Al-Qaida will see disruption as a victory
Dr John Potter, a security psychologist who helps to train hostage negotiators, said terrorists will continue to attack multiple “soft” targets.
He said: “We must not underestimate the training and indoctrination that terrorists get.
“Al-Qaida is very, very good at producing a fear of terrorists. They are very clever and bright and use common sense.
“Multiple targets result in defenders spreading their resources. Al-Qaida will exploit this more and more.
“The timing of today’s attack is significant as holidaymakers are a ‘soft’ target. Softer targets have the greatest impact,” he said yesterday.
“But at the end of the day, disruption is key. They will see the disruption as a victory.”
Police said yesterday they had foiled a major plot to “commit mass murder on an unimaginable scale” by destroying up to 10 passenger jets in mid-air. The targets were flights leaving British airports to the US.
But this is not the first multiple target attack which has been stopped.
A plot in the Philippines to bomb a dozen commercial flights in 1995 has chilling similarities to yesterday’s failed terror attempt.
Dubbed ‘Project Bojinka’, the plan involved nitro-glycerine or other explosives to be hidden in containers like contact lens fluid bottles.
It was the first sign that large-scale plane attacks were being considered by terror groups.
Chief Supt Rodolfo Mendoza, one of several Philippine police intelligence officers who uncovered the Bojinka plot, said: “The modus operandi is the same, the method of delivery, the signature is there.”
The terror attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, was similarly ambitious.
Four planes were hijacked and three found targets, including the Twin Towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington DC, killing 2,973.
In 1998, bombs exploded at two US embassies in the Kenyan capital Nairobi and Tanzanian capital Dar-es-Salaam within 10 minutes of each other. The explosions killed 224 and wounded more than 4,000.
In May 2001, four men were convicted of the killings and later sentenced to life in prison. All four were members of al-Qaida and worked for Osama bin Laden.
But it took just four men with bombs in their backpacks to kill 52 innocent people in London on July 7, 2005.
That morning, the four men fanned out from King’s Cross and at 8.50am, three exploded their devices on the London underground.
The first three blasts went off at Aldgate, Edgware Road and Russell Square. The fourth went off just under an hour later on a bus at Tavistock Square, killing 13 innocent people.
The British suicide bombers were Shezad Tanweer, Mohammad Sidique Khan, Jermaine Lindsay and Hasib Hussain.
Dr Potter said: “My view is that it is the specifics, not the volume when it comes to terror attacks.
“When the Italian ship the Achille Lauro was hijacked in the 1980s, an elderly man in a wheelchair was killed. That was much more significant. I am not sure if it is the number of people killed that has the largest impact.”
It emerged last night that Pakistan played a major part in foiling the latest terror plot.
“The major work was done by the British agents, but they got a major clue from Pakistan,” said the intelligence official.
He said the information Pakistan had obtained was “quickly verified and shared” with Britain.
THE British department for transport issued advice to air passengers travelling from there after a suspected plot to blow up planes was prevented:
“Following this morning’s police action, security at all British airports has been increased and additional security measures have been put in place for all flights.
With immediate effect, the following arrangements apply to all passengers starting their journey at a British airport and to those transferring between flights at airports located in Britain.
All cabin baggage must be processed as hold baggage and carried in the hold of passenger aircraft departing British airports.
Passengers may take through the airport security search point, in a single (ideally transparent) plastic carrier bag, only the following items. Nothing may be carried in pockets.
* Pocket-size wallets and pocket-size purses plus contents (for example money, credit cards, identity cards etc (not handbags).
* Travel documents essential for the journey (for example passports and travel tickets).
* Female sanitary items sufficient and essential for the flight, if unboxed (tampons, pads, towels and wipes).
* Tissues (unboxed) and/or handkerchiefs.
* Keys (but no electrical key fobs).
* Spectacles and sunglasses, without cases.
* Contact lens holders, without bottles of solution.
* All passengers must be hand searched, and their footwear and all the items they are carrying must be X-ray screened.
* Pushchairs and walking aids must be X-ray screened, and only airport-provided wheelchairs may pass through the screening point.
* For those travelling with an infant: baby food, milk (the contents of each bottle must be tasted by the accompanying passenger) and sanitary items sufficient and essential for the flight (nappies, wipes, creams and nappy disposal bags).
* Prescription medicines and medical items sufficient and essential for the flight (eg diabetic kit), except in liquid form unless verified as authentic.
In addition to the above, all passengers boarding flights to the USA and all the items they are carrying, including those acquired after the central screening point, must be subjected to secondary search at the boarding gate.
Any liquids discovered must be removed from the passenger. There are no changes to current hold baggage security measures.
Regrettably, significant delays at airports are inevitable.
Passengers are being asked to allow themselves plenty of extra time and to ensure that — other than the few permitted items listed above — all their belongings are placed in their hold baggage and checked in.
These additional security measures are necessary and will continue to keep flights from British airports properly secure.
We hope that these measures will need to be in place for a limited period only.
If passengers have any questions on their travel arrangements or security in place at airports they should contact their airline.”
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