Al Qaeda's manual on gas canister bombs

Times:

The suspected car bomb discovered outside a central London nightclub has similarities to two of the most significant terror plots discovered in recent years.

A plan to pack cars with propane gas canisters before detonating them at prominent central London locations had been drawn up by Dhiren Barot, an al-Qaeda mastermind.

At about the same time another group of Islamic extremists with links to al-Qaeda was plotting to blow up central London nightclubs with bombs created with fertiliser.

Barot was author of an al-Qaeda terror manual called Rough Presentation for the Gas Limos Project. It sets out in detail a plan to pack limousines with explosives and gas cylinders, park them in car parks beneath buildings and detonate them.

Barot spent a year researching and drawing up the 39-page document before presenting to al-Qaeda planners in April 2004.

He decided to use gas as the main component of his bombs because it was easy to obtain.The 13kg cylinders of Calor Patio Gas discovered in the car abandoned in Haymarket can be bought at hundreds of garden centres across the Britain for less than £20 each.

Barot’s guide says: “Gas can be employed to cause large-scale damage to structures since many of them (gas types) are by nature extremely flammable as well as explosive.”

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There is more. The canisters appear to be similar to those used for propane in this country. They are widely available. The triggering device is not described. Earlier reports indicated cell phones were being used. For some reason they did not work in either vehicle that has been found.