126. Al Qaeda’s Deadliest Plot: The Terror Attack That Never Happened (Ep 2)

The Rest Is Classified

Goalhanger

History

4.4 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 11 February 2026

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

MI5 have discovered a bomb making factory in East London, but how do they stop the Al Qaeda plotters from carrying out their terrifying plans? In the second episode of their series on the Liquid Bomb Plot, David and Gordon share the inside story of how MI5 surveilled the extremist cell and “legally” broke into the bomb factory. ------------------- Join the Declassified Club to go deeper into the world of espionage with exclusive Q&As, interviews with top intelligence insiders, regular livestreams, ad-free listening, early access to episodes and live show tickets, and weekly deep dives into original spy stories. Members also get curated reading lists, special book discounts, prize draws, and access to our private chat community. Just go to ⁠⁠therestisclassified.com⁠ or join on Apple Podcasts. ------------------- Get a 10% discount on business PCs, printers and accessories using the code TRIC10. Visit https://HP.com/CLASSIFIED for more information. T&C's apply. ------------------- EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ ⁠⁠https://nordvpn.com/restisclassified⁠⁠ Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee ------------------- Email: therestisclassified@goalhanger.com Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@restisclassified Video Editor: Joe Pettit Social Producer: Emma Jackson Assistant Producer: Alfie Rowe Producer: Becki Hills Head of History: Dom Johnson Exec Producer: Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	For exclusive interviews, bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to series,
0:09.0	first look at live show tickets, a weekly newsletter, and discounted books.
0:13.1	Join the Declassified Club at the rest is classified.com. A group of terrorists suspects are buying strange items, syringes, drink bottles.
0:31.0	MI5 are watching, but they don't yet know they are planning a deadly terrorist attack to rival 9-11.
0:38.3	Well, welcome to the rest is classified.
0:39.8	I'm David McCloskey.
0:40.8	And I'm Gordon Carrara.
0:42.2	And last time, Gordon, we looked at the beginnings of the MI5 investigation into a man
0:47.9	called Abdullah Ahmed Ali, and going back and forth to Pakistan.
0:51.8	He had his luggage searched at Heathrow on his way back
0:55.4	in June 2006 and some strange things were in there, weren't they going on straight batteries?
1:01.9	And Tang.
1:02.5	Tang, which makes me reconsider my luggage that I'll pack for my return journey to the United States.
1:07.2	And that left MI5 wondering what in the world might be going on at a somewhat
1:12.9	bizarre flat on Forest Road in East London. We left off last time, Gordon, with MI5 carrying
1:21.7	out a covert entry, a breaking and entering operation, into the property to find out what is going
1:27.4	on inside and they've bugged the place, find out what is going on inside, and they've
1:28.5	bugged the place, haven't they, with audio and video, to watch what Abdullah Ahmed Ali and his
1:35.3	friends are up to? That's right. After a few nights' work, not much sleep, a branch team have succeeded.
1:40.7	They've got that audio and video coverage of the Forest Road flat by the start of August
1:45.3	2006. MI5 can now see and hear what's happening inside in real time. And without that access,
1:52.5	none of the other bits of information and intelligence would make sense. This is what brings it
	...

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