Fears about terrorism returned to haunt Britain on Monday after police said they are investigating how secret police plans to prevent Heathrow airport from attack were found abandoned by a roadside.
Documents detailing how terrorists might target the busy airport in west London, drawn up by the Metropolitan Police’s air security section, were discovered by a motorist and given to The Sun newspaper.
”We have launched an internal inquiry into the circumstances of how these documents went missing and will take the appropriate action when we have ascertained the facts surrounding the matter,” police said late on Sunday.
Adding to the concern, another newspaper published an interview with a government minister on Monday advising the public to stock up on food and other emergency supplies in case of a possible terror attack.
While people should not ”live in fear”, they should make realistic preparations, Anti-Terrorism Minister Hazel Blears told the Daily Telegraph.
Her advice came a day after the biggest anti-terrorism exercise Britain has seen to date was branded a failure after it took three hours to begin decontaminating people supposedly affected by toxic gas.
Rescue workers were on the scene within 15 minutes of the hypothetical gas attack on the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, Britain’s second-largest city.
However, the first of 400 volunteer casualties went through decontamination only three hours later.
”We need to look at why it took so long, whether decisions were rationally made and whether there were any communication difficulties,” Chief Inspector Surjeet Manku of West Midlands Police said.
Britain has been on alert since the September 11 2001 attacks on the United States, and even more so following devastating bomb attacks on commuter trains in Madrid this March.
London is seen as a particularly likely target, with senior police officers warning that it is likely to be a case of when, rather than if, terrorists strike.
According to The Sun, the plans to defend Heathrow illustrate 62 potential sites from which terrorists could fire shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles in an attempt to down an airliner.
While the information is intended to defend the airport, in the wrong hands it will serve as an easy guide of where best to strike, the newspaper warned.
One section identifies a field near the airport as being the ideal launch base for a missile.
”This site affords an excellent site to attack aircraft departing Heathrow. The firing point is just over the fence into the field. This is a very large site with little cover,” the newspaper quoted the document as saying.
Home Secretary David Blunkett described the apparent loss of the plans as ”very bad”, also telling BBC radio that the document appears to be genuine.
In February last year, hundreds of police and troops as well as tanks were deployed at Heathrow following a warning that terrorists might be about to attempt a missile attack on a plane. — Sapa-AFP