British authorities have thwarted ”at least four major plots” since the deadly July 7 bombings last year, home secretary John Reid told BBC television on Sunday.
Reid said that all four plots would have led to significant loss of life, and added that ”up to two dozen” terror investigations were currently being pursued.
Police swooped on Thursday on 24 people over an alleged pot to blow up aircraft en route to the United States. One man was released without charge on Friday.
”We think we have the main suspects in this particular plot,” Reid told the BBC News 24 channel.
”I have to be honest and say on the basis of what we know, there could be others out there … so the threat of a terrorist attack in the United Kingdom is still very substantial.”
Meanwhile, Reid said the heightened security measures across British airports, which have led to severe disruption, would be ”time limited”.
He conceded the restrictions — under which travellers cannot carry hand luggage onboard aircraft — were a ”terribly inconvenient regime”. The measures were under review, he added.
One person detained in UK on Thursday was released without charge on Friday night, leaving 23 in custody.
The 23, most of them of Pakistani origin, include a taxi driver, an accountant, a student, a pizza delivery man and a security worker, as well as several Muslim converts, according to British newspapers.
Police, who have up to 28 days to release or charge the suspects, successfully applied for further warrants to detain 22 of the group. They will apply on Monday to hold the remaining suspect for longer.
Britain on Thursday raised its security alert to ”critical” — the highest of five levels — from ”severe,” where it had been since security was relaxed in the weeks after the London transport attacks of July 2005 which killed 56 people. — AFP
