Soccer suicide carnage averted

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Soccer suicide carnage averted

By staff writers and wires

April 20, 2004

A GROUP of 10 terror suspects arrested in Britain overnight were planning an attack on Manchester United's stadium during this weekend's blockbuster against Liverpool, according to reports.

Reports from the The Sun newspaper claim arrests made overnight by Greater Manchester Police had almost certainly foiled a suicide bombing attack at Old Trafford, Britain's biggest sporting stadium, which holds 67,721 people.

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Old Trafford is the UK's biggest sporting venue, and will be filled with 68,000 people on Saturday.

Intelligence chiefs said several al-Qaeda extremists had planned to blow themselves up in separate parts of the ground during the match and had already bought tickets for the sell-out match.

"If successful, any such attack would have caused absolute carnage. Thousands of people could have been killed," a police source said.

Some of soccer's most expensive names, including Australia's Liverpool star Harry Kewell, are scheduled to play the match.

England's Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard, Wes Brown and Emile Heskey are also due to play, so too other international stars such as Ruud van Nistelrooy, Luis Saha, Cristiano Ronaldo, Roy Keane and Ryan Giggs.

The Sun's sister broadsheet newspaper The Times reported that security services were believed to have mounted electronic surveillance which suggested a possible attack aimed at a "large gathering of people".

A spokesman for the Home Office refused to comment on the reports, but said: "We have always said that we would not hesitate to issue a warning if it is the best to protect the public in respect of a specific and credible threat.

"Advice would be issued immediately if the public needed to take specific action which could make them safer."

The arrests overnight continued a crackdown by British police on terrorist suspects. Seven of the latest suspects were arrested in the Manchester area and included one woman. The others were detained in Staffordshire, South Yorkshire and the West Midlands.

Those held were described as being of North African and Iraqi Kurdish descent and were detained under the Terrorism Act passed in 2000 on suspicion of the "commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism", police said.

Dave Whatton, Assistant Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, said the co-ordinated raids - which involved more than 400 officers - were part of an ongoing operation related to terrorist threats.

"This is the first action that the (local) public have become aware of, as it is overt, but nothing should be read into that," he said. He added that the suspects would be questioned "as part of the ongoing inquiry".

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Police swooped on a kebab shop address in Manchester before making their arrests.

On March 30 this year, a similar police swoop in London and its surrounding areas collected nine people under the Terrorism Act and uncovered seized a large quantity of ammonium nitrate fertiliser - a popular bomb-making ingredient.

Those raids were the biggest in Britain since the discovery in January 2003 of traces of the deadly poison ricin in a north London apartment.

Four police forces - Greater Manchester, West Midlands, South Yorkshire and Staffordshire - participated in last night's operation.

Witnesses said one of the raids targeted a flat - occupied by a single man for about a year - situated above a kebab shop owned by Iraqi Kurds on Upper Brook Street near the centre of Manchester.

"I asked the police what had happened but they gave me no information," Imad Alsabbagh, the 46-year-old owner of a Syrian restaurant next door, said.

Britain's most senior police officer, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens, warned of the “inevitability” of a terrorist attack in London after the March 11 train bombings in Madrid which killed 191 people.

Similar fears were expressed by Manchester's police chief Michael Todd, who last week said "the threat is high", the Manchester Evening News reported.

During the weekend, the leader of a militant Islamic group told a Portuguese newspaper that sympathisers of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terror network were preparing large-scale attacks in London.

Omar Bakri Mohammed, part of a London-based group known as al-Muhajiroun, told Publico that "a very well-organised group which calls itself al-Qaeda Europe" was "on the verge of launching a big operation".

Six of the nine men arrested on March 30 appeared in a London court last week accused of being involved in a plot to build a bomb, while the other three were released on bail.

A 10th man was apprehended a day earlier in the Canadian capital Ottawa in relation to the same alleged conspiracy.

With Agence France-Presse

Jesus .. that would have been horrible. Thank God it was averted.

Nooooo doubt!!

that would have massacred

im no man u fan but jeezus :eek:

grrrrrrrr...

fucking cowards. what would that have accomplished? nothing. Why don`t they take out some politicians if they`re so pissed. The general public isn`t to blame for whatever inequality they`re so angry about!.

Would have been awful.

[channelzeromode] Then again, its fucking Man United, everyones hates United scum [/channelzeromodeoff]

Originally posted by Europe

[channelzeromode] Then again, its fucking Man United, everyones hates United scum [/channelzeromodeoff]

Hahahahahaha!

But not funny.....

Old trafford getting blown up would have been sweeeeet.

Osama supports Arsenal, like me, feel pretty safe there.

Its funny how othere countries are constantley foiling terrorist plans and taking down groups of them, yet in america you hear about nothing. Makes you wonder

Originally posted by AREANKAY

Its funny how othere countries are constantley foiling terrorist plans and taking down groups of them, yet in america you hear about nothing. Makes you wonder

Yeah but other countries such as te U.K have had terrorism on it`s doorstep for a long time (IRA) so we`ve always lived with it, where as you guys this is all new..

wow....good to see other governments can prevent shit. I guess its easier to see the clues when you don't have your head up your ass.

Originally posted by AREANKAY

Its funny how othere countries are constantley foiling terrorist plans and taking down groups of them, yet in america you hear about nothing. Makes you wonder

millenium bombing plannes in Seattle and LA Airport were both averted

possible brooklyn bridge bombing plan averted last year

richard reid airplane shoe bomber foiled en route to the u.s.

.....

as well as..

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/20...tel-ridge_x.htm

Posted 2/4/2004 1:05 PM____ Updated 2/4/2004 1:56 PM

Ridge: Recent cancellations possibly averted terror strike

WASHINGTON (AP) — Even as the spy community comes under fire for faulty intelligence in Iraq, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said he believes recent actions taken in response to terrorist threat information have averted an attack.

"Do I personally? Yes," Ridge said Wednesday when asked if a strike has been prevented. "But I don't know that we'll ever be able to confirm it. ... Proving an unknown is a difficult thing to do."

...i agree that we haven't caught any terrorists inside the u.s. other than Moussaoui, and that looks pretty damn bad.

edit for "stupid"ity/B]

too bad you weren't a victim, onesecondple = gay

go try and kick it to your lesbian gi. jane, she's probably seen nothing but marine dick since she left anyways :lol:

Originally posted by JohnnyHorton

too bad you weren't a victim, onesecondple = gay

 

go try and kick it to your lesbian gi. jane, she's probably seen nothing but marine dick since she left anyways :lol:

damn, i got served.

Originally posted by AREANKAY

Its funny how othere countries are constantley foiling terrorist plans and taking down groups of them, yet in america you hear about nothing. Makes you wonder

just because its not on the news doesnt mean its not there.

theres so much shit under the radar, were not going to know about the majority of what is goin on.

good point !@#$% by the way.

and onesecond....that was just fucking stupid.

Originally posted by Europe

[channelzeromode] Then again, its fucking Man United, everyones hates United scum [/channelzeromodeoff]

true say...

would have been awfull though :(

Mmmmmmm, the shop in the 2nd pic; Dolphin kebabs, burgers & pizza.

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