Police claim to have foiled a terror attack on Heathrow airport by arresting a senior al-Qaeda operative in Britain.
According to The Times, the arrest came after a tip-off from Pakistani authorities, which had discovered maps and other information about the airport on a computer after arrests in Pakistan.
The newspaper states that the UK operative, given the codename Bilal, was tasked with carrying out a terror operation at the airport – and was taking orders direct from Osama bin Laden.
While The Times’ source would not confirm exactly what the plans were, or give a timetable for the planned attack, he reportedly said: “What we can say for certain is that the plan was drawn up quite recently. Bilal was to execute the plan.”
Arrests in Pakistan have also reportedly revealed plans by two South Africans to blow up the QE2 liner. The Johannesburg newspaper ThisDay reports that the two men had hatched a plot to attack the ship as it arrived in Cape Town or Durban from Mauritius.
Other tourist sites in South Africa, including Ellis Park stadium in Johannesburg and the V&A Waterfront mall in Cape Town, were also named as potential targets for a planned terror attack.
Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad
