British newspaper The Observer has reported the discovery of an 80-page document delineating al-Qaeda plans to bomb the City of London.
The plans, found in a terrorist training camp, contained detailed instructions for building a remote controlled van bomb, similar to those used in the attacks on Tanzania and Kenya in 1998. The person who would construct the bomb wrote the documents in English. Other documents found in the notebook indicate that the plans were probably written in the early part of 2001.
British police and intelligence services are investigating whether the terrorist who devised the plans was killed while fighting in Afghanistan, or whether he has already departed for London to conduct the activity. The notebook confirmed police fears that a ‘sleeper’ cell may be in place in the British capital.
“We have to recognize that there are some very big targets in the City of London,” a Scotland Yard source told The Observer. Scribbled writing on top of one of the notebook pages suggests that the target was Moorgate, in the heart of London’s finance hub.
The bomb-maker’s notes reportedly contain sophisticated data, written by someone well-versed in electrical engineering. In addition to technical information on the construction of the devise, the note’s author discusses the necessary conduct needed to carry out the plot. Specifically, he lists attributes such as ‘no panic’ and ‘confidence.’
According to another British weekly, The Independent, the terrorist publication was reportedly found by a journalist for the Portugese newspaper Expresso in a house at an al-Qaeda training camp outside the former Taliban stronghold on Kandahar. (albawaba.com)
