Post by iris89 on Jun 30, 2007 19:31:19 GMT -5
London on Planned Mass Murder [06/30/2007 at 6:50 Atlantic S.T.]
Here is a situation out of London on planned mass murder of which at present the religious affiliations of the b******ds is not yet known. But, my husband, a very astute individual, says it is for sure members of Islam as only some members of Islam are taught by their religious leaders to hate so much, to be greedy, and love violence to such an extreme inbreeding of hate, greed, and a lust for violence by religious leaders of Islam.
This is exactly as said by me as follows:
Now I am sure that members of Islam are behind this which has NOT yet been proven, but when it is, the other members of Islam will take refuge in their usual hide behind for everything; to wit, it is NOT in the Qur'an which could even be used to deny the existence of automobiles. It is high time that present members of Islam that do not believe in hate, greed, and a lust for violence get out of her - Islam, and ask for her dissolution in the interest of world peace and tranquility.
Now let's look at reality of the last two days per John 8:32, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (Authorized King James Bible; AV).
REALITY # 1, London police foil major terror plot By PAISLEY DODDS, Associated Press Writer
34 minutes ago [6/29/2007]
LONDON - Police thwarted a devastating terrorist plot on Friday, discovering two
Mercedes loaded with nails packed around canisters of propane and gasoline set
to detonate and kill possibly hundreds in London's crowded theater and nightclub
district.
The plot, coming only two days after Gordon Brown took over as prime minister,
raised the specter of the attacks in July 2005 when the London Underground and
an iconic double-decker bus were targeted by a group of homegrown terrorists who
killed 52 people.
As police searched for car bombs and terrorists in the city of 7.5 million,
roads were closed and police sirens echoed. Authorities stepped up security
across Britain, from central London streets to the Wimbledon tennis tournament.
But Londoners â€" with long experience in dealing with bombs and terrorism â€" were
not in hiding and the West End was bustling again by nightfall Friday.
"I know you can't live your life being scared," Natalie Huntley, 28, a tourist
from Adelaide, Australia, said outside St. Paul's Cathedral even as police
investigated another suspicious vehicle parked on nearby Fleet Street. "You've
just got to keep going, don't you?"
Authorities said the bombs in both cars were similar and that each Mercedes had
been abandoned in the same area near Piccadilly Circus. Had they exploded, at
least hundreds of people would have been killed.
The discovery of the car bombs before they exploded was a bonus for police, who
checked for fingerprints and DNA clues, as well as other trace evidence. They
also had the benefit of footage from closed-circuit TV cameras, hoping the
surveillance network that covers much of central London will help them track
down the driver of the Mercedes.
The CCTV footage would be compared with license plate recognition software,
British anti-terror police chief Peter Clarke said. There are 160 security
cameras in the Westminster Council, the district encompassing Piccadilly Circus
and the Haymarket area, alone.
Nobody claimed responsibility for the plot, and government security officials
said late Friday that no suspects have been identified.
But the discovery of the second bomb, about 20 hours after the first, suggested
a coordinated and more sophisticated plot than was initially thought â€" similar
to the July 7, 2005 suicide bombings where four bombs exploded within an hour of
one another on London's busy transit system.
Some analysts said the bombers could be trying to send a message to Britain's
new leader.
"It's a way of testing Gordon Brown," said Bob Ayers, a security expert at the
Chatham House think tank. "It's not too far-fetched to assume it was designed to
expedite the decision on withdrawal (from Iraq)."
After the first bomb was announced, Brown said "we face a serious and continuous
security threat in our country."
Professor Paul Wilkinson, chairman of the Center for the Study of Terrorism and
political violence at St. Andrews University, said a number of factors could
have come together to prompt the thwarted attacks.
"With the change in prime minister this could be the work of al-Qaida," he said.
"They have a track record of trying to influence political change through
violent means such as in the Madrid train attacks.
British authorities and White House press secretary Tony Snow were cautious.
"Look, it's terrorism, but we don't know if there â€" there's no definite, there's
no established connection with any organization at this point," Snow said. U.S.
authorities said there was no apparent terror threat to the United States.
There had been no prior intelligence of planned attacks from the terror
organization, a British government official told The Associated Press earlier
Friday on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the
investigation.
The July 7 bombers were all Muslims raised in Britain. A government account of
the attacks released last year said it was unclear whether others in Britain had
radicalized or incited the group, and that it was not known if al-Qaida figures,
or others, had assisted in planning the bombing.
The events unfolded when police were called to Haymarket, south of Piccadilly
Circus, after a man fell at the nightclub Tiger Tiger, injuring his head,
prompting a call for an ambulance around 1:30 a.m. Friday.
When crews arrived, they noticed smoke coming from a green Mercedes parked in
front of a club, Clarke said.
Photographs showed a canister bearing the words "patio gas," indicating it was
propane, next to the car. The propane gas is of the type usually used in
backyard barbecues and patio heaters. The back door was open with blankets
spilling out. The car was removed from the scene after a bomb squad disabled the
explosives.
A bomb squad called to the scene manually disabled the explosives.
Sky News television reported that a police officer seized a telephone from the
car â€" believed to have been a potential detonator for the explosives â€" and an
American lawmaker briefed on the investigation confirmed that British
authorities found a cell phone.
"They found a cell phone and it was going to be used to detonate the bomb," said
U.S. Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y.
The bomb in the Mercedes near Piccadilly Circus was powerful enough to have
caused "significant injury or loss of life" at a time when hundreds were in the
area, Clarke said.
The announcement of the second bomb came about 20 hours later, after police had
closed off a nearby major street along Hyde Park for several hours to
investigate a suspicious Mercedes. That car had been towed across town to an
impound lot; the attendants there, on the alert after news of the first foiled
car bombing, smelled gasoline and alerted authorities.
The car had been parked on thingyspur Street, which runs between Haymarket and
Trafalgar Square. About 2:30 a.m., it was ticketed and then towed an hour later
to the impound lot on Park Lane on Hyde Park's eastern edge, Clarke said.
The second vehicle "was found to contain very similar materials to those that
had been found in the first car," Clarke said. "There was a considerable amount
of fuel and gas canisters. As in the first vehicle, there was also a quantity of
nails. This like the first device was potentially viable."
The busy Haymarket thoroughfare linking Piccadilly Circus in the heart of
London's theater district and near Trafalgar Square, is packed with restaurants,
bars, a cinema complex and West End theaters. It was packed with people at the
time.
It was ladies' night Thursday at the massive Tiger Tiger nightclub, a stylish
three-story venue that at full capacity can pack in 1,770 people and stays open
until 3 a.m. It was here that the explosives-laded car was parked closest.
___
Associated Press writers Lindsay Toler, Raphael G. Satter, contributed to this
report.
Email Story IM Story Printable View RECOMMEND THIS STORY
Recommend It:
Average (2001 votes) Â" Recommended Stories
Full Coverage: London Bomb Scare
Off the Wires
US urges vigilance after London incident AP, 24 minutes ago London police foil
major terror plot AP, 31 minutes ago Feature Articles
Q&A: Car bomb investigation at BBC, Jun 29 Security forces fear Baghdad-style
tactics in London at The Guardian (UK)., Jun 29 News Stories
Police: car bomb may have been inspired by al-Qaida at The Guardian (UK).,
Jun 29 US Urges Vigilance After London Incident at The Washington Post (reg.
req'd), Jun 29 Car bomb is al-Qa'eda's greeting to Brown at Daily Telegraph
(UK), Jun 29 Our World: After Londonistan at Jerusalem Post, Jul 11
World News
Londoners face new bomb threat AP Iraq ambush caps bloodiest months for US AP
U.N. ends Iraq weapons monitoring AP Hamas preacher taunts rivals in sermon AP
US enters banana war against EU at WTO AFP Most Viewed - World
Toronto's CN Tower shows off bright new look Reuters Most Canadians would fail
own citizenship test Reuters Half of Canadians too ignorant to be Canadian AFP
Afghan interpreter beheaded, eight rebels said killed AFP Turkey draws up plan
to hit Kurd rebels inside Iraq: FM AFP
World Video
Soviet culture returns CNN - Fri Jun 29, 2:35 PM ET Scotland Yard Presser on
Terror Scare ABC News - 1 hour, 32 minutes ago The Update: London on bomb
alert Reuters - 2 hours, 14 minutes ago Two car bombs defused in central
London AP - 2 hours, 9 minutes ago
Sponsored Links( What's this? )
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AP Photo: London's Park Lane is closed by police who are examining a suspicious
vehicle in...
REALITY # 2, 'Airlines terror plot' disrupted , BBC, [6/30/2007]
All airports have been put under the restrictions
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/help/3681938.stmReid statement
A plot to blow up planes in flight from the UK to the US and commit "mass murder on an unimaginable scale" has been disrupted, Scotland Yard has said.
It is thought the plan was to detonate explosive devices smuggled in hand luggage on to as many as 10 aircraft.
Police are searching premises after 21 people were arrested. Home Secretary John Reid said they believed the "main players" were accounted for.
High security is causing delays at all UK airports.
The threat level to the UK has been raised by MI5 to critical after the arrests in London, High Wycombe and Birmingham.
Critical threat level - the highest - means "an attack is expected imminently and indicates an extremely high level of threat to the UK".
Three US airlines are believed to have been targeted.
Mr Reid said had the attack gone ahead it would have caused a loss of life of "unprecedented scale".
He said they were "confident" the main players were in custody, but neither the police nor government are "in any way complacent".
We are confident that we have disrupted a plan by terrorists to cause untold death and destruction
Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Paul Stephenson
Flights disruption across UK
At-a-glance: Travel advice
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/help/3681938.stmPolice statement
Prime Minister Tony Blair, on holiday in the Caribbean, paid tribute to the the police and the security services.
He said they had tracked the situation for a "long period of time" and had "been involved in an extraordinary amount of hard work."
"I thank them for the great job they are doing in protecting our country.
"There has been an enormous amount of co-operation with the US authorities which has been of great value and underlines the threat we face and our determination to counter it," he said in a statement.
BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera said the plot was thought to have involved a series of "waves" of simultaneous attacks, targeting three planes each time.
He also said the plan "revolved around liquids of some kind".
"Officials say the explosives would have been sophisticated and extremely effective," our correspondent said.
Airport 'crammed'
Meanwhile, at Heathrow Airport incoming short-haul flights have resumed, but long-haul services are seriously delayed. Several outbound services have been cancelled.
The airport is crammed with thousands of passengers, while at Stansted more than 2,000 people are queuing to pass through customs.
Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Paul Stephenson said the alleged plotters had intended "mass murder on an unimaginable scale".
HAVE YOUR SAY
This disruption is one of the short term limits on freedom that are needed
Tony Shield, Chorley
Send us your experiences
"We are confident that we have disrupted a plan by terrorists to cause untold death and destruction and to commit, quite frankly, mass murder," he said.
"We believe that the terrorists' aim was to smuggle explosives on to aeroplanes in hand luggage and to detonate these in flight. We also believe that the intended targets were flights from the United Kingdom to the United States of America."
Police had spoken to a "good number of community leaders to make them aware that a major operation was under way," he added.
Head of the Met's anti-terrorist branch Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke said the investigation had had "global dimensions" and had seen an "unprecedented level" of surveillance.
The decision to take action had been taken on Wednesday night, he added.
According to BBC sources the "principal characters" suspected of being involved in the plot were British-born. There are also understood to be links to Pakistan.
BBC home affairs correspondent Andy Tighe said police sources had told him they had found "interesting items" which were being examined.
In other major developments:
* Houses in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, are evacuated by police
* US air marshals are being sent to the UK to provide extra air security
* The US Department of Homeland Security increased the threat level applied to US-bound commercial flights originating in the UK to "red" - the first time it has done this for flights coming in from another country
* The Home Office confirmed there had been meetings overnight and on Thursday morning of the Cabinet's emergency committee, Cobra, chaired by Home Secretary John Reid, to discuss the terror alert
* A spokesman for Number 10 said Tony Blair had briefed US President George Bush on the situation during the night
BBC home affairs correspondent Daniel Sandford said despite the arrests the threat level had been raised "in case there is some other sub-plot, back-up plot around this that the police aren't aware of".
Total: 21 people arrested
London: 'Majority' of arrests - exact locations not known
Birmingham: Two arrests
High Wycombe: At least one arrest
The Department for Transport set out the details of the security measures at UK airports.
Passengers are not allowed to take any hand luggage on to any flights in the UK, the department said.
Only the barest essentials - including passports and wallets - will be allowed to be carried on board in transparent plastic bags.
"We hope that these measures, which are being kept under review by the government, will need to be in place for a limited period only," the statement said.
Your Friend in Christ Iris89
Here is a situation out of London on planned mass murder of which at present the religious affiliations of the b******ds is not yet known. But, my husband, a very astute individual, says it is for sure members of Islam as only some members of Islam are taught by their religious leaders to hate so much, to be greedy, and love violence to such an extreme inbreeding of hate, greed, and a lust for violence by religious leaders of Islam.
This is exactly as said by me as follows:
You are just fooling yourself, it is not what either the Bible or the Bible knockoff the Qur'an actually say, but how religious leaders be they priest and/or imams or muftis or what ever teach the people is the interpretation of what is written either in the Bible or the bible knockoff the Qur'an that matters and governs actions. It matters not what the Bible and/or the Bible knockoff really say. People go by what they are taught by their religious leaders. Take the genocide committed by the Roman Catholic Church at the direction of their supreme religious leader, the pope, what mattered was not that the Bible clearly said at Exodus 20:13, "Thou shalt not kill." (Authorized King James Bible; AV), but what their religious leaders told them. Therefore, it is the religion at fault, irregardless of what their particular holy book, be it the Bible or the Bible knockoff the Qur'an may say. Neither in so called Christianity or in Islam are most individuals actions really governed in any way by what their particular holy book really says, but they are governed by the interpretation of their religious leaders. Thus, knowing this reality, one would be either just plain stupid and/or dumb to even bother looking at a particular religion's holy book and expect the members would conform to it. Take the Rig Vede and find me for example a Hindu actually conforming to it instead of the interpretation given to it by his religious leaders, like looking for a needle in the haystack per K.S. Lal, India's greatest historian.
Now I am sure that members of Islam are behind this which has NOT yet been proven, but when it is, the other members of Islam will take refuge in their usual hide behind for everything; to wit, it is NOT in the Qur'an which could even be used to deny the existence of automobiles. It is high time that present members of Islam that do not believe in hate, greed, and a lust for violence get out of her - Islam, and ask for her dissolution in the interest of world peace and tranquility.
Now let's look at reality of the last two days per John 8:32, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (Authorized King James Bible; AV).
REALITY # 1, London police foil major terror plot By PAISLEY DODDS, Associated Press Writer
34 minutes ago [6/29/2007]
LONDON - Police thwarted a devastating terrorist plot on Friday, discovering two
Mercedes loaded with nails packed around canisters of propane and gasoline set
to detonate and kill possibly hundreds in London's crowded theater and nightclub
district.
The plot, coming only two days after Gordon Brown took over as prime minister,
raised the specter of the attacks in July 2005 when the London Underground and
an iconic double-decker bus were targeted by a group of homegrown terrorists who
killed 52 people.
As police searched for car bombs and terrorists in the city of 7.5 million,
roads were closed and police sirens echoed. Authorities stepped up security
across Britain, from central London streets to the Wimbledon tennis tournament.
But Londoners â€" with long experience in dealing with bombs and terrorism â€" were
not in hiding and the West End was bustling again by nightfall Friday.
"I know you can't live your life being scared," Natalie Huntley, 28, a tourist
from Adelaide, Australia, said outside St. Paul's Cathedral even as police
investigated another suspicious vehicle parked on nearby Fleet Street. "You've
just got to keep going, don't you?"
Authorities said the bombs in both cars were similar and that each Mercedes had
been abandoned in the same area near Piccadilly Circus. Had they exploded, at
least hundreds of people would have been killed.
The discovery of the car bombs before they exploded was a bonus for police, who
checked for fingerprints and DNA clues, as well as other trace evidence. They
also had the benefit of footage from closed-circuit TV cameras, hoping the
surveillance network that covers much of central London will help them track
down the driver of the Mercedes.
The CCTV footage would be compared with license plate recognition software,
British anti-terror police chief Peter Clarke said. There are 160 security
cameras in the Westminster Council, the district encompassing Piccadilly Circus
and the Haymarket area, alone.
Nobody claimed responsibility for the plot, and government security officials
said late Friday that no suspects have been identified.
But the discovery of the second bomb, about 20 hours after the first, suggested
a coordinated and more sophisticated plot than was initially thought â€" similar
to the July 7, 2005 suicide bombings where four bombs exploded within an hour of
one another on London's busy transit system.
Some analysts said the bombers could be trying to send a message to Britain's
new leader.
"It's a way of testing Gordon Brown," said Bob Ayers, a security expert at the
Chatham House think tank. "It's not too far-fetched to assume it was designed to
expedite the decision on withdrawal (from Iraq)."
After the first bomb was announced, Brown said "we face a serious and continuous
security threat in our country."
Professor Paul Wilkinson, chairman of the Center for the Study of Terrorism and
political violence at St. Andrews University, said a number of factors could
have come together to prompt the thwarted attacks.
"With the change in prime minister this could be the work of al-Qaida," he said.
"They have a track record of trying to influence political change through
violent means such as in the Madrid train attacks.
British authorities and White House press secretary Tony Snow were cautious.
"Look, it's terrorism, but we don't know if there â€" there's no definite, there's
no established connection with any organization at this point," Snow said. U.S.
authorities said there was no apparent terror threat to the United States.
There had been no prior intelligence of planned attacks from the terror
organization, a British government official told The Associated Press earlier
Friday on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the
investigation.
The July 7 bombers were all Muslims raised in Britain. A government account of
the attacks released last year said it was unclear whether others in Britain had
radicalized or incited the group, and that it was not known if al-Qaida figures,
or others, had assisted in planning the bombing.
The events unfolded when police were called to Haymarket, south of Piccadilly
Circus, after a man fell at the nightclub Tiger Tiger, injuring his head,
prompting a call for an ambulance around 1:30 a.m. Friday.
When crews arrived, they noticed smoke coming from a green Mercedes parked in
front of a club, Clarke said.
Photographs showed a canister bearing the words "patio gas," indicating it was
propane, next to the car. The propane gas is of the type usually used in
backyard barbecues and patio heaters. The back door was open with blankets
spilling out. The car was removed from the scene after a bomb squad disabled the
explosives.
A bomb squad called to the scene manually disabled the explosives.
Sky News television reported that a police officer seized a telephone from the
car â€" believed to have been a potential detonator for the explosives â€" and an
American lawmaker briefed on the investigation confirmed that British
authorities found a cell phone.
"They found a cell phone and it was going to be used to detonate the bomb," said
U.S. Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y.
The bomb in the Mercedes near Piccadilly Circus was powerful enough to have
caused "significant injury or loss of life" at a time when hundreds were in the
area, Clarke said.
The announcement of the second bomb came about 20 hours later, after police had
closed off a nearby major street along Hyde Park for several hours to
investigate a suspicious Mercedes. That car had been towed across town to an
impound lot; the attendants there, on the alert after news of the first foiled
car bombing, smelled gasoline and alerted authorities.
The car had been parked on thingyspur Street, which runs between Haymarket and
Trafalgar Square. About 2:30 a.m., it was ticketed and then towed an hour later
to the impound lot on Park Lane on Hyde Park's eastern edge, Clarke said.
The second vehicle "was found to contain very similar materials to those that
had been found in the first car," Clarke said. "There was a considerable amount
of fuel and gas canisters. As in the first vehicle, there was also a quantity of
nails. This like the first device was potentially viable."
The busy Haymarket thoroughfare linking Piccadilly Circus in the heart of
London's theater district and near Trafalgar Square, is packed with restaurants,
bars, a cinema complex and West End theaters. It was packed with people at the
time.
It was ladies' night Thursday at the massive Tiger Tiger nightclub, a stylish
three-story venue that at full capacity can pack in 1,770 people and stays open
until 3 a.m. It was here that the explosives-laded car was parked closest.
___
Associated Press writers Lindsay Toler, Raphael G. Satter, contributed to this
report.
Email Story IM Story Printable View RECOMMEND THIS STORY
Recommend It:
Average (2001 votes) Â" Recommended Stories
Full Coverage: London Bomb Scare
Off the Wires
US urges vigilance after London incident AP, 24 minutes ago London police foil
major terror plot AP, 31 minutes ago Feature Articles
Q&A: Car bomb investigation at BBC, Jun 29 Security forces fear Baghdad-style
tactics in London at The Guardian (UK)., Jun 29 News Stories
Police: car bomb may have been inspired by al-Qaida at The Guardian (UK).,
Jun 29 US Urges Vigilance After London Incident at The Washington Post (reg.
req'd), Jun 29 Car bomb is al-Qa'eda's greeting to Brown at Daily Telegraph
(UK), Jun 29 Our World: After Londonistan at Jerusalem Post, Jul 11
World News
Londoners face new bomb threat AP Iraq ambush caps bloodiest months for US AP
U.N. ends Iraq weapons monitoring AP Hamas preacher taunts rivals in sermon AP
US enters banana war against EU at WTO AFP Most Viewed - World
Toronto's CN Tower shows off bright new look Reuters Most Canadians would fail
own citizenship test Reuters Half of Canadians too ignorant to be Canadian AFP
Afghan interpreter beheaded, eight rebels said killed AFP Turkey draws up plan
to hit Kurd rebels inside Iraq: FM AFP
World Video
Soviet culture returns CNN - Fri Jun 29, 2:35 PM ET Scotland Yard Presser on
Terror Scare ABC News - 1 hour, 32 minutes ago The Update: London on bomb
alert Reuters - 2 hours, 14 minutes ago Two car bombs defused in central
London AP - 2 hours, 9 minutes ago
Sponsored Links( What's this? )
Mortgage Rates Fall Again
$430,000 Loan $1299/mo. Think you pay too much? No SSN required.
www.LowerMyBills.com Don't Quit Your Job
Take classes online and earn your degree in less than 2 years.
www.ClassesUSA.com Refinance with Bad Credit
Compare up to 4 free quotes. Serious refinance requests only.
www.homeloanhelpline.com
AP Photo: London's Park Lane is closed by police who are examining a suspicious
vehicle in...
REALITY # 2, 'Airlines terror plot' disrupted , BBC, [6/30/2007]
All airports have been put under the restrictions
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/help/3681938.stmReid statement
A plot to blow up planes in flight from the UK to the US and commit "mass murder on an unimaginable scale" has been disrupted, Scotland Yard has said.
It is thought the plan was to detonate explosive devices smuggled in hand luggage on to as many as 10 aircraft.
Police are searching premises after 21 people were arrested. Home Secretary John Reid said they believed the "main players" were accounted for.
High security is causing delays at all UK airports.
The threat level to the UK has been raised by MI5 to critical after the arrests in London, High Wycombe and Birmingham.
Critical threat level - the highest - means "an attack is expected imminently and indicates an extremely high level of threat to the UK".
Three US airlines are believed to have been targeted.
Mr Reid said had the attack gone ahead it would have caused a loss of life of "unprecedented scale".
He said they were "confident" the main players were in custody, but neither the police nor government are "in any way complacent".
We are confident that we have disrupted a plan by terrorists to cause untold death and destruction
Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Paul Stephenson
Flights disruption across UK
At-a-glance: Travel advice
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/help/3681938.stmPolice statement
Prime Minister Tony Blair, on holiday in the Caribbean, paid tribute to the the police and the security services.
He said they had tracked the situation for a "long period of time" and had "been involved in an extraordinary amount of hard work."
"I thank them for the great job they are doing in protecting our country.
"There has been an enormous amount of co-operation with the US authorities which has been of great value and underlines the threat we face and our determination to counter it," he said in a statement.
BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera said the plot was thought to have involved a series of "waves" of simultaneous attacks, targeting three planes each time.
He also said the plan "revolved around liquids of some kind".
"Officials say the explosives would have been sophisticated and extremely effective," our correspondent said.
Airport 'crammed'
Meanwhile, at Heathrow Airport incoming short-haul flights have resumed, but long-haul services are seriously delayed. Several outbound services have been cancelled.
The airport is crammed with thousands of passengers, while at Stansted more than 2,000 people are queuing to pass through customs.
Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Paul Stephenson said the alleged plotters had intended "mass murder on an unimaginable scale".
HAVE YOUR SAY
This disruption is one of the short term limits on freedom that are needed
Tony Shield, Chorley
Send us your experiences
"We are confident that we have disrupted a plan by terrorists to cause untold death and destruction and to commit, quite frankly, mass murder," he said.
"We believe that the terrorists' aim was to smuggle explosives on to aeroplanes in hand luggage and to detonate these in flight. We also believe that the intended targets were flights from the United Kingdom to the United States of America."
Police had spoken to a "good number of community leaders to make them aware that a major operation was under way," he added.
Head of the Met's anti-terrorist branch Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke said the investigation had had "global dimensions" and had seen an "unprecedented level" of surveillance.
The decision to take action had been taken on Wednesday night, he added.
According to BBC sources the "principal characters" suspected of being involved in the plot were British-born. There are also understood to be links to Pakistan.
BBC home affairs correspondent Andy Tighe said police sources had told him they had found "interesting items" which were being examined.
In other major developments:
* Houses in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, are evacuated by police
* US air marshals are being sent to the UK to provide extra air security
* The US Department of Homeland Security increased the threat level applied to US-bound commercial flights originating in the UK to "red" - the first time it has done this for flights coming in from another country
* The Home Office confirmed there had been meetings overnight and on Thursday morning of the Cabinet's emergency committee, Cobra, chaired by Home Secretary John Reid, to discuss the terror alert
* A spokesman for Number 10 said Tony Blair had briefed US President George Bush on the situation during the night
BBC home affairs correspondent Daniel Sandford said despite the arrests the threat level had been raised "in case there is some other sub-plot, back-up plot around this that the police aren't aware of".
Total: 21 people arrested
London: 'Majority' of arrests - exact locations not known
Birmingham: Two arrests
High Wycombe: At least one arrest
The Department for Transport set out the details of the security measures at UK airports.
Passengers are not allowed to take any hand luggage on to any flights in the UK, the department said.
Only the barest essentials - including passports and wallets - will be allowed to be carried on board in transparent plastic bags.
"We hope that these measures, which are being kept under review by the government, will need to be in place for a limited period only," the statement said.
Your Friend in Christ Iris89