Bomb bid has echoes of earlier terror plot

The Haymarket car bomb attempt has clear parallels with a major plot which was foiled by police in 2004.

British al-Qa'ida terrorist Dhiren Barot was found with detailed plans to create deadly car bombs powered by gas canisters.

Related articles

• First security test for new PM and Home Secretary
• Bomb threat brings Cobra to the table
• Car bomb defused outside London nightclub
• CCTV footage scoured in hunt for clues
• Range of extremist groups in the frame
• Search the news archive for more stories

He planned to use limousines and pack them with gas and shrapnel to kill and injure hundred or even thousands of people.

In a statement today, the Met's terror chief, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, said there were some aspects of today's attempt which " resonated with previous plots".

But he refused to draw any firm links or conclusions.

Mr Clarke also specifically mentioned nightclubs as a potential target.

Plotters in another terror cell - known as the "fertiliser bomb plotters " or the "Bluewater plotters" - were convicted earlier this year.

They had discussed targeting the Ministry of Sound nightclub with an explosive device.

Mr Clarke noted that thousands of people were leaving West End nightspots at the time the vehicle was found in Haymarket today.

Central to Barot's plans was the "gas limos project", the main part of which was uncovered in Pakistan.

Edmund Lawson QC, for the Crown, told Barot's sentencing at London's Woolwich Crown Court in November: "There were various possible methods of attack.

"They included parking limousines packed with explosives next to or underneath the target buildings, arson, by means of hijacked petrol tankers, or igniting gas cylinders and even possibly the use of an aeroplane."

He said Barot travelled to Pakistan in early 2004, with the "obvious inference" being that the purpose of the trip was to present the plans for approval and funding.

He said: "The principal attack involved packing three limousines with gas cylinders, explosives, shrapnel and the like and then detonating the devices in underground car parks."

Barot, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to murder, wanted to "emulate" the Madrid train bombings, which killed almost 200 people, Mr Lawson told the court, adding: "The gas limos project might be seen as the culmination of Barot's murderous plans."

Barot also planned to detonate a dirty bomb and to cause an explosion on a Tube train while in a tunnel under the River Thames.

The gas limos project document was found following a raid by the Pakistani authorities in Gujarat, Pakistan, in July 2004.

Barot, a 34-year-old Muslim convert, from north London, was jailed for a minimum of 40 years.

Omar Khyam led the fertiliser plotters in a plan to use more than half a ton of chemical fertiliser to bring terror to the UK.

The plan was foiled by intercepted internet chatroom conversations, surveillance and the discovery of the fertiliser in a storage depot in west London.

One of the plotters was heard to say that blowing up women at a nightclub would be fair game because no-one could be blamed for killing innocent people, only "those slags dancing around".

Barot detailed his proposals in a document entitled "Rough Presentation For Gas Limos Projects", which was found by police.

In his introduction Barot listed his "Primary Objectives", which included wishes that the project would "be able to inflict mass damage and chaos".

He wrote: "Gas can, within certain perimeters, be employed to cause large scale damage to structures since many of them, gas types, are by nature, extremely flammable as well as explosive."

The chilling document said many different types of gases available on the market were considered, although the "final choice" was narrowed down to propane, butane, acetylene and oxygen.

He concluded that gas explosions from cylinders, if carefully orchestrated, could be as powerful as TNT.

The terrorist also detailed how he planned to use substances such as napalm to create a fire around the canisters, which would cause them to explode like grenades, sending even more lethal shrapnel into the surrounding area.

In a passage on petrol, he pointed out that as well as being legally available at forecourts, petrol cans could be filled with sharp metal nails during an attack to maximise damage.

He then referred to this technique being used during the Soho and Brick Lane bombings of 1999.

Barot talked about how the gas cylinders would be transported and gave some facts about limousines, which he said he had concluded would be the "most feasible option".

He went on to propose placing 12 to 13 full size cylinders in each limo and spraying the cans yellow to "spread terror and chaos when the emergency service teams arrive".

Barot wrote: "This project forms the main cornerstone (main target), of a series of planned attacks that have been prepared for synchronised execution on the same day, at the same time."

"That is to say projects are planned to be co-ordinated back to back as they were with 9/11, thus forming another memorable black day for the enemies of Islam and a victory for the Muslims (Inshalla) by the mercy of Allah."

The discovery of Barot's plans proved the "trigger" for his arrest.

Once detectives realised what Barot was plotting, they decided it was simply too dangerous to leave him out on the streets.

They resolved that the next moment he reappeared on the radar, he would be arrested.

The Met's Mr Clarke said at the Scotland Yard briefing: "In one previous case we heard talk of nightclubs potentially becoming targets.

"And in the Barot case we saw reference to vehicles being filled with gas or fuel in order to create an explosion.

"Obviously, we are aware of that but at this stage it is too soon to draw any conclusions.

"I have referred to some facts, some features of what has happened which resonate with previous plots, and I would not at this stage like to speculate."