British police probing an alleged plot to blow up as many as 10 US-bound airliners have gathered "substantial material" in their investigation, Home Secretary John Reid said on Sunday, as police continued to question 23 suspects and conduct searches at locations across the country.
Reid, Britain's senior law and order official, indicated some individuals could be charged with criminal offenses in the next few days as a result of the inquiry but refused to disclose specific details, in keeping with the tightlipped nature of the operation.
"Police and the security authorities are content that their investigation is rewarding substantial material which would allow them to take forward the judicial process," Reid said in an interview with ABC-TV's This Week.
"The police and the authorities are convinced that there was an alleged plot here. They have intervened. And in the course of the next few days, we'll wait and see what happens in terms of charges," the home secretary said.
Investigators have until today to question two suspects, and until tomorrow to interview 21 others. Officers may seek to hold the suspects for a maximum of 28 days before charging them. To keep suspects they still wish to question in custody, police must ask a judge to extend the current deadlines.
London's Metropolitan police said yesterday it could not confirm if officers would make any application today to continue to detain the two suspects due to be released under the current deadlines.
In Pakistan, law enforcement officials are continuing to interrogate Rashid Rauf, a Briton of Pakistani descent, over his alleged key role in the plot, officials said.
Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao said British police were conducting inquiries in Pakistan, but were not involved in the questioning of Rauf.
New security measures threw Britain's airports into chaos in the days after arrests were made on Aug. 10, but officials at London's Heathrow Airport -- Europe's busiest, and the worst affected hub -- said on Sunday that most flights were now unaffected.
British Trade and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling said airport security restrictions were "proportionate" to the threat level, which stands at severe -- the second most serious level.
He said a meeting has been scheduled within "the next week or so" to listen to concerns from airport operators, who claim the government demanded too many time-consuming security checks in the aftermath of the arrests.
"Unfortunately it was necessary, because of the intelligence we received, to step up security," Darling told BBC television on Sunday.
"But I hope that in the next few days we can make sure that the system is manageable, is proportionate," he said.
Tighter security regulations on passengers carrying hand luggage and liquids onboard planes were ushered in at airports after Reid said police had foiled a plan to "bring down a number of aircraft through mid-flight explosions."
It was revealed by US officials that authorities believed the alleged terrorists planned to detonate liquid explosives aboard the aircraft.
When asked if that was possible, Reid told the TV program that it was "relatively simple to make quite an effective bomb" aboard an airplane.
"It is a constant search by the terrorists to find ways around our restrictions, around our surveillance, around our security means, around our airports and other transportation restrictions, in order to try and defeat our counterterrorism and to inflict the sort of damage that we've seen before," Reid said.
also see story:
Inside the Tablighi Jamaat, a UK Islamic group with a mission
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
DENIAL: Musk said that the ‘New York Times was lying their ass off,’ after it reported he used so much drugs that he developed bladder problems Elon Musk on Saturday denied a report that he used ketamine and other drugs extensively last year on the US presidential campaign trail. The New York Times on Friday reported that the billionaire adviser to US President Donald Trump used so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that he developed bladder problems. The newspaper said the world’s richest person also took ecstasy and mushrooms, and traveled with a pill box last year, adding that it was not known whether Musk also took drugs while heading the so-called US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after Trump took power in January. In a
IMBALANCE: In Vietnam, a preference for boys has caused the sex ratio at birth to be 112 boys for every 100 girls, despite penalties for gender selection The number of births in Japan last year fell for the ninth consecutive year, reaching another historical low of fewer than 700,000, government data showed yesterday, as Vietnam, which is also battling to reverse a declining birthrate, scrapped its long-standing policy of limiting families to two children. Fast-aging Japan welcomed 686,061 newborns last year — 41,227 fewer than in 2023, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare data showed. It was the lowest figure since records began in 1899. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has called the situation a “quiet emergency,” pledging family friendly measures such as more flexible working hours to
RSS