US 'warning of al-Qaida small plane attack'

US authorities say they have uncovered a plan by al-Qaida to crash an explosives-laden aircraft into the American consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, which prompted the Homeland Security Department to warn about possible attacks in the United States.

A department advisory said al-Qaida was in the late stages of planning an attack on the consulate using a small fixed-wing aircraft or helicopter.

Such a plot, along with one uncovered last year in which al-Qaida hoped to fly a small plane into a US warship in the Persian Gulf, demonstrated a “fixation” on using aircraft in attacks, the advisory said.

In Pakistan, authorities contacted flying clubs in southern Karachi and warned them to rent their aircraft ”only to permanent customers”, said Imran Shaukat, a police spokesman in the port city.

By today, hundreds of additional police and paramilitary Rangers were deployed outside the US Consulate in Karachi, where last year a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-filled vehicle, killing 17 people -- all of them Pakistanis.

In the United States, the warning was issued on Thursday to US pilots and airport managers as part of a broader bulletin urging vigilance to guard against similar attacks in America.

A US law enforcement official said a plot against the consulate was uncovered with the arrests earlier this week in Karachi of Waleed bin Attash and five other alleged al-Qaida members. About 300 pounds (135 kilograms) of explosives and a cache of weapons were seized.

Attash is believed to have played a leading role in planning for the September 11 attacks and the bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen.

Homeland Security officials said there was no specific evidence about an attack using small aircraft in the United States. But the advisory says al-Qaida could try to use such planes because they were easily available and required less pilot skill than large jets.

Security procedures also are less rigorous for small aircraft there would be no need to attempt to control a large group of passengers and a credit card could be used to rent such a plane, the advisory said.

It said: “Reliable information obtained last year indicated al-Qaida might use experienced, non-Arab pilots to rent three or four light aircraft under the guise of flying lessons.”

Pilots and airport officials and workers were urged to be on extra alert for suspicious people and activity, aircraft with unusual modifications or people loading unusual cargo onto an aircraft.

Vigilance should also be maintained in checking identification, verifying baggage and cargo and watching for “persons who appear to be under stress or under the control of other persons”.

The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, which represents general aviation interests, issued a statement Friday saying it supported greater vigilance but questioning ”the sweeping

generalisations in this DHS advisory that aren’t necessarily accurate,” said Phil Boyer, the group’s president.

Boyer took issue with a section of the advisory saying that a small plane loaded with explosives could do as much damage as a medium-sized truck bomb. Such a plane, he said, could carry only a few hundred pounds (a couple of hundred kilograms). A truck similar to the one used in the 1993 World Trade Centre bombing carried 1,500 pounds ( 675 kilograms).