Professional 'Terror Scouts' faking terror round the world

[Mark Gobell]

Richard Norton-Taylor ? Shame on you.

UK airports on alert after dummy bomb runs warning

Security 'periodically being tested' by scouts who have targeted the regions, counter-terrorism officials have said

* Dan Milmo, Vikram Dodd and Richard Norton-Taylor
* guardian.co.uk, Friday 17 December 2010

X-ray of suspect package Part of the X-ray of a suspect package that caused the evacuation of Manchester airport.

Counter-terrorism officials have warned that airport security is being tested by terror scouts, amid fears that regional airports have been targeted for dummy bomb runs.

The Guardian has seen x-ray scans of two suspect packages at a regional airport, picked up in the last three months, that show items officials fear have a similar profile to improvised explosive devices.

One, concealed in a box inside a passenger's carry-on luggage, consisted of a BlackBerry attached to a bottle of baby "gripewater" with a charging cable that security officials said appeared to simulate a detonator. The second, discovered by a hand baggage screener at the same airport weeks later, also comprised a mobile phone and a liquid bottle. Neither passenger was charged after both packages were examined by bomb disposal experts and found to be harmless.

Among counter-terrorism officials there is a belief that the security of airports is "periodically being tested". One Whitehall source said it was airports outside London that were of more concern because opportunistic terrorists might view major hubs such as Heathrow as a more significant security challenge with a stronger police presence. The source said: "Periodically they [suspected terrorists] are seeing how the system works, that the security systems are being tested."

The source added: "Reconnaissance is something terrorist operatives carry out." BAA, Britain's largest airport owner, said recently that most attacks on aviation are "well reconnaissanced" and urged the government to make security procedures less predictable. BAA is currently trialling a system of "behavioural detection", where staff are trained to spot passengers who are behaving suspiciously and alert the police or immigration officers.

Officials are concerned about a range of threats to the UK including a Mumbai-style attack, as well as the continuing danger of explosives being secreted into the freight carried on civilian planes, as exposed by the Yemen ink cartridge bomb plot.

Counter-terrorist sources added that authorities are on the look-out for potential bomb plots in the run-up to Christmas, including the possibility of plotters placing dummy bombs to check security procedures. However, they said that official bodies may also use dummy bombs to see whether their procedures "pass the test". There has been no general instruction from Whitehall or the security and intelligence agencies specifically to watch for dummy bombs placed by plotters, sources said.

Al-Qaida and other Islamist terrorists have continued to target air travel after 9/11. Most recently the bombs disguised in air freight, and sent from Yemen, exposed new vulnerabilities in airline security.

One senior source said the Yemen devices were the "most sophisticated we've seen", secreted in hollowed out printer cartridges. Another said it could point to other new methods being developed and possibly even tested: "There are some very competent people out there making bombs at the moment."

The biggest plot against air travel uncovered since 2001 was the so-called airlines plot. British police secured convictions over the attempt to smuggle explosives hidden in bottles, disguised to look like soft drinks. The targets were multiple planes flying from Europe to North America.

Evidence from the trial showed the terrorists had some prior knowledge of airport security. First, the bombs would be made of parts which would be contained in carry-on luggage and appear innocent and thus not attract the attention of security officials. But once on board they would be assembled to make a device capable of punching a hole in the plane. Second, notes found on the gang showed they planned to carry on pornographic magazines to "distract" security staff.

Last month a suspect package intercepted at Windhoek airport in Namibia was a dummy bomb used to test security, according to the German interior minister, Thomas de Maizière. He said officials had established that it was what they called a "real-test suitcase".

However British counter-terrorism sources also counselled caution about claims by the Iraqi government that al-Qaida supporters are planning concerted suicide attacks in the US and Europe over Christmas. Iraqi interior minister Jawad al-Bolani said last week that the failed bombing in central Stockholm last weekend was among alleged plots revealed by captured insurgents.

A Department for Transport spokesperson said the security of passengers was "paramount". He added: "The UK adopts a multi-layered approach to aviation security, combining technology, intelligence and other techniques to give us one of the strictest regimes of any country in the world. This is kept under constant review based on the latest developing threats."

:ends:


Windhoek, Namibia: Seems some folk might be less than happy about Chinese company Nuctech, muscling in on airport scanner business.