Police and MI5 are hunting terrorists whose attempt to bomb a crowded London nightclub was foiled on Friday.
The car bomb outside the Haymarket’s 1,700 capacity Tiger Tiger nightclub was defused by police, along with a similar device in an underground car park in Park Lane.
Had it detonated, the nightclub bomb would have “caused considerable loss of life”, according to Home Secretary Jacqui Smith.
A popular ladies’ night was in progress at the club, which is the flagship of a Chorion-owned chain, which has branches in Glasgow, Cardiff, Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle.
It is described as “a colossal playground for twenty-somethings” and includes a club area, booth and bar areas and a restaurant.
Bomb threats against London had been made on a jihadi internet chatroom hours before the attack, claiming that the knighthood given to author Salman Rushdie was the provocation. However, no official advance warning was given to security services.
Although the attack came at the height of the tourist season, leisure and tourism chiefs played down fears that the attacks would deter foreign visitors and domestic revellers.
Clubs and bars outside the police cordon on the Haymarket remained busy, although performances at four West End theatres had to be cancelled.
M15 believes the bomb attacks were designed by an al-Qa’eda linked organisation and police warn that there may be more attacks planned.
It believes that the organisation may deliberately target buildings such as nightclubs, which are comparatively easy to hit and can be seen as “decadent”.
Another nightclub attack was foiled in 2004 after a group of plotters planned to bomb London’s Ministry of Sound.
Financial Times 30/6/07 page 1, page 3
The Daily Telegraph 30/6/07 pages 1-4
The Times 30/6/07 page 1, pages 4-7
The Guardian 30/7/07 pages 1-5
The Independent 30/7/07 pages 1-2
Daily Mail 30/7/07 page 1, pages 6-9
