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"Britain Raises Security Level to Critical - Another Attack Imminent"; "Eyewitness Reports - One of Car Bombers Fought with Police Shouting Allah Allah" FullosseousFlap

 "Britain Raises Security Level to Critical - Another Attack Imminent";
"Eyewitness Reports - One of Car Bombers Fought with Police Shouting Allah Allah"

ALL CREDIT FOR NEWS, PHOTOS AND UPDATES TO:


FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog


FullosseousFlap’s Comments on the Dental World and More at:
http://flapsblog.com/?p=5213

June 30, 2007

UK Terror Watch: Flaming Car Rams into Glasgow Airport; Update: U.S. Boosting Presence of Security Officials at Airports; Update: Eyewitness Reports - One of Car Bombers Fought with Police Shouting Allah Allah;Britain Raises Security Level to Critical - Another Attack Imminent; Update: Terror Suspect Dies? Or Not?; Update: Glasgow Incident Linked to London Attack Yesterday

*****Scroll Down for Updates*****

A view of the damage after a blazing jeep drove into a terminal building at Glasgow Airport, Scotland. “The police have been called at about 3:15 (pm) (1415 GMT) at Glasgow Airport. A car had crashed inside the terminal. It was on fire,” a police spokeswoman told AFP.

The blazing jeep, moments after the men inside had staggered out

Video of the attack here

2 men in flaming car ram Glasgow Airport

Two men rammed a flaming sport utility vehicle into the main terminal of Glasgow airport Saturday, crashing into the glass doors at the entrance and sparking a fire, witnesses said. Police said two suspects were arrested.

The green SUV barreled toward the building at full speed before crashing into security barriers. Witnesses said two men jumped out, one of them engulfed in flames. Two men were arrested, Strathclyde Police spokeswoman Lisa O’Neil said.

The airport — Scotland’s largest — was evacuated and flights suspended. Smoke and black flames rose from the car in front of the main entrance.

“The Jeep is completely on fire and it exploded not long after. It exploded at the entrance to the terminal,” witness Stephen Clarkson told the BBC. “It may have been an explosion of petrol in the tank because it was not a massive explosion.”

Two men — one of them engulfed in flames — were in the SUV, said BBC News executive Helen Boaden, who was at the airport. She said a traveler tried to restrain the man.
“Then the police came over and wrestled him to the ground — the fire was burning through his clothes — and finally put him out with a fire extinguisher,” she said.

Police won’t say yet whether this was a terrorist attack or a criminal inquiry.

he scene at Glasgow Airport in this image from video Saturday, June 30, 2007. Two men tried to ram a jeep with flames pouring from it into the main terminal of Glasgow airport Saturday, crashing into the glass doors at the entrance and sparking a fire, witnesses said. Police said two people were arrested. The green SUV barreled toward the building at full speed before crashing into security barriers. Witnesses said two men fled the SUV, one of them engulfed in flames. Two men were arrested, Strathclyde Police spokeswoman Lisa O’Neil said.

But, car petrol bombs sounds familiar does it not?

Gas cylinders? “Witnesses said some of the hundreds of people in the area removed gas cylinders from the jeep before it caught fire. But there are reports the men were trying to fling petrol onto the flames.”
Stay tuned……

The outisde of the terminal building in flames after this afternoon’s explosion.

Update 1:16 PM

United States has decided to boost airport security but no change in threat level according to Reuters.

Flaming Car Rams U.K. Airport; 2 Arrests

The car came speeding past at about 30 mph. It was approaching the building quickly,” said Scott Leeson, who was nearby at the time. “Then the driver swerved the car around so he could ram straight in to the door. He must have been trying to smash straight through.”
Two men were arrested, Strathclyde Police spokeswoman Lisa O’Neil said.

Passengers fled running and screaming from the busy terminal, Margaret Hughes told the British Broadcasting Corp. “There was black smoke gushing out where the car had obviously been driven into the airport,” she said.

Flames and black smoke rose from the vehicle outside the main entrance. Police said it was unclear if anyone was injured. Other passengers were stranded, with at least one airplane grounded on the runway, the BBC said.

The incident also comes exactly one week before the second anniversary of the July 7 bombings that killed 52 people.

Leeson said bollards - security posts outside the entrance - stopped the driver from barreling into the bustling terminal at Glasgow’s airport.

“He’s trying to get through the main door frame but the bollards have stopped him from going through. If he’d got through, he’d have killed hundreds, obviously,” he said.

Leeson said only the nose of the vehicle made it inside the building. Richard Grey told the BBC that the vehicle was lodged into the center of the terminal’s main entrance.

“The jeep is completely on fire and it exploded not long after. It exploded at the entrance to the terminal,” witness Stephen Clarkson told the BBC. “It may have been an explosion of petrol in the tank because it was not a massive explosion.”

Two men - one of them engulfed in flames - were in the SUV, witnesses told BBC News executive Helen Boaden, who was at the airport at time. She described the men as South Asian.

Clarkson described him as a large South Asian man. “His whole body was on fire…. He was just talking gibberish,” he told the BBC.

“An Asian guy had been pulled out of the car by two police officers he was trying to fight off and they’d got him on the floor,” Grey told the BBC.

Eyewitness reports yet unconfirmed that the two Asian men where throwing petrol around the car.

Police are searching other cars in the airport looking for car bombs.

Passengers hurry away from Glasgow airport in Scotland, 30 June 2007, after a jeep on fire drove into a terminal building, police said.

Update 1:46 PM

New Prime Minister Gordon Brown to chair emergency security meeting this evening in Britain.

The United States will issue a paper statement shortly on increasing presence of security officials at American Airports.

Sky News: Glasgow situation now being treated as a “TERRORIST INCIDENT.”

Duh……looks like suicide car bombing…..

Update 2:10 PM

BBC: Blazing car crashes into airport

Photo of Glasgow Car Bomber

Man Tackled Driver Video

Eyewitnesses have described a Jeep Cherokee being driven at speed towards the building with flames coming out from underneath.

They have also described seeing two Asian men, one of whom was on fire, who had been in the car.

Strathclyde Police said two people had been arrested and detained in connection with the incident.

Sky News: Hospital where Glasgow car bomb suspect was taken is evacuated.

U.S. tightens security at some airports

Some U.S. airports will tighten security in response to possible terrorist incidents in Britain, the White House said Saturday.

The U.S., however, is not raising its terror alert status, President Bush’s spokesman said. “There is no indication of any specific or credible threat to the United States — no change in the overall security level,” Tony Snow told reporters in Maine.

The Transportation Security Administration has taken steps to raise alertness at some airports, Snow said. More TSA agents will be posted outside some terminals, he said.

“There will be some inconvenience of passengers in terms of longer wait times,” Snow said. Local police also may take separate measures, he added.

A little inconvenience for safety is fine.

Homeland Security will issue a paper statement shortly.

Update 3:13 PM

Sky News: News Presser within the next hour

Eyewitness - one of two men in car fighting with police was shouting “Allah Allah.”

Security level in Britain raised to “CRITICAL” - an another attack imminent.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called a meeting of the government emergencies committee Cobra after a burning car was driven into a Glasgow airport terminal.

Update 3:44 PM

British PM Gordon Brown has just spoken: “It is right to raise the security level at airports and crowded places.”

Update 4:05 PM

New conference at 4:30 PM by British officials on Glasgow incident

CNN: Sources: Terror suspect dies; explosives-filled cars traced to Glasgow

LONDON (CNN) — One of two suspects who crashed a vehicle into an entrance at the Glasgow, Scotland, airport Saturday has died of burns suffered in the incident, sources close to the investigation told CNN.

The vehicle burst into flames after the crash, and the suspect was taken to a hospital.
In addition, authorities have linked the Glasgow incident to the discovery of two explosives-filled cars in London on Friday. Sources told CNN both of those cars have been traced back to Glasgow. (Posted 3:52 p.m.)

Sleeper Terror Cell on the Loose in U.K.

Counter-terrorism analysts estimate that the apparently coordinated attacks in Great Britain are work of a sleeper cell that could include as many as 20 individuals.

“You would need that many to pull off three different vehicle-borne explosions,” said one former CIA official who requested his name not be used.

A massive manhunt is now underway across Great Britain for at least three suspects who officials say have been positively linked to the Friday attacks by surveillance photographs and forensic evidence, including fingerprints.

“The Brits simply are not ahead of this cell and they know it,” he said.

The two failed car bomb attacks in London Friday appear to be connected to today’s attack on the Glasgow Airport terminal, although British officials have yet to declare so officially.

Adding to the intelligence failure, analysts said, is the fact that the driver of one of the failed car bombs had been arrested three years ago and released for lack of evidence.

News Conference coming up……

Update 4:32 PM

John Lennon Airport in Liverpool closed until further notice

Update 4:38 PM

Scottish Police reading a statement:

Two men arrested one taken to Royal Alexandria Hospital - critical condition; suspect device found and hospital was evacuated; device defused; other man detained in police custody; device remains at site; airport evacuated and passengers in airplanes on Tarmack; airport remains closed; unknown when airport resumes normal service; confirms Glasgow incident linked to London incident yesterday; treating it as terrorist incident; no intelligence prior to Glasgow incident; SO-15 involved; raised security level to critical; no intelligence any further incidences of terrorism but asking public to report any suspicious activity to police; asking members of the public to come forward who witnessed incident; the hospital is business as usual; another person injured(l eg), taken to hospital; no other casualties; officers So-15 are jointly investigating matter;

Questions:

Individuals: not appropriate to tell - legal restrictions

Hospital: Device removed and taken to safe place.

Vehicle contained materials that were flammable, close forensic investigation to be undertaken; awaiting clearance from other service to approach vehicle.

Update 4:57 PM

Fox News: Might these two attacks be diversionary attacks, leaving professional Al Qaeda operatives for a greater attack to come?

Police: Suspect in critical condition

(CNN) — Two suspects were arrested after a vehicle crashed into an entrance Saturday at Glasgow International Airport and burst into flames, Glasgow police said.

One was in critical condition at a hospital and had suffered severe burns, said William Rae, chief constable for Strathclyde Police. While the man was being treated at the hospital, he said, a “suspect device” was found and the hospital partially evacuated.

The second person was in custody. Investigators did not know whether another person was in the burned vehicle, which remained at the airport Saturday evening. (Posted 4:58 p.m.)

Stay tuned

The blazing Jeep at the doors of Terminal 1 at Glasgow Airport

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All Brits Should Be Looking For Associates Of These Pictured Bomb Plotters

"In addition to the principal attack of detonating limousines packed with gas cylinders in underground car parks, Barot's plans included setting off a radiation dispersal device and using a petrol tanker to cause an explosion." The Sun Online

The plotters uncovered

 
Dirty Bomb Plotters
 
Caged ... Qaisar Shaffi, Omar Abdur Rehman, Aziz Jalil

 
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FULL NEWS INDEX ›› 
By ONLINE REPORTER
June 15, 2007
 
Mohammed Naveed Bhatti, 27, from Harrow, north London, let al Qaida activist Dhiren Barot - jailed last year for plotting atrocities on both sides of the Atlantic - store crucial material needed to plan the terrorist attacks in the garage of his family home.

A draft of the UK "dirty" bomb plot was found in the deleted section of his computer hard drive and an advert for a job as a tanker driver was also recovered.

In addition to the principal attack of detonating limousines packed with gas cylinders in underground car parks, Barot's plans included setting off a radiation dispersal device and using a petrol tanker to cause an explosion.


Dirty Bomb Plotters
Caged ... Junade Feroze, Mohammed Naveed Bhatti, Zia Ul Haq, Nadeem Tarmohamed

During the time the terror cell was under surveillance in 2004, Bhatti acted as a chauffeur for Barot, whom he met at Friday prayers at Brunel University.

The so-called "computer geek", who had a Masters degree in engineering and was studying for a doctorate, had a false university ID with Barot's photograph on it and a bank card bearing the name of one of Barot's many aliases.

After his arrest, Bhatti tried to commit suicide, and at one point it was thought he might have to be sent to Broadmoor secure hospital, Woolwich Crown Court was told.

The man, described as "peace-loving, shy and withdrawn", was "socially inadequate" and fell "deeply under Barot's influence", said his counsel, Patrick O'Connor QC.

Junade Feroze, 31, who was brought up in Blackburn, Lancashire, by Indian Kashmiri immigrant parents, attended a talk by radical Islamic cleric Abu Hamza and possessed extremist material.

He did not do very well at school and left soon after his GCSEs. He has an intellect below that of an average 12-year-old, the court was told.

At the age of 20 he wed a cousin in Pakistan by arrangement. The couple had a happy marriage and had three children, now aged nine, eight and four.

At 24, Feroze became the English Welterweight Thai Boxing Champion but when his father - an active member of the local Labour Party - died of cancer around the same time he took on a central role in the family garage business.

"This gave him the means to dispose of cars and to obtain both tyres and gas canisters which figure in the plans for attacks both in this country and America," said Johnathan Laidlaw, prosecuting.

Feroze first met Barot at a meeting about Kashmir and the terrorist mastermind was welcomed into the family, the court heard.

During the summer of 2004, Feroze made frequent trips to London and to Luton to visit Barot. He, too, acted as the ringleader's chauffeur and "kept watch" when he was in meetings.

In addition, an application for a Pakistani visa was found at his home with details of a false passport used by Barot.

Feroze's counsel, James Wood QC, told the court that he was a "moderate" Muslim who was used by Barot.

Zia Ul Haq, 28, from Paddington, west London, was an old associate of Barot.

Working for a firm of chartered surveyors in London and with a degree in construction management, his professional expertise made him the obvious choice as Barot's "consultant" - most of the plans involved attacks upon buildings designed to bring about their collapse.

Barot was seen visiting Ul Haq and the men had a two-hour meeting at Brent reservoir.

His fingerprints were found all over bags, documents and disks found in the garage of Bhatti's home.

Ul Haq is also thought to have helped Barot create false identities.

Peter Carter QC said his client was not in Barot's "inner circle" and had, in fact, "turned his back" on him some time before his arrest.

Abdul Aziz Jalil, 34, from Luton, Bedfordshire, rented Barot a "safe house" in London.

False identities, money and material linked to the reconnaissance trips to America were stored there.

Jalil was regularly spotted in Barot's company, driving him around and acting as his "minder" when the ringleader met others.

He used coded messages in internet cafes and his laptop was used to open files discussing the attacks on the US and the UK.

After his arrest in August 2004, his house was searched and a significant amount of material was found showing that he had carried out research into the attacks. It included information on radioactivity, fire and security systems.

His fingerprints were found on a handwritten piece of paper discussing hazardous chemicals.

Copies of Barot's book, The Army Of Madinah In Kashmir, were also found at his homes and he is thought to have considered attending, if not attended, terrorist training camps in Pakistan.

Married Jalil denied going to terror camps. The court was told he had a "meandering lifestyle" and was "nothing like" a second-in-command.

Omar Abdur Rehman, 23, from Bushey, Hertfordshire, took a job at the Ramada Hotel in Watford in the summer of 2004.

Evidence suggested he had been asked by Barot or Jalil to "conduct research into defeating or disabling security and fire detection systems".

He wrote a proposal for the attacks based on his experience of work at the hotel.

When Rehman's home was searched, officers found plans of a security system and the position of security guards. He also had a copy of Barot's book and other extremist Islamic material.

The court heard that on arrest, Rehman was found with two email addresses from which coded emails in the terror cell had been sent.

The youngest defendant, he had a good education attending Christian schools and was studying for a degree in graphic design at the time of his arrest.

His family was "culturally rather than religiously" Muslim and he led a secular existence, the court was told.

But in his late teens he became more interested in his religion and in June 2004 met Barot.

George Carter-Stephenson QC said Rehman wanted to draw attention to the "plight of Muslims" but got "carried away".

Qaisar Shaffi, 28, from Willesden, north west London, was the only member of the terror cell to stand trial.

Several months before 9/11, he accompanied Barot on a reconnaissance trip to the US to view the targets being considered. Among them were the New York Stock Exchange and the IMF building.

Halfway through the trip, in March 2001, Shaffi fell ill and had to return home. But before he left, photographs were taken of likely targets which were used in Barot's US attack plans.

After Shaffi's arrest, police found pages of the Terrorist Handbook at his house which referred to chemicals, explosives and recipes for producing explosions.

He was held at Paddington Green police station and allowed one phone call to his father - which the police overheard - in which he "effectively admitted his part in the terrorist planning".

During a tearful conversation he was heard to say: "Dad, I don't know when I'll be out. I won't be out soon.

"I might not be out for five years, 10 years, 15 years, 20 years, ever, I don't know. Pray for me.

"They know I went to America, they know who I met, they know names and say I know people.

"Dad, pray for me. I'm sorry for what I have done."

Shaffi claimed that he and Barot went sightseeing together on the trip, visiting the World Trade Centre, the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building.

"I found that a bit boring, I told Dhiren it was a bit boring. I didn't want to see buildings," he told the court.

At college, Shaffi went to jungle raves and smoked weed before starting on crack: "Cocaine, women, hotels, I got a taste for it," he said.

He met Barot though his work at Phone City in Wembley, north London.

Shaffi's counsel, Courtenay Griffiths QC, said he abandoned the conspiracy three and a half years before his arrest and he was 22 and "impressionable" at the time.

Nadeem Tarmohamed, 29, from Willesden, north west London, accompanied Barot on both reconnaissance trips to the US, taking Shaffi's place when he fell ill on the second one.

He was very close to his leader, both men holding credit cards on each other's accounts. Barot also mentioned him in a dedication in his book.

Tarmohamed held a computer account that had been used to access or save the plans for attacks on the International Monetary Fund, New York Stock Exchange and Prudential buildings in the US.

When Barot was arrested, he was found with the keys to Tarmohamed's house.

And at Tarmohamed's parents' address a book on remote control systems was found in the bathroom.

His fingerprints were discovered on carrier bags containing books used to carry out the research which were found among the store of Barot's property in Bhatti's garage.

Tarmohamed married when he was at university but the couple had difficulties and he needed counselling and took medication for depression, the court was told.

Barot came across as an "anti-establishment figure", a "quiet, polite, charming, immensely charismatic" man and Tarmohamed confided in him.

"Their relationship was about intimate matters of the heart," his barrister said.

Tarmohamed found it difficult to say no, but after 9/11 he told Barot he did not want to have anything to do with what was going on, Matthew Ryder added.

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All credit to The Sun Online at: http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007270793,00.html
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The Gas Limos Project ( October 2006, London, UK) Revisited

"Dhiren Barot’s key plan, which he called the Gas Limos Project, was to commit mass murder by packing three limousines with propane gas cylinders and explosives and detonating the giant bombs in underground car parks beneath crowded buildings. "

 
  • A HINDU convert to Islam admitted yesterday to plotting to build a radioactive “dirty bomb” and carry out a series of attacks in Britain.

    Dhiren Barot’s key plan, which he called the Gas Limos Project, was to commit mass murder by packing three limousines with propane gas cylinders and explosives and detonating the giant bombs in underground car parks beneath crowded buildings.

    He intended to follow those attacks with a “synchronised” dirty bomb explosion designed to contaminate hundreds of people with radiation sickness and cause nationwide panic.

    Barot, 34, from Willesden, northwest London, also admitted to planning a wave of “no warning” attacks against buildings in the United States, including the headquarters of the World Bank and the New York Stock Exchange.

    He wanted “to kill as many innocent people as possible”, Woolwich Crown Court was told.

    His guilty plea and limited details of his case can be reported only after a joint application by The Times and the BBC to relax reporting restrictions.

    The conviction of Barot, the mastermind of a major conspiracy, is regarded by police and the security services as one of their most significant successes in the fight against Islamist terrorism.

    There was intensive security around the courthouse in southeast London, with armed police inside and outside the building. Everyone entering had to pass through two search points where they and their bags were checked and X-rayed.

    Barot was arrested during a series of anti-terrorist raids in August 2004 and has been held in custody since then at Belmarsh high-security prison.

    Wearing a brown cardigan and open-necked black shirt, Barot appeared relaxed and confident in the dock, taking his own notes of the proceedings on a laptop computer.

    He stood to enter a plea to the first count on an indictment containing 23 charges.

    The clerk of the court read the charge, alleging his involvement in a conspiracy to commit murder conducted between January 2000 and his arrest in August 2004, to which Barot plead guilty.

    Edmund Lawson, QC, for the prosecution, informed Mr Justice Butterfield, the trial judge, of the details of the plea.

    Mr Lawson said that Barot had admitted planning terrorist murders in the US and Britain.

    Many of Barot’s plans for attacks in Britain were written down in notebooks. In one he outlined a “Rough Presentation for Gas Limos Project” which, he wrote, was “the main cornerstone [main target] of a series of planned attacks”.

    Mr Lawson said: “The principal planned attack involved packing three limousines with gas cylinders and explosives then detonating the devices in underground car parks.”

    There were to be three other attacks which, he wrote, would be “synchronized, concurrent [back-to-back]” with the limousine bombs.

    The most important of these was his “Radiation (Dirty Bomb) Project”. Mr Lawson said: “That project was designed to achieve a number of further and collateral objectives such as to cause injury, fear, terror and chaos.”

    Evidence from experts concluded that the dirty bomb would not have caused death but, if constructed to Barot’s plan, would have spread enough radioactive material to make 500 people sick.

    The intention was to create “fear, panic and social disruption”.

    Mr Lawson said the Crown had accepted that the investigation had not found any evidence that Barot had obtained money to finance his plot nor acquired any bombmaking materials or vehicles.

    Mr Lawson said: “The parts of the conspiracy relating to the United States are contained in plans found by the police on computers after his arrest.

    “Those were plans for attacks on the International Monetary Fund and World Bank headquarters in Washington, the New York Stock Exchange and the Citigroup headquarters in New York and the Prudential building in Newark.

    “They were plans to carry out explosions at all those premises with no warning, plainly designed to kill as many innocent people as possible.”

    The judge directed that 12 other charges against Barot — one of conspiracy to commit public nuisance, seven of making a record of information for terrorist purposes and four of possessing a record of information for terrorist purposes — be left on file.

    Mr Lawson said that by admitting his own guilt Barot, who will be sentenced at a later date, “makes no admission with regard to the involvement of any of his seven co-defendants in the conspiracy”.

    They will stand trial next year and deny all allegations against them.

    http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article599982.ece
  • ______________________________________________________________________________________


    Dhiren Barot

    Al-Qaeda Terrorist Operations Planner

    Detained

    Dhiren Barot

    Details
    Importance Medium
    Location of Detention United Kingdom
    Capturing Authority British police
    Date of Capture Aug. 3, 20045
    Location of Capture United Kingdom
    Affiliation Al-Qaeda1
    Role Terrorist Operations Planner1
    Supervisor Khalid Shaikh Mohammed1
    Nationality British3
    Nationality Indian
    Alias(es) Abu Esa al-Britani, Esa al Britani2, Abu Issa al Britani2, Esa al-Hindi2, Issa al-Hindi2, Issa al Britani1
    Rough Age 35
    Date of Birth 19723
    Gender Male
    History Attended training camp in postwar Afghanistan (1990-2001)
    Charged with Conspiracy to use Weapons of Mass Destructions Against Persons in the United States; Conspiracy to Provide Material Support to Terrorists; several others2
    Charging authority United States
    In connection with US financial buildings on orange alert
    Charges issued 2005
    Case status Pending
    Charged with Conspiracy to Commit Mass Murder3,5
    Charging authority United Kingdom
    In connection with US financial buildings on orange alert
    Charges issued Aug. 17, 2004
    Case status Convicted3
    Convictions Conspiracy to Committ Mass Murder3
    Sentence Life imprisonment
    Case resolved Nov. 7, 2006
     
     
    Narrative and Notes
     
    Reliable
  • Also wanted in Yemen.
  • Born Hindu; converted to Islam.
  • In 1999, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed sent him to Hambali in Malaysia for training.
  • In late 2000 and early 2001, KSM sent him to New York to case "Jewish" and economic targets. The plan was not connected to the 9-11 plot.
  • KSM and other detainees acknowledged the surveillance in 2004, prompting a U.S. terror alert that was later criticized because it was several years after the casing had taken place. Barot was detained after the alert was underway.
  • In the United Kingdom, he also plotted to pack limosines with gas cylinders and detonate them in underground parking garages.
  • He also considered employing a dirty bomb, according to prosecutors. He pleaded guilty on Oct. 12, 2006, and was sentenced to life in prison on Nov. 7, 2006.
  • According to London Metropolitan Police:
  • "He wrote detailed documents for attacks in both countries, which were found on computer hard drives following his arrest in August 2004. Handwritten notes referring to chemical mixtures were also recovered.
  • In a written plan titled the Gas Limos Project, which was recovered from a laptop during a counterterrorist operation in Gujurat, Barot wrote about the chaos and pandemonium a bomb exploding on a tube train travelling under the Thames could cause.
  • He wrote: . . . 'imagine the chaos that would be caused if a powerful explosion were to rip through here and actually rupture the river itself. This would cause pandemonium, what with the explosions, flooding, drowning, etc that would occur/result.'
  • Other elements of the 'Gas Limos Project' were recovered in the UK following his arrest in August 2004. It had been completed in the aftermath of the Madrid bombings and proposed a series of co-ordinated attacks to be launched in this country.
  • Various methods of attack, including packing limousines with explosives and driving them into underground car parks, arson and aeroplanes flown into buildings, were considered in it.
  • Detailed plans including organisation structures and business histories of some of Barot's American targets - Citigroup, Prudential, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the New York Stock Exhange - were among other documents found on computers."1,3,4
  •  
    Possible
  • According to Hambali, Barot provided him with two addresses, one in the United States, possibly California, and another in South Africa as potential contacts. Hambali claims to have never contacted the and forgotten them.1
  •  
     
    Sources
    1 The 9-11 Commission Report. July 22, 2004. Chapter 5.1.
    2 United States vs. Dhiren Barot, et. al., indictment.
    3 Lawless, Jill. 'Brit pleads guilty in plot to bomb U.S. sites.' The Associated Press: Oct. 13, 2006.
    4 U.K. Metropolitan police press release, 'Terrorist jailed for life for conspiracy to murder in the UK and US.' Nov. 12, 2006.
    5 Mintz, John and Kamran Khan. "Britain charges 8 in alleged terror plot." The Washington Post: Aug. 18, 2004.
    Photo: U.K. Metropolitan Police
    All credit to: original context on the page: www.globalsecurity.org/.../dhiren_barot.htm
    and
    http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.globalsecurity.org/security/profiles/images/dhiren_barot_1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.globalsecurity.org/security/profiles/dhiren_barot.htm&h=240&w=180&sz=8&hl=en&start=5&um=1&tbnid=QE9H7eG2j25qeM:&tbnh=110&tbnw=83&prev=/images%3Fq%3DDhiren%2BBarot%2Band%2Bthe%2BGas%2BLimos%2BProject.%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den
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    "Car Bomb Would Have Caused Huge Fireball" London Times Online

    "In addition to the power of the explosion and the shrapnel, you would get a fireball the size of a small house.” ______________________________________________________________________________________
    June 29, 2007

    Car bomb would have caused huge fireball

    Picture of propane cylinder at the back of the Mercedes

    Picture of propane cylinder at the back of the Mercedes

    The “patio gas” bomb defused in Haymarket would have generated a fireball the size of a house and a shock wave spreading out over a diameter of at least 400 yards, explosives experts said today.

    The propane cylinders and petrol used in the device would have triggered a huge conflagration, as well as causing shrapnel and blast injuries from the exploding car chassis and the nails packed around the bomb, according to Hans Michels, Professor of Safety Engineering at Imperial College, London.

    Just one 13kg propane canister — the type sold by Calor under the brand name “Patio Gas” — would release a highly flammable cloud of vapour that would spread over an area of 50 to 60 cubic metres before igniting into a still larger fireball, he said.

    “The vapour cloud from one cylinder would fill the order of a big room, and when it ignited the effect would be even bigger,” Professor Michels said. “In addition to the power of the explosion and the shrapnel, you would get a fireball the size of a small house.”

    As several propane or butane cylinders were recovered, the volume of the fireball would have been greater still, though it is impossible to calculate the size without knowing how much gas would have been involved.

    Professor Michels, who has been an expert witness in explosives trials, said that although the police did not say whether high explosives were found in the car, another charge would probably have been used to ignite the petrol and gas.

    An initiator such as triacetone triperoxide or TATP could have been used to detonate a main charge, such as the flour and hydrogen peroxide mixture allegedly used in the failed attacks of July 21, 2005. This would have blown up the car, scattering nails and shrapnel, as well as igniting the petrol and puncturing the gas cylinders.

    The gas-fuelled fireball would have followed, though the timing of ignition would have affected the ultimate extent of the blast. It is possible that the petrol was intended as the main charge, but if so this would have resulted in a smaller explosion than if high explosive had been used.

    The original explosion would have had to be large to penetrate the propane canisters, which are designed to withstand high-speed traffic accidents and fires.

    Professor Michels said: “It is almost certain that the explosive device itself would have been sufficiently powerful not to just fragment the gas cylinders, but to destroy the car and possibly the front of buildings, with missiles, shrapnel, nails and burning petrol flung at very high velocity in the wake of the shock wave and the whole surrounded by a massive fireball resulting from the instantly evaporated and exploded propane and/or butane.

    “It is also likely that the source of ignition and the explosive that should have set off the device was of the home made type, consisting of household materials now most commonly used by terrorists.”

    Other experts suggested that the total blast could have been bigger still, depending on how many propane cylinders ignited and on whether high explosive was also used.

    Andy Oppenheimer, editor of Nuclear, Biological and Chemical International, said the blast radius could have been anything from 200 years to half a mile. “It would have been a devastating explosion,” he said.

    “With that amount of petrol and an unknown quantity of pressurised gas, the blast would have been about 200 yards. If high explosive was involved, the blast could have reached half a mile.

    “Hundreds of people could have been injured if they had been in the area at the time. The knock-on effects of breaking glass are particularly devastating, for example.

    “This would have been an explosion on the scale of those seen in the Middle East, although not as big as some that have been seen in Baghdad recently.”

    The recovery of the intact bomb will also help forensic scientists to trace the bomb-makers, Professor Michels said. Propane cylinders carry a serial number which can be used to find the point of sale, and isotopic analysis could be used to trace any flour used in the main explosive charge.

    Propane cylinders contain liquified propane, a volatile hydrocarbon, which would rapidly be transformed into a gas occupying 200 to 400 times the volume when released. This would mix with between 15 and 20 times that volume of air to produce an inflammable vapour cloud.

    Brian Baker, director of the Association For Petroleum And Explosives Administration, said: “Propane is liquefied petroleum gas and patio heater gas is usually 97 per cent propane. Cylinders of this type of gas are readily available to the public and can be bought in places such as petrol stations and iron monger in particular.

    “Propane is heavier than air when released, highly flammable and easy to ignite. When released in to the atmosphere and only a small amount is a required to cause an explosive condition and this is worse in a confined space when subject to an ignition source. Its explosive properties mean that 10 litres of the gas is equivalent to 2770 litres of flammable gas and air mix. There are controls on using this type of gas and this is why the industry gives lots of safety advice about use.”

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