Is this a government put up job??

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/article2723248.ece

London on the edge
Chaos in the capital after police prevent massive car-bomb attacks on packed
West End nightclubs
By Cahal Milmo, Kim Sengupta and Nigel Morris
Published: 30 June 2007
A massive manhunt was under way last night for a terrorist cell after an attempt
to explode a car bomb outside a packed London nightclub was thwarted by chance.
Counter-terrorism detectives were scouring hundreds of hours of CCTV footage to
track the driver of a 10-year-old Mercedes abandoned in the West End early
yesterday, which contained a device capable of killing and maiming hundreds.

Last night police confirmed that a second device had been found in a car which
had been towed to an underground car pound on Park Lane. Whitehall sources said
that the gas and fuel bombs were to have been set off using mobile phones
attached to detonators.

The first known attempts to bring Islamist tactics used in Iraq to Britain, by
exploding a vehicle bomb to cause maximum casualties, cast a pall over Gordon
Brown's second day as Prime Minister. Mr Brown said the attacks showed that the
UK faces a "serious and continuous threat" from terrorism.

Scotland Yard said that if the car parked outside the Tiger Tiger nightclub in
Haymarket, where 800 people were partying, had exploded it would have caused
carnage. The bomb - made with propane gas bottles used in patio heaters, 60
litres of petrol and large quantities of nails - was spotted shortly after 1am
by an ambulancecrew attending an unconnected incident. It was defused by a
police explosives expert who disconnected the mobile phone trigger.

Two mobile phones, one to serve as a back-up, were found in the saloon car in a
chilling reminder of the Madrid train bombings in 2004, which claimed 191 lives
using bombs triggered by mobile phones.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, the head of the Yard's
counter-terrorism command, said: "It is obvious that if the device had detonated
there could have been significant injury or loss of life."

Police confirmed last night that the second car, a blue Mercedes 280, also
contained a large amount of petrol and nails. Mr Clarke said it had been issued
with a parking ticket on Cockspur Street at 2.30am on Friday, near the Thai
Square nightclub. It was towed to the compound on Park Lane an hour later. He
said: "The vehicles are clearly linked. The discovery of what appears to be a
second bomb is obviously troubling and reinforces the need for the public to be
alert."

Haymarket and a large chunk of the West End remained closed off last night as
police continued to scour the area. The operation, including the searches of the
second Mercedes and another suspicious vehicle in Fleet Street brought traffic
to a standstill in parts of London.

Mr Clarke insisted officers were keeping an open mind about whether Tiger Tiger
was the intended target of the attack and who was behind it. But Islamists with
links to al-Qa'ida in Pakistan or Iraq are the prime suspects amid concern that
further attacks may be planned. A Whitehall source said: "This bombing appears
to have been stopped almost by accident but we must be vigilant for further
incidents."

Mr Brown was woken on his second morning as Prime Minister with news of the
failed attack and its aftermath overshadowed the unveiling of the junior ranks
of his administration and a planned discussion in Cabinet on constitutional
reform.

Jacqui Smith, the new Home Secretary, who was told of the incident in the early
hours, said: "We are facing the most serious and sustained threat to our
security from international terrorism. This latest incident reinforces the need
for the public to remain vigilant and alert to the threat that we face at all
times."

If it is confirmed that Islamist terrorists are behind the attack, it will be
the first time that an apparently viable car bomb has been deployed in the UK by
Muslim fundamentalists. The attack has parallels with two other known terrorist
plots in Britain, including one to explode limousines packed with gas cylinders
in underground car parks.

Last month, police confirmed they were carrying out checks on large vehicles
including petrol and chemical tankers. Sir Ian Blair, the Commissioner of the
Metropolitan Police, said earlier this year: "Vehicle-borne weaponry is the
greatest danger that we can face."

Security sources said further attacks were a "possibility" as searches were
conducted across London. It is understood that a description of the driver
obtained from the hundreds of CCTV cameras in central London was being
circulated.

Senior officers confirmed that the failure of Thursday night's assaults were
largely a matter of good fortune. An ambulance crew had been called at 1.25am to
the Tiger Tiger, a nightclub with bars and restaurants over four floors, to
treat a man with a minor head wound. One member of the crew spotted what he
thought was smoke inside the light green Mercedes, which was parked outside the
entrance to the club with its headlights left on.

It is thought that the "smoke" was in fact vapour from the petrol in plastic
containers stored on the back seat and in the boot of the Mercedes. The car also
contained an unspecified number of readily available gas cylinders, including at
least one 18kg "patio gas" propane cylinder. Large quantities of nails, nuts and
bolts also surrounded the charge.

The area was rapidly evacuated before a police explosives team moved in using a
remote control robot. Mr Clarke described as "heroic" the actions of the member
of the team who defused the device.


--
"An Injustice To One Man, Woman or Child
Threatens Justice To All People Equally"
-Dean Tong


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