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Britain in highest terror threat status
By UPI Staff
United Press International
August 10, 2006

LONDON (UPI) -- Scotland Yard had 21 people in custody and Britain at its highest terror threat level Thursday after foiling a plot to down planes with carry-on explosives.

The announcement was made late Wednesday that as many as 10 aircraft flying from Britain to the United States had been targeted.

Effective immediately, the Department for Transport said passengers are not allowed to take any hand luggage onto any flights in Britain, the BBC reported.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is vacationing in Barbados, briefed U.S. President George Bush on the situation during the night, an aide said.

For the first time ever, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security also increased the threat level applied to U.S.-bound commercial flights originating in Britain to "red," the report said.

Meanwhile, there was chaos at airports throughout Britain early Thursday as a severe security clampdown was enforced, The Times of London reported. Every passenger had to be hand-searched, and almost nothing was being allowed as carry-on baggage.

Scotland Yard Deputy Assistant Commissioner Paul Stephenson said "mass murder on an unimaginable scale" had been averted, but emphasized the investigation was not complete.

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