EU Says a Concerted Effort to Fight Terrorism is Needed

"(Thursday's) events show once more that terrorism is a continuous and global threat in Europe and in other parts of the world, which calls for a constant, concerted response from all European countries, institutions and peoples," Frattini said.

"The European Union's counter-terrorism policies in all its dimensions, including prevention, protection, prosecution and response, will be implemented with full vigor to this end," he added.

He was responding to a terrorist threat announced Thursday which saw security increased at airports across the globe after British police said they had foiled a plot to blow up flights to the United States with explosives hidden in hand baggage.

London's Heathrow airport, one of the busiest in the world, was effectively closed to incoming flights, seriously disrupting air travel in Europe.

EU Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot welcomed efforts from

European air traffic control coordinator Eurocontrol, which prevented flights from taking off for Heathrow and helped reroute European flights already on their way.

"The aviation industry showed great solidarity in very difficult circumstances," he said.

The plot unravels

Meanwhile, the British daily The Guardian reported that the British suicide bombers were within days of blowing up 12 passenger jets above US cities.

Some observers have speculated that the bombings could have coincided with the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks in the US.

The Guardian wrote that anti-terrorist specialists had uncovered the plot by watching a group of young British Muslims. Surveillance began nearly a year ago and plans for suicide bombings would have been on a dimension unfathomed until now.

US and British officials claimed that the majority of the plotters were British Muslims of Pakistani descent who intended to carry liquid explosives in beverage bottles in their hand luggage on flights headed to the US from Britain.

The Guardian wrote that security officials believed that once the jets were in the air over American cities, the plotters intended to mix the explosives and detonate them using an electrical charge from an iPod. Apparently, the suicide-bombers-to-be had targeted New York, Washington, San Francisco, Boston and Los Angeles.

Had the plot succeeded, it would have meant the possible loss of thousands of lives.

Pakistan-Afghanistan border arrest

British police were tipped off following an arrest on Pakistan's border to Afghanistan two weeks ago, a Pakistani government official said. That sent the British police into action on Thursday, after they intercepted a message from Pakistan telling the bombers to "go now," The Guardian wrote.

While police had intended to move in on the cells within the next few days, the intercepted message forced them to act early Thursday.

British police arrested 24 suspects on Thursday, one of whom may have worked at Heathrow airport. There are claims, however, that up to 50 people might have been involved in the plot; police officers are still on the hunt.

The Bank of England on Firday froze the assets of 19 of the arrested suspects, and also released their names.

Speculations likewise exist that other plotters may now decide to act more quickly out of fear of exposure by the suspects arrested yesterday or that police may discover them.

High alert

Security is still at high alert in at Britsh, US and continental European airports.

News agencies reported that Indian officials have received information that militants may be planning to carry out bombings on US airline carriers leaving New Delhi and Mumbai in the coming days, perhaps on August 15, India's Independence Day. India has stepped up security at airports.