31 October 2010 Last updated at 13:14Share this page
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Dubai bomb was flown on passenger planes
The device had been placed in a cardboard box and posted to the US
One of the two bombs posted from Yemen last week was transported on two passenger planes before being seized in Dubai, Qatar Airways says.
The device was carried on a Qatar Airbus A320 from Yemen's capital Sanaa to Doha, the company told the BBC.
There it was transferred onto another Qatar Airways aircraft to Dubai, where it was seized by police.
The bomb contained the explosive, PETN, which is difficult to detect using normal airport security screening.
A second device was found at East Midlands Airport in the UK. Both bombs were hidden inside printer toner cartridges.
Until now it had been thought that both devices had been transported using cargo planes.
The US freight firms, UPS and FedEx, had been used to post the devices, which were addressed to synagogues in the US city of Chicago.
The British authorities says the bomb seized in central England was believed to have been designed to go off in mid-air.
Continue reading the main storyAnalysis
Gordon Corera Security correspondent, BBC News
AQAP is known to have been developing advanced and inventive bomb-making techniques.
It came close to killing the Saudi interior minister with one device and to bringing down an airliner on Christmas Day with another.
The exact way in which these devices were to be detonated is not clear. This is another sign of growing creativeness allied to ongoing ambition.
Attacking cargo planes has also long been anticipated as a potential tactic. Militant groups regularly look for any weak spots in security and aviation remains a prime target.
Qatar Airways was unable to confirm which type of passenger plane was used to fly the device on from Doha to Dubai, but said it would have been an A320, A321 or Boeing 777. The firm also runs one freight-only flight a week from Sanaa to Doha.
"Qatar Airways can confirm that a recent courier consignment was carried aboard one of its aircraft from Sanaa to Dubai, via Doha International Airport," said a statement on the airline's website.
"The carrier stated that, as per Chicago Convention, it is not the responsibility of the country in which the cargo transits to x-ray or inspect the cargo. This responsibility belongs to the country from where the consignment originates.
"Furthermore, the explosives discovered were of a sophisticated nature whereby they could not be detected by x-ray screening or trained sniffer dogs. The explosives were only discovered after an intelligence tip off."
'Same bomber'US officials have said the Saudi-born bomb-maker, Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri, is the prime suspect for constructing the devices.
He is believed to be one of the leading figures in al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), a regional offshoot of the militant network, and the organiser of a suicide attack by his brother last year on the Saudi intelligence chief, Prince Mohammed Bin Nayif. The prince survived the attack, in which PETN was also used.
Washington's top counter-terrorism adviser, John Brennan, said officials also believed the same person had constructed the printer bombs and the underpants bomb used in the failed attempt to blow up an airliner over the US on Christmas Day last year. AQAP said it was behind the latter attack.
"I think that the indications are right now based on forensic analysis that the individual responsible for putting these devices together is the same," he told ABC News.
He also said the US was re-examining the unexplained crash of a UPS cargo plane in Dubai in September to see if anything could be learnt.
Suspect questionedThe Yemeni authorities are questioning a student who is alleged to have posted the devices, and whose mobile phone number was reportedly left with the offices.
She has been named by human rights groups as Hanan al-Samawi, 22.
The authorities initially described her as a medical student, but later reports said she was studying computer engineering at the University of Sanaa and had no known links to Islamist militants.
"Her acquaintances tell me that she is a quiet student and there was no knowledge of her having involvement in any religious or political groups," her lawyer, Abdel Rahman Burman, told the Reuters news agency.
"I'm concerned the girl is a victim because it doesn't make sense that the person who would do this kind of operation would leave a picture of their ID and their phone number."
How the alerts were raised (all times GMT):
• Early hours of Friday morning: alert raised at East Midlands airport after suspect package found on UPS plane. Security cordon put in place, then lifted.
• 0900: suspect package found on FedEx plane in Dubai.
• 1300: security cordon reinstated at East Midlands airport, apparently after a second suspect device is found.
• 1700: FBI says two suspect packages were addressed to religious buildings in Chicago.
• 1835: Emirates Flight 201 from Yemen via Dubai lands at JFK airport, New York, escorted by US fighter jets. The plane is carrying a package from Yemen.
• 1845: FedEx in Dubai confirms it has confiscated a suspect package sent from Yemen and is suspending all shipments from Dubai.
• 1900: two other FedEx flights investigated after landing at Newark, New Jersey, and Philadelphia. Both receive the all-clear.
• 2330: BA flight from London to New York (JFK) met by US officials as a "precautionary measure".
Sunday, 31 October 2010
BBC News - Dubai bomb was flown on passenger planes
BBC News - Istanbul suicide blast injures 22, including 10 police
31 October 2010 Last updated at 12:11Share this page
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Istanbul suicide blast injures 22, including 10 police
The blast occurred near the independence monument in Taksim Square
A suicide bomb blast in the centre of Istanbul has injured 22 people, including 10 policemen.
Police say the bomber tried to board a police bus in Taksim Square. Twelve civilians were also hurt.
No group has said it carried out the attack, but a two-month-old ceasefire by Kurdish rebels was due to expire later on Sunday, says the BBC's Jonathan Head in Istanbul.
Police identified other bombs nearby and have been working to disable them.
Television pictures from Taksim Square showed body parts lying on the ground.
A large explosion was heard throughout central Istanbul just after 0900 GMT.
Past attacksThe explosion took place right next to the independence monument on Taksim Square, which is always crowded with people, our correspondent says.
There are usually squads of riot police posted at this part of the square, as it is often the site of demonstrations.
A police spokesman has said he believes they were the target of the explosion, which he said may have been caused by a suicide bomber.
Eyewitness Aris Virkas told the BBC that he was walking through Taksim Square when he heard the blast.
"I turned around and saw policemen with blood on their face and someone lying on the ground," he said. "People, including police, were running around in panic.
"There was a big bus with maybe 20 police officers: they ran out of the bus, trying to find out what's going on.
"After a couple of minutes, they started asking people to step back. I think I think I heard a few gunshots afterwards, but I can't be certain it wasn't something else."
Our correspondent says suspicion is likely to fall on Kurdish separatist factions, or groups linked to al-Qaeda.
The Kurdish separatist PKK party has carried out bomb attacks in Istanbul in the past, as have extreme left-wing and Islamist groups.
The Kurdish Workers' Party, the PKK, went on ceasefire two months ago but that is due to run out on Sunday night.
However, PKK leaders have said recently that they will no longer target civilians.
Our correspondent says al-Qaeda-linked groups are small but active in Turkey, and police make frequent arrests. More than 100 suspected al-Qaeda militants have been arrested so far this year.
A group with ties to al-Qaeda carried out the bombing of the British consulate in Istanbul in 2003 in which 28 people died.
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BBC News - Riot police tackle 'illegal' rave in High Holborn
31 October 2010 Last updated at 12:18Share this page
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Riot police tackle 'illegal' rave in High Holborn
A crowd of about 500 people gathered in the eight-storey building
Hundreds of people have been attending a suspected illegal rave in central London after a stand-off between revellers and riot police.
Several officers were hurt trying to disperse the gathering at a disused building in High Holborn, police said. Seven arrests have been made.
The Metropolitan Police said bricks were thrown at officers as they tried to disperse revellers.
But by 0930 GMT police said things had "quietened down".
Continue reading the main story“Start Quote
End Quote Flavia Pickler Dressed as a toffee appleIt's very friendly, you can trust people”
Police were first called to the building, which is bordered by High Holborn, Museum Road and New Oxford Street, at 2320 BST.
Halloween costumesElements of the estimated crowd of about 500 people at the eight-storey building became aggressive after officers asked them to move on, police said.
Dozens of riot squad officers were then called to the scene.
One police officer needed hospital treatment for a minor head injury, while a woman in her 30s, who police said was caught up in the disorder, was also taken to hospital with a cut face.
Hundreds of revellers spilled out onto New Oxford Street, some dressed in Halloween costumes
A number of buildings and vehicles were damaged during the disturbance and road closures are in place around the site.
Hundreds of revellers spilled out onto New Oxford Street, some dressed in Halloween costumes.
Two clubbers at the event, both originally from Brazil, had tried to have their photo taken with police and said the atmosphere at such events was always good.
Flavia Pickler, 28, who came on the train from Brighton where she works as a nanny, was dressed as a toffee apple.
"It's very friendly, you can trust people," she said.
Samanta Coletti, 27, a waitress living in west London, said: "We love it. You never find fights, if someone is stealing or harassing girls they are told to leave, you can leave your bag on the floor and dance."
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Ben Ferencz was the Chief Prosecutor for the Nuremberg Trails, the largest murder trial in the history of the world. Ferenze tells us that anyone can change the world. Ferencz says that the only hurtle holding back great change in our gloal community is traditional forms of thinking, which Ferencz argues need to be updated.
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