.Mi5 found bomb factory, bugged suspects
LONDON: British intelligence service agents secretly infiltrated a bomb factory and found liquid explosives and detonators weeks before they foiled the plot to blow up America-bound passenger jets flying from UK airports, media reported on Sunday.
Covert raids on homes of key terror suspects were also made to plant bugs and gather crucial evidence against them, The Mail on Sunday claimed.
The carefully planned 'sneak and peek' operation involved members of the SAS, or Special Air Service and other surveillance specialists of Mi5. It allowed the Security Service to eavesdrop on the suspected terrorists in the weeks before they were arrested.
The high-risk strategy which allowed the terror plot to almost reach fruition - potentially putting civilian lives at risk - is understood to have been discussed with Prime Minister Tony Blair and by the government's crisis management Cobra Committee, the report said.
A government source told the tabloid that this was just one of a dozen terror plots being investigated by Mi5. But the audacious surveillance exercise - approved by the Home Secretary - allowed Mi5 teams to build up a detailed picture of the group's planning, contacts and, crucially, when they intended to strike.
During months of careful work, the specialists are understood to have managed to get inside the gang's bomb-making factory - giving final confirmation that the plotters were indeed planning mass murder.
Hours of tape recordings, photographs and video are now likely to be used as evidence against the men if they are charged for their part in the alleged plot.
Tiny eavesdropping devices picked up conversations involving various members of the suspected terrorist gang as they put the finishing touches to their plans to blow up a series of commercial flights over the Atlantic.
The Security Service has a licence to 'bug and burgle' but only with the approval of the Home Secretary in order that any evidence obtained can later be used in court.
According to the report, over several months, former Home Secretary Charles Clarke and, more recently, John Reid were given detailed updates on the progress of the investigation to enable them to sign warrants for sophisticated intrusive surveillance against the terrorists.
As Mi5 reveals on its website: "The Services does use intrusive investigative methods, such as eavesdropping in a target's home and vehicle.
"However, our use of such methods is subject to a strict control and oversight regime.
"To install an eavesdropping device in a target's home we need to apply to the Secretary of State for a warrant under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) to authorise the intrusion on the privacy of the target."
Times of India
Covert raids on homes of key terror suspects were also made to plant bugs and gather crucial evidence against them, The Mail on Sunday claimed.
The carefully planned 'sneak and peek' operation involved members of the SAS, or Special Air Service and other surveillance specialists of Mi5. It allowed the Security Service to eavesdrop on the suspected terrorists in the weeks before they were arrested.
The high-risk strategy which allowed the terror plot to almost reach fruition - potentially putting civilian lives at risk - is understood to have been discussed with Prime Minister Tony Blair and by the government's crisis management Cobra Committee, the report said.
A government source told the tabloid that this was just one of a dozen terror plots being investigated by Mi5. But the audacious surveillance exercise - approved by the Home Secretary - allowed Mi5 teams to build up a detailed picture of the group's planning, contacts and, crucially, when they intended to strike.
During months of careful work, the specialists are understood to have managed to get inside the gang's bomb-making factory - giving final confirmation that the plotters were indeed planning mass murder.
Hours of tape recordings, photographs and video are now likely to be used as evidence against the men if they are charged for their part in the alleged plot.
Tiny eavesdropping devices picked up conversations involving various members of the suspected terrorist gang as they put the finishing touches to their plans to blow up a series of commercial flights over the Atlantic.
The Security Service has a licence to 'bug and burgle' but only with the approval of the Home Secretary in order that any evidence obtained can later be used in court.
According to the report, over several months, former Home Secretary Charles Clarke and, more recently, John Reid were given detailed updates on the progress of the investigation to enable them to sign warrants for sophisticated intrusive surveillance against the terrorists.
As Mi5 reveals on its website: "The Services does use intrusive investigative methods, such as eavesdropping in a target's home and vehicle.
"However, our use of such methods is subject to a strict control and oversight regime.
"To install an eavesdropping device in a target's home we need to apply to the Secretary of State for a warrant under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) to authorise the intrusion on the privacy of the target."
Times of India
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