WaPo: British Police Thwart Major Terror Plot

If you're traveling by air any time soon, don't plan on taking any liquids on board with you:

British authorities said today they had disrupted a 'major terrorist plot' to blow up passenger flights between the United Kingdom and the United States, prompting a security clampdown at British and U.S. international airports and a cascade of delays in trans-Atlantic flights generally.

London's Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Stephenson said 21 people had been arrested in London and in Birmingham England after a months-long investigation into what he said was a plan for 'mass murder on an unimaginable scale.' He did not say why the announcement was made today.

U.S. officials raised the 'threat level' for air transport to red, the highest alert.

Passengers at Dulles airport in Washington and New York's John F. Kennedy Airport were told to expect intensified searches, considerable delays and new restrictions on carry-on items, with particular attention to liquids of all types, especially liquids with a gel-like consistency.

Washington Post: British Police Thwart Major Terror Plot (10 August 2006)

Related: TSA: Threat Level Change for Aviation Sector