Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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US, British, Pakistani Authorities Work to Uncover Scale of Terrorism
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Plot
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?r=279&ctl=1374F26:3919ACA Officials say
suspects may have been just days away from smuggling liquid explosives
onto as many as 10 US-bound airplanes and blowing them up





An armed police officer patrols on Horse Guards Parade in central
London, Aug. 12, 2006 Authorities in the United States, Britain and
Pakistan are working to uncover all the elements of a plot to blow up
U.S.-bound flights.

British and Pakistani officials have detained more than 30 people
suspected of planning to detonate liquid explosives aboard as many as
10 commercial planes from Britain to the U.S.  Officials say the
suspects were ready to act sometime next week.

Pakistani officials say they believe one of the main suspects, British
citizen Rashid Rauf, has links to al-Qaida in Afghanistan.

The British government has frozen the assets of 19 of the 24 suspects
arrested in London Thursday, many of whom are Britons of Pakistani
ancestry. One of the suspects was later freed.

American counterterrorism officials say hundreds of FBI agents have
been looking for U.S. ties to the conspiracy, including calls British
suspects made to the U.S.

A coalition of British Muslim groups and politicians said Saturday
Britain's foreign policy on Iraq and Lebanon is fueling extremism that
threatens all civilians.

In an open letter to British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the coalition
urged the government to do more to fight terrorism, while taking care
not to target innocent civilians.

Some information for this report provided by Reuters, AP and AFP.


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