British sift through potential plane-bomb materials
British forensic experts are slowly sifting through materials that could potentially have been used as precursor chemicals to make explosives – the materials were found in the homes of suspects arrested last week in the alleged plot to blow up at least 10 planes headed from the United Kingdom to the United States.
But the experts are not saying yet whether any of these materials could have been combined to make liquid explosives potent enough to blow the planes out of the skies. Among the materials discovered: flashlight bulbs, AA batteries, hydrogen peroxide and containers for the solution, disposable cameras, and half liter bottles of Dutch commercial food additives, law enforcement sources tell U.S. News.
Left to their own devices, British police might have waited longer before making the arrests in order to obtain more evidence, U.S. and British law enforcement sources said. The British arrests took place only because Pakistan – at the urging of the FBI – made a key arrest that the British feared could have a domino effect and tip off the London suspects, several of whom had made trips to and from Pakistan for fundraising, training, and recruiting.
U.S. law enforcement sources say the bureau pressured Pakistan to make their move, forcing the British to scramble. A senior FBI official, however, denied any pressure was placed on either the British or the Pakistanis. "It was entirely their call," he said. He said the FBI worked collaboratively with the British to chase down hundreds of leads in the United States -- but no connections were found. Senior FBI officials also were taking note of the growing difficulty that the British faced in keepings tabs on the suspects, because there were so many suspects and the operation was sucking up considerable police manpower.
"It was getting more and more unwieldy," asserts one FBI official. Towards the middle of last week, according to U.S sources, British police could not be sure they knew where all the suspects were, and some were starting to purchase potential precursor chemicals and shopping for airline tickets, according to a knowledgeable official.
But some in the British Metropolitan Police's anti-terrorist branch fear that investigators may pay a price for pulling the plug too early. "I've got a feeling that if we let it run for 10 more days, we would have got a lot more concrete evidence" says one official.
"We would have liked an easier job bringing terrorists to court," this official says. "They are very bad lads, and it would have been nice to have a sealed case. We have a saying here, 'shutting the door when the horse has bolted.' Well, the bloody horse has long gone on this one."
The real fear, among British and U.S. law enforcement, is that terror plotters are constantly watching the news and learning better and better how to hide their tracks. After the July 7, 2005, bombings on the London subways that killed 52 people, police found a veritable bomb factory inside 18 Alexander Grove, the ground-floor flat that three of the four bombers rented next to the Leeds Grand Mosque.
"They were so inept at covering their trail, they didn't even watch CSI: Miami, for God's sakes," the British official says. The concern this time around is that these alleged London plane-bomb suspects may have concealed their supplies. "These guys had thought about getting caught."
"It's a danger for us to underestimate their flexibility," says one U.S. law enforcement source. "They are very fluid. They are learning from past mistakes."
advertisement
