Mail bombers "would not have known where device would explode"
The terrorists behind the cargo bomb plot would not have known exactly where the deadly device was to strike, UK Home Secretary Theresa May said Sunday, according to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).
The unpredictable routes taken by freight planes meant it was "difficult" to say even now whether the explosions would have happened over Britain or America.
Mrs May also appeared to pour cold water in a TV interview on calls for security to be loosened for air travellers, insisting there was a "battle" going on with terrorists and it was "important" to have rigorous checks.
The comments came with the hunt for the al Qaida linked masterminds in full swing.
A woman medical student arrested by authorities in Yemen along with her mother on suspicion of posting the two bombs to synagogues in Chicago reportedly claimed she was "tricked." The devices, hidden inside printer toner cartridges, are only thought to have been discovered en route at East Midlands Airport and in Dubai as a result of an intelligence tip-off.
They are believed to have contained the powerful and hard-to-detect explosive PETN.
Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr TV show this morning, Mrs May said the Government had already acted to ban all unaccompanied freight from Yemen coming to Britain, and was in talks with the industry about further restrictions.
"We are going to be looking at the security that we adopt in relation to freight. We will be talking to the industry about those measures".
Asked about the potential cost of tougher restrictions, the Home Secretary insisted that was being taken into account. "We are well aware of the economic aspects of freight travel," she said.
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