UK cops find bomb-making equipment

LONDON: A suitcase filled with bomb-making material has been found by British police officers investigating an alleged terrorist plot to blow up US-bound passenger jets using liquid explosives.

The suitcase, containing chemicals and other equipment for a home-made bomb, was found in woods in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, close to addresses at which the 23 suspects in the plot were arrested last week.

A police source said the suitcase contained everything that would be needed to make an explosive device. This could include materials for creating an explosive, methods of concealment and a simple way of detonating the bomb.

The suitcase is now being examined by forensic scientists and explosive experts, ‘The Times daily’ reported. A news blackout has surrounded the aftermath of the arrests last week, even as detectives continued to question the suspects at two London police stations.

The discovery of the suitcase was made by specialist search units, which have been scouring King’s Wood for nearly a week in search of evidence of the conspiracy.

The searches are expected to continue for up to six weeks. Quoting police sources the newspaper said the plot by Islamic extremists would have involved a version of tracetone triperoxide (TATP), which was used for July 7, ’05 bombings that killed 52 people on the London transport system.

The plot is thought to have involved taking several liquids or a jell form of explosive on board flights with other material and then assembling a bomb in the aircraft lavatories.

Meanwhile, Metropolitan Police officers and Treasury officials have begun an international hunt for the money trail behind the plot. About 600 foreign banks with branches in Britain have been told to look for cash and accounts linked to the 19 names of suspects released by the Treasury last week.

The Bank of England confirmed that the note sent out on behalf of the Treasury asking financial institutions to freeze assets, owned by the suspects, also applied to foreign banks operating in Britain. London is a major centre, not only for domestic banking but also for many Middle Eastern banks.

The alert is the latest counter-terrorist action by the bank, which began intervening in the banking system after the September 11, ’01 terror strikes on the US, as part of a global drive to stop the al-Qaeda networks funding their operations through normal banking channels.

Pakistani investigators say they believe that a large sum of money was transferred from Pakistan to finance the plot. A senior official told the newspaper that they are investigating the channels through which the funds could have been transferred.

Rashid Rauf, 25, from Birmingham, who is being held by Pakistan as a suspected key planner, is being questioned about possible terrorist financing. One channel could have been the underground system known as ‘hawala’ banking, an informal method of transferring cash, which operates by word of mouth between trusted traders.

The financial investigation unit set up within SO13, the Anti-Terrorist Branch, is likely to be looking for any links between the alleged plotters, Pakistan and the money transfer system.