Nine suspects arrested were indicted over intention to attack London Stock Exchange, US Embassy, mayor’s office; terror alert still “severe.”
A terror group arrested in Britain was said to be targeting two British rabbis and their synagogues, in addition to popular tourist attractions, the US embassy and London’s mayor.
The nine suspects who were arrested last week by British police were indicted Monday. They will be jailed until a court appearance in January, according to police. They were charged with intending to plant explosive devices devised from instructions taken from the Internet.
The addresses of the two targeted rabbis and their synagogues appeared on a list of six targets found by police. The list also included the London Stock Exchange, the mayor’s office, the US embassy and the dean of St Paul’s Chapter House. The suspects were also seen studying the tower of Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye and the Church of Scientology, according to reports.
British officials have released few details, but US State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the US Embassy in London was among the alleged plot’s possible targets.
“(We) are obviously taking suitable security precautions,” Toner told reporters in Washington.
A spokeswoman for Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service said she could provide no comment or confirmation of what was said in court Monday, a national holiday in Britain.
Although the arrests occurred on Dec. 21, in the run-up to Christmas, a security official told The Associated Press last week that this latest conspiracy didn’t appear to be timed for the holidays. It also wasn’t linked to a larger European plot uncovered in the fall involving a Mumbai-style shooting spree in cities across Britain, France or Germany, or to last week’s suicide bombing in Sweden, he said.
He spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing.
The suspects are expected back in court Jan. 14 on a variety of terror-related charges including conspiracy to cause explosions.
Britain’s terror alert has remained unchanged at “severe” while Germany upped its terror alert Nov. 17 in response to an increased threat from Islamic extremists.
Jpost.com
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