.
The plot confirms fears among US and British intelligence agencies that al-Qaeda is seeking to recruit radicalised westerners in an attempt to evade airport security, it said.
The Norwegian was believed to have been in the southeastern town of Azzan, the longtime home of AQAP, until last month. He then moved to Dammaj, a town in the north.
The new plot is the terror group's fourth to be detected since 2009, when AQAP sent a Nigerian-born British student on a plane with an underpants bomb. The bomb failed to detonate over Detroit and the man was arrested and jailed.
In 2010, it sent two bombs hidden in printer cartridges on cargo planes destined for Chicago. They were intercepted and defused in Dubai and Britain, the paper said.
Two months ago, a third plot was averted when a British undercover agent, who had infiltrated AQAP, volunteered to be a suicide bomber. He smuggled out the latest version of the sophisticated underpants bomb to US authorities.
'There is terrorist plotting going on irrespective of the Olympics (from 27 July to 12 August). The only thing that connects this to the Olympics is the fact that they are about to happen,' said a Whitehall official.
The intelligence officials said the latest plot should be seen in the context of Al-Qaeda's continuing ambitions to blow up American planes.
AQAP has no history of targeting Britain. However, that did not mean British citizens were not at risk.
'If you are blowing up aeroplanes you are likely to be killing Brits or having a big impact on the European or British economy. [So it] would in effect be an attack against Britain,' the official said.
Britain's MI5 chief Jonathan Evans recently said the destination of home-grown recruits had shifted to Yemen and North Africa in recent years from Afghanistan and Pakistan, where the West has succeeded in disrupting al-Qaeda's command.
UK PLANS TO DEPLOY MISSILES AMIDST THREATS
Britain is planning to deploy surface-to-air missiles on six sites in London, amidst reports that al-Qaeda is plotting to blow up an American airliner and has trained a Norwegian Muslim convert in an attempt to evade airport security before the Olympics.
Residents in London areas where the Rapier missiles are proposed to be deployed on Saturday staged a protest and signed a petition opposing the move.
The six sites where the missiles are proposed to be deployed include the Lexington Building in Tower Hamlets, Fred Wigg Tower in Waltham Forest, east London, Blackheath Common; Oxleas Wood, Eltham; William Girling Reservoir, Enfield and Barn Hill in Epping Forest.
On the deployment of missiles, the Ministry of Defence said the safety of the 27 July - 12 August Olympic Games was paramount and a 'broad range of community engagement' had taken place.
During a major Olympics-focussed security exercise in April, Commander General Sir Nick Parker explained there must be a plan which could deal with that might exist to the Olympic Park. He said: 'It's an air threat which we would need to intervene.'
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