The Hindu : Plot to attack U.S. Consulate in Karachi unearthed

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 04, 2003

International

International

Plot to attack U.S. Consulate in Karachi unearthed

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

Washington May 3. Authorities in the United States and Pakistan have unearthed a terrorist plot to ram a plane into the American Consulate in Karachi. This has prompted the U.S. Homeland Security Department to issue an advisory, warning of possible attacks in the United States.

The warning was issued to U.S. pilots and airport managers as part of a larger effort to come to grips with the threats in this country. The department believes that terror outfits, especially the Al-Qaeda, have a "fixation'' on using aircraft for attacks.

The plot to attack the American Consulate in Karachi was said to have been in the last stages of planning and could have involved a small aircraft or perhaps even a helicopter packed with explosives. An unnamed law enforcement official has been quoted as saying that the plot was unearthed earlier this week with the arrest in Karachi of six members of the Al-Qaeda, including one who supposedly had a lead role in the terror attack on the USS Cole in 2000. Law enforcement officials during the Karachi raid had also seized some 300 pounds of explosives and a cache of weapons.

A U.S. administration official has been quoted in The Washington Post as saying that the group had not yet obtained an airplane but was believed to be close to gaining access to one. "Operatives were planning to pack a small fixed wing aircraft or helicopter with explosives and crash it into the consulate. This plot and a similar plot last year to fly a small explosives-laden aircraft into a U.S. warship in the Persian Gulf demonstrate the Al-Qaeda's continued fixation with using explosives-laden small craft in attacks,'' the Homeland Security Department has maintained.

The Karachi plot shows at least two aspects of this ongoing war against terrorism: the success of cooperation between various law enforcement and intelligence agencies within the U.S. and overseas in thwarting such terrorist missions; and the plain fact that in spite of all the hits it has taken, the Al-Qaeda was still very much a force to reckon with.

In fact, on Thursday the President, George W. Bush, reminded Americans that the war on terror continued and that the Al-Qaeda was far from finished. Mr. Bush also took the opportunity to issue a warning to all those nations which were harbouring terrorists and were soft on terrorism. He did not name any specific country.

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