Al-Qaida Sarin Plot on Parliament Foiled

Scotland Yard believes it thwarted an al-Qaida sarin gas attack on the British Parliament, according to an internal police document.

The plot to unleash the deadly nerve gas on the House of Commons was hatched last year and uncovered through decoded e-mails on computers seized from terror suspects in Britain and Pakistan, the Sunday Times reported, citing the police memo it obtained.

Police and the secret service identified an al-Qaida cell that had carried out extensive research and videotaped reconnaissance missions in preparation for the attack, the Times said.
The paper reported the encrypted e-mails were believed to have been decoded with the help of an al-Qaida "supergrass" -- a police informant. By cracking the terrorists' code, the informant was also able to tip off the secret service and intelligence officials to several more plots.

'DIRTY BOMB'

A senior officer confirmed that the foiled plot mentioned in the police document involved a gas or chemical "dirty bomb" attack against the British Parliament.

"The House of Commons was one of their targets, as well as the Tube," the Times quoted the officer as saying. "They were planning to use chemicals, a dirty bomb and sarin gas. They looked at all sorts of ways of delivering it."

The police memo, drawn up after the deadly July 7 bombings on London's transit system, reveals high-level fears suicide bombers could use a taxi or a visit to an exhibition to mark the 400th anniversary of the gunpowder plot on Parliament.