But, MI-5 almost hosed it badly
A huge MI5 and police counterterrorist operation against al-Qaeda suspects had to be brought forward at short notice last night after Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism chief accidentally revealed a briefing document.
Twelve people were arrested, ten of them born in Pakistan, at eight separate addresses after a long covert surveillance operation involving MI5 and police from the North West Counter-Terrorism Unit was compromised.
Senior sources believe that there were plans to attack the Birdcage nightclub in Manchester city centre or the Trafford Centre shopping complex. The nightclub, which hosts cabaret and dancing showgirls, attracts thousands of people each week.
Detectives believe that the venue, near The Printworks entertainment complex, was being targeted as a “symbol of Western decadenceâ€. The Trafford Centre in Manchester attracts 140,000 shoppers each weekend.
The operation was nearly blown when Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick walked up Downing Street holding a document marked “secret†with highly sensitive operational details visible to photographers.
Read the rest, as the saying goes.
More: the terror chief has quit. Should have been fired.
