US boosts air security after bomb plot foiled

By Deborah Charles

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. government raised the
security alert on passenger planes and barred air travelers
from carrying liquids on Thursday after Britain said it foiled
a plot to blow up flights to the United States.

The White House said the foiled plot was a “direct threat”
to the United States. “This was a serious threat to our country
and the UK,” White House spokesman Tony Snow said in a
statement.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said al Qaeda
could be behind the plot.

“While this operation was centered in Great Britain, it was
sophisticated, it had a lot of members and it was international
in scope,” he told a news conference.

“This operation is in some respects suggestive of an al
Qaeda plot, but because the investigation is still under way,
we cannot yet form a definitive conclusion. We’re going to wait
until all the facts are in.”

He said the United States was sending air marshals to
Britain to expand security coverage to prevent efforts to blow
up flights to the United States.

FBI Director Robert Mueller said there was no evidence any
of the plotting took place within the United States, which was
the center of planning, preparation and execution of the
September 11 hijacked plane attacks on New York and Washington
that killed almost 3,000 people.

President George W. Bush had known about the investigation
for several days, was briefed about it regularly and knew the
arrests were coming, a senior administration official said. He
said the decision to move to a red alert was closely
coordinated between the two countries.

The Department of Homeland Security said it took the
unprecedented step of raising the threat level for commercial
flights originating in the United Kingdom to “severe” or red,
its highest level.

The threat level for all other commercial aircraft
operating in or destined for the United States would be raised
to “high,” or orange, from “elevated,” or yellow, Chertoff said
in a statement.

Britain said the plot may have involved a “liquid chemical”
device, and U.S. Homeland Security barred passengers from
carrying liquids, including beverages, hair gels and lotions,
aboard planes.

Canada said it had increased airport security in
coordination with the United States and Britain, banning
passengers from bringing gels and liquids on all flights and
stepping up screening.

Chertoff told the news conference the plot was in the final
planning stages. He added that he considered U.S. air travel
safe following the extraordinary precautions taken on both
sides of the Atlantic.

A U.S. intelligence official said authorities believe the
plot involved sophisticated explosives in liquid or gel form
that were to have been carried on to aircraft, with battery
triggers possibly stored in clocks, laptops or calculators.

The threat level for the country as a whole remained at
yellow, according to the department’s Web site.

A U.S. official who asked not to be further identified said
United Airlines, Continental Airlines and American Airlines
flights between Britain and the United States had been
specifically targeted for attack.

U.S. airports reported long lines.

(Additional reporting by Todd Eastham, David Morgan in
Washington, Abha Bhattarai in New York, Scott Malone in Boston)