UK threat level remains critical
The UK security threat level is to stay at “critical” following a suspected plot to blow up airliners, Home Secretary John Reid has said.
He said he believed the main suspects were in custody but it was right to “err on the side of caution”.
Everyone faced the threat and everyone “should respond with a common purpose and common solidarity”, Mr Reid added.
Nineteen of 24 people arrested have had their UK assets frozen. The names have been published by the Bank of England.
Delays continuing
It is thought that the suspects were planning to blow up several planes by using liquid explosives carried in soft-drink bottles, and detonators disguised as electronic equipment.
UK police said the explosions could have caused “mass murder on an unimaginable scale”.
Suspect Don Stewart-Whyte changed his name to Abdul Waheed
19 suspects’ assets frozen
Police examine threat
Flights from airports in Britain are still being delayed as passengers go through strict security checks.
Services are returning to normal, but travellers are being warned to check with airlines before they set off.
Operators at Heathrow airport said they did not expect there would be any new cancellations beyond those already announced by the airlines.
‘Tolerance and resilience’
Officials in Pakistan said security forces in the country had arrested two British men of Pakistani origin in connection with the alleged plot.
They were picked up from Lahore and Karachi last week. On Thursday, Pakistan announced it had made a number of arrests in connection with the investigation.
The Treasury has instructed the Bank of England to issue notices to effect a freeze of the assets of a number of individuals
Ed Balls
Treasury
At-a-glance: Travel advice
At a news conference, Mr Reid said he was “grateful” for the help of the international community, in particular Pakistan, in disrupting the suspected plot.
He said he would be chairing another meeting of Cobra - the government’s emergencies committee - on Friday.
The home secretary also made a plea for all communities to work together to face the danger.
“More than ever we need to draw on the tolerance and resilience of all parts of our community in the days ahead,” he said.
“This is a common threat to all of us and we should respond - all of us - with a common purpose and common solidarity.
“This is in the nature of the British people and that common solidarity and common cause is, I believe, now our most precious asset and we should foster it in all sections of our community.”
Addresses searched
The suspects were rounded up in raids in London, High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, and the West Midlands. All are being held in London.
Searches continued at several addresses and people were evacuated from some homes in High Wycombe.
Following the police operation, airports throughout the UK issued strict new security measures.
Armed police have been deployed in many airports and passengers are no longer allowed to take their hand luggage into the cabin.
Full source: bbc.co.uk
