LOC12:04
09:04 GMT
LONDON, April 1 (KUNA) -- British police have foiled a plot to bomb major
UK tourist attraction the "London Eye" and the headquarters of Britains
external security agency known as "MI6", The Sun newspaper revealed Tuesday.
Terrorists tested security by leaving two bags outside the intelligence
service building on the River Thames at Vauxhall, in south London, and another
at the giant ferris wheel on the South Bank of the Thames, in central London.
But the bags, containing small metal weights, were spotted at both iconic
targets, the paper said.
The London Eye was evacuated.
Specialist officers from the Metropolitan Polices Counter-Terrorism
Command have stepped up armed patrols and vehicle checks in an operation
codenamed "Rainbow", The Sun added.
The terror threat assessment has been upgraded to "severe", it said.
Chief Inspector Clive Wakeley warned "It is not a matter of if, it is a
matter of when, a terrorist attack takes place.
"We are desperate for people to report suspect packages," he said.
Sergeant Andy Wallace added "We are attempting to identify terrorists who
are carrying out reconnaissance. We are doing everything we can to step them."
The alert came as Muslim convert Abu Omar said 9/11 mastermind Khalid
Sheikh Mohammed asked him to mount a suicide bomb campaign in the UK, but he
refused.
Londoner Omar, a Jihad volunteer, said the plan was put to him in
Afghanistan.(end)
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