International   

"Plot'' to attack Channel tunnel

Hasan Suroor

LONDON: American and French intelligence agencies claim to have discovered a plot by Al-Qaeda militants, allegedly trained in Pakistan, to attack the Channel Tunnel aimed at causing "maximum carnage'' during the current holiday season, according to The Observer newspaper.

In a front-page report on Sunday, it said that the "plan'' was revealed in a secret report to the French Government by its foreign intelligence service, DGSE. The "tip-off'' came from the CIA. It said: "British and French intelligence agencies have run a series of checks of the security system protecting the 31-mile tunnel but the threat level, the DGSE warns, remains high.''

Suspected "plotters'' were thought to be West Europeans of Pakistani descent and the alleged plan was "put together in Pakistan and is being directed from there.'' The newspaper said it was told by American security sources that the threat was "sky high.''

This is the peak travel season with tens of thousands of holiday makers either heading for Europe or coming to Britain on Eurostar trains that pass through the tunnel.

The report came a day after the Metropolitan Police chief Ian Blair warned that the threat of a "terrorist attack'' was "ever present.'' He said Christmas was a "period when that might happen'' though he admitted that there was no specific intelligence that an attack was imminent.

Sir Ian said: "It is a far graver threat in terms of civilians than either the Cold War or the Second World War. It's a much graver threat than that posed by Irish republican terrorism.''

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Russia to continue nuclear ties with Iran
Bill against IAEA
Foreign ship crew safe: LTTE
Olmert-Abbas meet raises peace hopes
Hasina-led coalition to take part in poll
First U.K. Hindu school
Niyazov laid to rest
"Plot'' to attack Channel tunnel
Climate sceptics issued with a challenge
Indonesian flood toll 87
Iraqi forces battle Shia militia
Ethiopia launches air strikes
India studying implications of Iran resolution

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu