The 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot was a terrorist plot to detonate liquid explosives carried on board at least 10 airliners travelling from the United Kingdom to the United States and Canada.^[1] The plot was discovered and foiled by British police before it could be carried out and, as a result, unprecedented security measures were immediately put in place.

The restrictions were gradually relaxed in the following weeks, but the ability of passengers to carry liquids onto commercial aircraft is still limited.

Of the approximately 24 suspects who were arrested in and around London on the night of 9 August 2006, eleven were charged with terrorism offenses on 21 August, two on 25 August (subsequently discharged on 1 November), and a further three on 30 August. Eight men (Ahmed Abdullah Ali, Assad Sarwar, Tanvir Hussain, Oliver Savant, Arafat Khan, Waheed Zaman, Umar Islam, Mohammed Gulzar) were charged in connection with the plot. The trial began in April 2008 and ended in September. The jury failed to reach a verdict on charges of conspiracy to kill by blowing up aircraft, but the court did find three guilty of conspiracy to murder. In September 2009, a second trial (of the eight men excluding Gulzar but with the addition of Donald Stewart-Whyte) found Ali, Sarwar, and Hussain guilty of the plot.^[2]

In July 2010, Ibrahim Savant, Arafat Khan and Waheed Zaman were found guilty at Woolwich Crown Court and sentenced to life in prison for conspiracy to murder. They must serve a minimum of 20 years in prison before being eligible for release.^[3]

 

Surveillance

In Pakistan, a British man from Birmingham named Rashid Rauf is believed to have put plotters in touch with al-Qaeda's leadership.^[4] When Ahmed Ali, who was under police surveillance, returned from Pakistan in June 2006, investigators secretly opened his baggage. Inside they found a powdered soft drink—Tang—and a large number of batteries. It was enough to raise suspicions and in the following weeks, the police mounted the UK's largest surveillance operation, calling on an additional 220 officers from other forces.

Assad Sarwar (from High Wycombe) was seen buying items that did not appear to fit with his daily needs, and which may have had a potentially deadly context. On one occasion, surveillance officers watched him dispose of empty hydrogen peroxide bottles at a recycling centre. Sarwar and Ali were seen meeting in an east London park. When MI5 covertly entered a flat being used by Ali, they found what appeared to be a bomb factory. They left behind a camera and microphone, and on 3 August Ali and Tanvir Husain were seen constructing devices out of drink bottles. Surveillance officers watched Ali spend two hours in an internet cafe researching flight timetables.^[5]

 

Arrests

On 10 August 2006, British police arrested 25 suspects. The arrests were made in London, Birmingham, and High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, in an overnight operation. Two of the arrests were made in the Birmingham area, where firearms officers were not involved, and five were made in High Wycombe.^[6] The key suspects were British-born Muslims, some of Pakistani descent.^[7][8][9] Three of the suspects were recent converts to Islam.^[10]

Nineteen of the suspects had their finances frozen. Seventeen of the suspects were later charged with conspiracy to murder and commit acts of terrorism or failing to disclose information about acts of terrorism. Eight of the suspects were released without charge. Another seven suspects were arrested in Pakistan on charges related to the alleged plot.

Police said they had been observing this plot for months, and that the "investigation reached a critical point last night (9 August 2006) when the decision was made to take urgent action in order to disrupt what we believe was being planned."^[11] An undercover British agent had infiltrated the group, according to American government sources.^[12] According to Franco Frattini, the European Commissioner for Justice, Freedom & Security, "the plotters received a very short message to 'Go now'."^[13] However, it was not clear when the attacks were supposed to have been launched, and the New York Times has since reported that the plans were at an earlier stage than was initially stated.^[13]

British authorities carried out a total of 69 searches of residences, businesses, vehicles and open spaces, which have netted bomb-making equipment and chemicals such as hydrogen peroxide, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke said on 21 August. "As well as the bomb-making equipment, we have found more than 400 computers, 200 mobile telephones and 8,000 items of removable storage media such as memory sticks, CDs and DVDs," he said. "So far, from the computers alone, we have removed some 6,000 gigabytes of data." It will take "many months" for investigators to analyse all of the data, he said.^[14] Police said they found a list of flights on a memory stick belonging to Mr. Ali following his arrest. The memory stick allegedly listed scheduled flights from three carriers – American Airlines, United Airlines and Air Canada.^[15]

 

Disagreement over when to make the arrests

NBC News reported disagreement between the United States and Britain over when to make the arrests. According to NBC News, a senior British official contended that an attack was not imminent, noting that the suspects had not yet purchased airline tickets and some did not even have passports; he urged that the investigation continue to collect more evidence. The report noted that this official's statement was contrary to statements by other British officials previously reported in the press.^[16]

The same source also told NBC News that the United States had threatened to use extraordinary rendition upon suspected ringleader Rashid Rauf in Pakistan, or to pressure the Pakistan government to arrest him, if he were not immediately taken into custody. A United States official acknowledged this disagreement over the timing of arrests and that a British official believed that an attack was not imminent. However, Frances Townsend, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security, denied the report of a dispute: "There was no disagreement between US and UK officials."^[16]

In Ron Suskind's The Way of the World (2008), Dick Cheney is reported to have "ordered" the arrest of Rauf in Pakistan in August 2006, apparently with a view to providing good news ahead of the US 2006 mid-term elections.^[17]

 

The alleged plot

 

Responsibility

Paul Beaver, a British terrorism expert, has said that it appears possible that the militant Islamic organisation al-Qaeda was behind the plot, which comes only weeks after the group threatened to attack British aviation.^[18] DHS Secretary Chertoff stated the plot was "getting close to the execution phase", and that it was "suggestive of an al-Qaeda plot".^[19]

 

Liquid explosives

The alleged plotters allegedly planned to use peroxide-based liquid explosives.^[9] US authorities named two peroxides that could be used: acetone peroxide (TATP) and hexamethylene triperoxide diamine (HMTD). These "are sensitive to heat, shock, and friction, can be initiated simply with fire or electrical charge, and can also be used to produce improvised detonators."^[20][21] According to The Guardian, police sources have confirmed that the plot involved TATP.^[22] According to the New York Times, the plotters wanted to use HMTD.^[13]

During the trial of the conspirators the prosecution stated that each alleged bomber would board a plane with the "necessary ingredients and equipment". They would then construct the devices mid-flight and detonate them. The alleged bombs would involve 500 ml plastic bottles of the Oasis and Lucozade soft drinks. A sugary drink powder, Tang, would be mixed with hydrogen peroxide, which is widely available in the form of hair bleach, and with other organic materials. Hydrogen peroxide and the other ingredients can become explosive if mixed to a specific strength. The mixture would be injected into a bottle with the help of a syringe. The bottle's cap would not have been removed and the hole would have been resealed. The use of liquid explosives with dissolved powder is similar to the composition used in the 21 July 2005 London bombings, using hydrogen peroxide and Chapatti flour, detonated by a booster explosive.^[23]

A second substance, a type of high explosive, would be hidden within an AA battery to form the small charge required to detonate the main bomb. The charge would be detonated by linking the bottle of explosives to a light bulb and a disposable camera. The charge from the camera's flash unit would be enough to trigger the explosion.^[15]

On 28 August 2006, the New York Times reported that seven martyrdom tapes made by six suspects were recovered.^[13] This was confirmed by prosecution during the subsequent trial.^[24]

 

Flights targeted

The court reviewing the case heard from prosecutors that the suspects did not restrict themselves to the following flights; the prosecutors said that the suspects talked about including 18 suicide bombers and that they examined Denver, Boston, and Miami as destinations to target.^[25]

 

Pakistan's role

Initial reactions praised Pakistan's assistance in stopping the plot before its execution. However, later press reports have questioned Pakistan's claimed commitment to the War on Terrorism.^[27][28][29]

Other press reports that the alleged bombers were funded by "charities" intended to help victims of the 2005 Kashmir earthquake.^[30] The FBI and Scotland Yard investigated links to militants and the flow of money to the conspirators.^[31] Pakistan and international press also reported that Rashid Rauf, the key player in the plot, had links with the Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Kashmir militant group banned by several countries.^[32][33] Media reports state that he has close family ties to Maulana Masood Azhar, one of the most wanted criminals in India.^[34]

In Pakistan, law enforcement authorities continued to interrogate Rashid Rauf, a Briton of Pakistani descent, over his alleged key role in the plot. Pakistani Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao said British police were conducting inquiries in Pakistan but were not involved in questioning Rauf.^[14] The UK Foreign Office sought Rauf's extradition from Pakistan, and it was reported that Pakistan plans to accept the request.^[35] However, in mid-December 2006, terrorism charges against Rauf were dropped by a Pakistani judge, who ruled there was a lack of evidence. Rauf's case was transferred from a terrorism court to a regular court where he faced lesser charges including forgery.^[36] The charges were later dropped, and Rauf was reported killed in a US drone attack in Pakistan in November 2008.

 

Political reaction

Prior to the arrests, the plot was discussed at a high level of government, with then Prime Minister Tony Blair knowing about it for months, and alerting President George W. Bush to the investigation on Sunday 6 August 2006.^[37]

On 9 August, hours before the arrests, the then Home Secretary John Reid gave a major speech to Demos (a British think-tank) hinting at a new round of anti-terror legislation and claiming that the country was facing "probably the most sustained period of severe threat since the end of the second world war".^[38] The following day Reid broke the news along with Douglas Alexander, the Transport Secretary.^[39]

 

Public announcement

On 10 August 2006 the Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Paul Stephenson, said that the plot, aimed to destroy as many as ten aircraft in mid-flight from the United Kingdom to the United States, using explosives brought on board in the suspects' hand luggage, was disrupted.^[9] News media reported that planned targets included American Airlines, British Airways, Continental Airlines, and United Airlines flights from London Heathrow and London Gatwick airports to Chicago, Illinois; Los Angeles; Miami; Orlando, Florida; Boston; Newark, New Jersey; New York City; San Francisco; Cleveland, Ohio and Washington, D.C.^[40] Air Canada flights were also included, with destinations being Montreal and Toronto. BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera said the plot involved a series of simultaneous attacks, targeting three planes each time.^[9] Reports vary regarding the number of planes involved, ranging from three to twelve.^[41][42] In a press release, the United States Secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, said "multiple commercial aircraft" were targeted.^[43] Some reports say the attacks were planned for 16 August, but police say no evidence specifying the date has been found.^[44][45] British officials have since stated that the estimate of ten aircraft was "speculative and exaggerated."^[13]

In the United States, the announcement was made during a joint press conference by the head of the Department of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, the Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, and the Director of the FBI Robert Mueller. Chertoff refused to be drawn on questions about the design of the devices or whether any bombs had actually been built.^[43]

On the same day, President George Bush commented upon arrival in Wisconsin: "The recent arrests that our fellow citizens are now learning about are a stark reminder that this nation is at war with Islamic fascists who will use any means to destroy those of us who love freedom, to hurt our nation."^[46]

 

Responses

• On 12 August, British Muslim groups sent an open letter to the Prime Minister, stating that "current British government policy risks putting civilians at increased risk both in the UK and abroad."^[47] Many such groups and even certain sectors of UK government^[48] have suggested that (among other factors) the foreign policy position of the United Kingdom in places such as Palestine, Lebanon, Afghanistan and Iraq is to a large extent responsible for the increasing radicalisation of young Muslims in the UK, thus promoting the possibility of actions like the 7 July 2005 London bombings. The letter also states "Attacking civilians is never justified", and encourages the UK to reassess its foreign policy in order to maintain the safety of individuals both in the UK and abroad. In interviews with the BBC, John Reid described the letter as "a dreadful misjudgement", and former Conservative leader Michael Howard described it as "a form of blackmail".^[49]
• Prime Minister Tony Blair was on holiday during these events, but decided not to return to Britain. Blair had been notified of the raid prior to its occurrence, and kept in constant contact with officials. He briefed President George W. Bush about the raid overnight.^[50]
• Britain's Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, nominally running the UK government during Tony Blair's holiday, paid tribute to the way the UK reacted to what he called an "extraordinary past 36 hours… in the efforts to protect this country". He expressed his "deepest appreciation" to the "real dedication" shown by security services, police, transport staff and aviation companies and praised Home Secretary Dr John Reid and Transport Secretary Douglas Alexander. Prescott added that the British public had acted "calmly, sensitively and with great patience."^[51]

 

Skeptical responses to the arrests

Several commentators expressed scepticism over the allegations.^[52][53][54] Many mentioned the Forest Gate raid, the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes and the Iraq War, all based on intelligence that turned out to be wrong, as reasons for their doubts.^[55][56] Muslim sections of the British population were also reportedly sceptical that the plot was carried out by other Muslims.^[57]

Former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan Craig Murray was sceptical of the account of the plot. He based his criticism on the facts that "None of the alleged terrorists had made a bomb. None had bought a plane ticket. Many did not have passports." He also suggested that suspected ringleader Rashid Rauf invented the plot under torture in Pakistan.^[58]

The Register ran a story on the practicalities of producing TATP on board an airplane from constituent liquids and concluded that, while theoretically possible, the chances of success would be extremely low. Although following additional details revealed at the trial The Register wrote that the plot and bombing method chosen was viable ^[59]

On 18 September, retired Lieutenant-Colonel Nigel Wylde, a former senior British Army Intelligence Officer with decades of anti-terror and explosives experience, declared the plot to be "fiction". He said the explosives in question could not possibly have been produced on the plane. "So who came up with the idea that a bomb could be made on board? Not Al Qaeda for sure. It would not work. Bin Laden is interested in success not deterrence by failure," Wylde stated. He further suggested that the plot was an invention of the UK security services in order to justify wide-ranging new security measures that threaten to permanently curtail civil liberties and to suspend sections of the Human Rights Act of 1998.^[60] Due to the mountain of evidence, including forensic material, he expected the men to face "a very long trial of (between) five and eight months."^[61]