London - Fears that an al-Qaeda sleeper cell may already be in Britain were growing last night after the discovery in Afghanistan of plans for a bombing attack on the City of London, reports Frank Millar.
The Observer newspaper made the discovery of the terrorist blueprint to extend their campaign to Britain in a notebook found at an al-Qaeda camp in the former Taliban stronghold of Kandahar. A scribbled note at the top of one page of the document, written in English, suggests one intended target was Moorgate in the centre of London's financial district.
Step-by-step instructions described the construction of a huge remote-controlled van bomb identical to those used by al-Qaeda against the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.
Scotland Yard said the discovery would be investigated by anti-terrorist detectives.