| LONDON (AFP) -
Terrorist groups plan to evade
strict airport security by
carrying bombs components onto
flights and assembling the
devices only when they are on
the plane, according to a
report.
Teams of terrorists have
carried out at least 12
"dry runs" of the
plan, The Observer weekly said,
quoting unnamed security sources
in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere.
The idea was to test the
scheme on flights around the
Mediterranean and the Middle
East, where security standards
are less stringent, before
attempting to bring down a
transatlantic airliner.
A series of flights from
Britain and France to the United
States were cancelled over the
Christmas and New Year period,
and again last month, after US
authorities warned of a
"credible threat" of
an attack.
Security on flights has been
beefed up greatly since the al-Qaeda
terrorist group caused carnage
on September 11, 2001 by taking
over a series of flights and
using them as missiles.
According to The Observer,
the new plan has been recounted
by captured Islamic militants
and has been corroborated by
intercepted communications
between terror groups.
US authorities have warned
that teams of five passengers
could carry aboard separate
components of a bomb hidden in
modified items such as cameras,
the paper said.
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