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Aug. 10 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. police foiled a plot to blow up airliners bound for the U.S. in a series of terrorist bombings the government said might have been deadlier than the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
U.K. authorities arrested 21 people during the night, Deputy Metropolitan Police Commissioner Paul Stephenson said today. The attacks were aimed at United Airlines, American Airlines and Continental Airlines planes, the Associated Press reported, citing unidentified U.S. counter-terrorism officials in Washington. Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, canceled incoming flights and air traffic was disrupted throughout the region.
``Had this plot been carried out, the loss of life to civilians would have been on an unprecedented scale,'' U.K. Home Secretary John Reid said at a press conference. ``We are involved in a very long, wide and deep struggle against very evil people.''
The U.S. and U.K. raised their terror alerts to the highest level. U.K. authorities have arrested 1,000 people since 2000 on suspicion of involvement in terrorism and Reid said the country is facing its most sustained period of threat since World War II.
Airports were instructed not to permit hand baggage aboard flights, the U.K. Department of Transport said. The attackers had planned to smuggle bombs in hand luggage, the police said.
The plotters intended to blow up planes in multiple explosions, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said, and they may have planned to mix liquid explosives. The plot was suggestive of al-Qaeda, he said a news conference in Washington.
`Global Dimensions'
European stocks slumped, heading for their steepest drop in a month, and U.S. stock-index futures declined. Continental Airlines Inc., the fourth-largest U.S. carrier, tumbled $1.81 to $22.40 in early trading. AMR Corp., owner of American Airlines, lost 83 cents to $19.46. British Airways stock dropped as much as 6.4 percent to 365 pence ($6.93) in London. The pound also fell.
Oil dropped on expectations of a decline in air travel, with the price of a barrel of crude for September delivery down as much as $1.05, or 1.4 percent, to $75.30 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The plot had ``global dimensions,'' Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke said. U.K. police decided last night that ``urgent'' action was needed to thwart a plot to blow up the aircraft after officers conducted an ``unprecedented'' amount of surveillance, the top anti-terrorism official said. Reid said the police were confident that they had arrested the ``main players.''
Alert Raised
Britain raised its terror alert to ``critical,'' the highest category in a five-point scale, indicating an attack is expected ``imminently,'' according to the Home Office Web site. Prime Minister Tony Blair is ``in constant contact'' with the situation in the U.K. and briefed U.S. President George W. Bush overnight, a spokeswoman said.
The U.S. raised the threat level for flights from the U.K., to ``severe,'' or ``red,'' the highest in a five-step scale, Chertoff said. The security level for other flights to or within the U.S. was raised to orange, or high, the second level.
``Currently, there is no indication, however, of plotting within the United States,'' Chertoff said.
The pound fell the most in more than three weeks against the dollar and traded at $1.9022 at 2:09 p.m. in London. The benchmark FTSE 100 stock index fell as much as 1.8 percent to 5752.60 points. U.K. bonds rose, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year gilt falling 3 basis points to 4.65 percent.
Airline Attacks
The plot comes almost five years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the U.S., when hijackers flew planes into New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington, killing almost 3,000 people. A U.K. parliamentary committee said in May that an unspecified number of terrorist attacks had been thwarted in Britain since then, including three following last year's suicide bombings on London's public transport system.
The Sept. 11 attacks weren't the first to target several airplanes. Philippine police foiled a 1995 plot by terrorists to blow up a dozen U.S. jets. Ramzi Yousef, nephew of alleged Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, was convicted for that plot in 1996, and in 1997 was found guilty of masterminding a 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center that killed six people.
Four suicide bombers on July 7, 2005, killed themselves and 52 other people on three London Underground subway trains and a bus in the capital's deadliest terrorist attack. Of those arrested in the U.K. since 2000, 154 have been charged and 60 are awaiting trial, Reid said in a speech yesterday.
Iraq, Afghanistan
Britain has 12,500 troops deployed in military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, a source of anger among some of Britain's 1.6 million Muslims. A committee of lawmakers today said those forces were overstretched and needed more planes, trucks and helicopters to defend themselves from attack.
Reid held meetings of Cobra, a U.K. emergency committee that deals with national crises, during the night and again at 5 a.m. in the morning, a spokeswoman for the Home Office said in a telephone interview. Police acted together with the MI5 domestic intelligence service.
Blair, on holiday in the Caribbean, is already under pressure from some members of his Labour Party to recall Parliament for a debate on the Middle East.
Cabinet ministers including Jack Straw, who manages government business in the House of Commons, have criticized Blair's reluctance to deplore Israel's attacks against Lebanon. Blair and Bush instead have emphasized Israel's right to defend itself against terrorist attacks.
Heathrow Chaos
BAA Plc, which operates Heathrow airport, said passengers should be prepared for ``long delays.'' The Department of Transport said travel documents, pocket-sized wallets, purses and items such as baby food, contact lenses and some medications, are permitted on flights, while handbags, cell-phones, laptops and media players must be checked in.
At London's Heathrow airport, traffic lanes were closed directly in front of terminals, and police officers with dogs patrolled the check-in area. Sniffer dogs also checked travelers at London's Victoria Station bound for Gatwick Airport.
Lines in front of check-in desks stretched to hundreds of people and fast-track security procedures for business and first- class passengers were canceled.
``Today we have some very severe delays at all of our airports,'' BAA CEO Stephen Nelson said at a press conference today. ``All of our airports are open for business. Travelers are facing very severe congestion. Heathrow is not taking inbound short-haul flights. Flights are leaving. Stansted and Gatwick are very congested. We have planes that are parked-up, backed up.''
Airline staff handed passengers instructions on what items they must check in. Travelers were given clear plastic bags to place documents and other permitted items in. Passengers were also advised that all flights are subject to lengthy delays or cancellation. Self-service check-ins were canceled.
