MY Vast Right Wing Conspiracy

Major London terrorist attack plot foiled

• Posted by Beth on June 29th, 2007 filed in General, Islamofascism, The War, UK    

Tags: London, terrorism, bomb plot

“Massive” explosive device found in a car in central London, laden with nails and propane gas canisters (according to reports from Sky News TV on Fox News Channel). Thankfully, some alert bystanders notified authorities.

Suspected bomb found in London

Police have made safe a suspected car bomb in the heart of London.

Officers carried out a controlled explosion after reports of a suspicious vehicle parked in The Haymarket shortly before 0200 BST (0100 GMT).

The immediate area was cordoned off while police examined what they described as a “potentially viable explosive device”.

There are unconfirmed reports that gas canisters were removed from the back of the car, close to Piccadilly Circus.

The government’s emergency unit Cobra has called a meeting and the new Home Secretary Jacqui Smith is due to attend.

One police source said the bomb was a “big device” and posed a real and substantial threat to the area around The Haymarket, which is in London’s theatreland.

A witness reported seeing gas canisters being removed from the car, believed to be a silver Mercedes, at around 0400 BST (O300 GMT).

Bouncers from a nearby nightclub said they saw the car being driven erratically before it crashed into a bin. They said the driver then got out and ran off.

Dozens of forensic officers were today poring over the scene, which was covered by a blue plastic police tent.

Scotland Yard said detectives from Counter Terrorism Command were investigating the potential bomb plot and will be checking the CCTV in the area.

A spokesman said: “Police were called to reports of a suspicious vehicle parked in The Haymarket, shortly before 2am this morning.

“As a precautionary measure the immediate area was cordoned off while the vehicle was examined by explosives officers.

“They discovered what appeared to be a potentially viable explosive device. This was made safe.

This, on the first day of new Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s administration. Welcome to the real world, Mr Brown; I do hope this means you will take your homegrown terrorism a bit more seriously than some of your Labour colleagues do, and stop the slouch toward Londonistan.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the incident reminds us that Britain faces “a serious and continuous threat” and the public “need to be alert” at all times.

Jack Straw gives his reaction here (audio).

I wonder, will the Left here and in the UK claim this was fake? All a setup? How many of these incidents, “successful” and/or thwarted, do they need to see to start believing that genuine evil does, in fact, exist? Or will they just write it off as usual to the war in Iraq?

Remember that report of a few weeks ago where Al Qaeda/the Taliban was promising attacks in the US and Europe? Funny how it was so derisively dismissed by so many.

Photos, video and more coverage at Sky News.

The threat of terrorism has returned to London, with a car bomb discovered in the heart of the capital.

Click here for the full story.

I should note that there have been no reports of who was behind this, but it seems rather silly to think it’s anything but Muslim terrorists. UK authorities sound certain that it is not the IRA, which is unsurprising. My only question is which Islamist group it was. According to what they’re saying on teevee, the Haymarket area is full of CCTV cameras, so the authorities do expect to see the suspect who drove the car on video.

You can find more from UK blogs here.

Melanie Phillips wrote this yesterday, before this even happened.

So is Britain’s new Prime Minister Gordon Brown going to defend the free world or surrender it to its enemies? Will he cut through all the dissimulation and manipulation by jihadis and their western useful idiots and instead call the threat to the free world by its proper name? Will he ignore the ever-increasing defeatism and pressure for appeasement, or will he genuflect to the prevalent anti-Americanism and go along with the moral and intellectual inversion that supports genocidal aggressors and blames their victims? As the dust still settles today over the shape of his government, the signs are mixed and not a little alarming.

To borrow an overused phrase, indeed.

Question of the day, from Not Proud of Britain (But Would Like to Be):

Rather than carrying out spot checks for suicide vehicle bombs, wouldn’t it have been easier for the Police simply to have arrested everyone protesting outside the Regents Park Mosque on the basis of incitement to racial hatred?

UPDATE: Fox/Sky News just showed the headline of a UK newspaper (I didn’t catch which one) that said something along the lines of “Plot to kill 1700.” 1700. With it being 2am there, in an area full of nightclubs, I can see the casualties getting that high, had the bomb detonated there.

As of right now (6am Central, noon local), the London police are holding a press conference, and it’s being carried on the news channels. Scotland Yard is saying they don’t know yet if that nightclub was the intended target. If they won’t speculate (as is the case) on the intended target, neither will I.