Special report: Major UK Air Terror Plot Thwarted

    BEIJING, August 14 -- Britain authorities are warning travellers to remain vigilant, saying they may still be in the cross hairs of Islamic terrorists. Airlines have cancelled almost a third of the flights from Britain's busiest airport. This has plunged travellers into a fourth day of travel chaos triggered by the foiling of an alleged airplane bomb plot.

    British police questioned 22 suspects on Sunday in the alleged plot to bomb trans Atlantic jetliners in mid-air. And the country's top law-and-order official warned that the risk of another attack remains high.

    Home Secretary John Reid said authorities were conducting two dozen separate counter terrorism investigations in Britain. But he acknowledged that there was no guarantee the government would be able to thwart every plot.

    UK home secretary John Reid said:"We think we have the main suspects in this particular plot, but I have to be honest and say on the basis of what we know there could be others out there, the threat of another terrorist attack in the United Kingdom is still very substantial."

    After the foiled plot, British Airways scrapped thirty percent of its flights from London's Heathrow Airport.

    Authorities have ramped up security measures. Among them, individual searches of all passengers. And a ban on carry on luggage except clear plastic bags containing travel documents and a few essential items.

    The airport operator said seventy percent of flights on all airlines at Heathrow were expected to proceed as scheduled. But they warned that delays were inevitable due to the tough security measures.

    On Sunday, British Airways cancelled almost a hundred flights to Europe from Heathrow. They also scrapped all of its domestic flights from London's Gatwick airport.

    Many passengers missed their flights dues to delays caused by the hightened security measures.

    (Source: CCTV.com)