Al Qaeda Fears Draw Troops to Heathrow

Britain deployed tanks, armored cars and hundreds of soldiers to London’s Heathrow Airport on Tuesday as precautions against what a police source said was a possible rocket attack on a plane by the Al Qaeda terrorist network.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s official spokesman declined to comment on a rocket threat but said: “There is an ongoing operation in relation to a specific threat.... Action would not have been taken of this nature unless it was thought to be appropriate and necessary.”

Scotland Yard called the move precautionary and said it was tied to the possibility that Al Qaeda and affiliated networks could use the end of the religious festival of Eid al-Adha as a pretext for attacks. Police did not say how long the operation would last. The Defense Ministry said about 450 troops were being deployed.

Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of the Sacrifice, commemorates God’s provision of a ram for Abraham to sacrifice instead of his son and is one of Islam’s most important holidays.

The holiday began Tuesday in Saudi Arabia, and most Muslim communities are continuing the celebrations for several more days.

The army has not been posted at Heathrow since 1994, when the Irish Republican Army launched a mortar attack on the airport.

Soldiers carrying rifles patrolled the passenger terminals Tuesday, and light tanks and armored vehicles were stationed at the airport entrance and outside key buildings.

There were reports of cars being stopped and searched by police on roads west of Heathrow beneath the airport’s flight paths. “It does make you feel good, knowing people are out there protecting your safety,” said Chandana Tatia, 23, as she waited for a flight to India.