Report: Bomb suitcase found

[therebbe]

LONDON, England (CNN) -- British police investigating an alleged plot to bomb trans-Atlantic airline flights are reported to have found a suitcase containing items which could be used to construct a bomb, according to the British Broadcasting Corporation.

The suitcase is reported to have been found in woodlands in High Wycombe, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) north-west of London.

BBC quotes an anonymous police source as saying a suitcase holding "everything you would need to make an improvised device," had been found.

The wood is near the home of one of two dozen suspects arrested on August 10 in connection with the alleged bomb plot.

The Metropolitan Police have refused to comment on the BBC report, saying it could not discuss anything found during the searches.

Police said Thursday they were searching 14 homes and businesses and had searched 49 locations since the August 10 raids in London, High Wycombe and Birmingham, central England, The Associated Press reports.

Meanwhile, service returned almost to normal at British airports Thursday, a week after they were thrown into chaos by the terrorist alert.

British Airways, the worst-affected airline, said it had almost cleared a backlog of 5,000 pieces of luggage separated from their owners amid hundreds of delayed and canceled flights.

The airline canceled 19 short-haul services from Heathrow Airport Thursday, and said it planned to operate a full service on Friday.

Earlier, a British judge allowed police to continue holding 23 of the 24 suspects, Metropolitan Police said late Wednesday.

The ruling gives police the authority to hold two of the suspects until August 21, and the rest until August 23.

Afterwards, Scotland Yard said that a person arrested on Tuesday as part of its investigation was released without charge, The Associated Press reports.

Another suspect was released without charge on August 11.

Wednesday's ruling was largely a procedural move. Under British anti-terrorism laws, police can hold suspects for up to 28 days without filing charges, but they must put the detention before a judge periodically.

The hearing was held behind closed doors and attended only by the suspects' lawyers, investigators and government officials, The Associated Press reports.

Experts say the primary reason police could use nearly a month to complete a probe is because of the complexity of investigations into the alleged plot to smuggle liquid explosives hidden in hand luggage aboard flights.

"You've got laptops. You have to bring in translators to translate all the documents in there. And sometimes it's inopportune to release all your suspects -- particularly terrorism suspects -- while all that is being downloaded and translated," Cliff Knuckey, a retired police detective who has worked on terrorism investigations, told the Associated Press.

"Terrorism investigations are different, simply because you're dealing with people who will do their best not to compromise their plans and who will do anything not to be compromised."

Previously, police were able to detain people suspected of terrorism offenses for 14 days only. But the new legislation, which became law earlier this year, also created new offenses, including preparing a terrorist act, giving or receiving terrorist training, and selling or spreading terrorist publications.

Prime Minister Tony Blair failed to receive parliamentary approval for his own plan to interrogate terrorist suspects for up to 90 days.

Authorities said the suspects plotted to use liquid explosives to blow up as many as 10 trans-Atlantic flights, using commercial electronic devices as detonators.

The plot's disclosure last week sparked heightened terror alerts in both Britain and the United States.

Authorities have banned passengers from bringing nearly all liquids or gels aboard aircraft and tightened passenger screening rules, snarling airports on both sides of the ocean.


CNN.com

[Keltoi]

I'm just glad the British discovered this plot in time.

[afriend]

Yeah...Now I hope they track down the criminals and cut their hands off so they would never plot something as stupid!!

DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT S GOING TO BE TO GET BACK TO THE UK IN 1 PIECE?????

Stupid terrorists, should be hanged, drawn and quartered....stupid extremeists