London's Close Call with Malfunctioning Car Bombs

Via ABC News -

British police have a "crystal clear" picture of the man who drove the bomb-rigged silver Mercedes outside a London nightclub, and officials tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com he bears "a close resemblance" to a man arrested by police in connection with another bomb plot but released for lack of evidence.

Officials say the suspect had been taken into custody in connection with the case of al Qaeda operative Dhiren Barot (pictured), who was convicted of orchestrating a vehicle bomb plot involving targets in London, New York, Newark, N.J. and Washington, D.C.

U.S. and British law enforcement officials tell ABC News it is increasingly clear Friday's bomb plot in London involves multliple vehicles, and is described by a senior official as a "terror plot involving lslamic extremists."

The silver Mercedes sedan discovered early Friday morning outside the Tiger Tiger nightclub in Piccadilly Circus appears to have been stolen in early June and was spotted in the last two days, first in Scotland and then in Birmingham, England, according to law enforcement officials.

The car contained five or six propane and butane gas cylinders as well as 33 gallons of gasoline, all rigged to detonate with calls to two cell phones. Officials say the cell phones failed to initiate the explosions, even after each phone had been called twice.

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So you have a suspect that might be connected to another convicted car bomber, released for lack of evidence....a stolen car and a bomb that failed to detonate...not good.

However, the bombs did not detonate therefore they may hold vast hold of useable intelligence information.

Can the phones be connected to someone? Fingerprints? Bomb design? Materials used? Documents in the car? etc.

Check out the CT blog for more in-depth coverage.

CBS News reports that "Hours before London explosives technicians dismantled a large car bomb in the heart of the British capital's tourist-rich theater district, a message appeared on one of the most widely used jihadist Internet forums, saying: 'Today I say: Rejoice, by Allah, London shall be bombed.' This was on the "al Hesbah" chat room by a person who goes by the name "Abu Osama al-Hazeen".

It should also be noted that the Northeast Intelligence Network is stating the following...

According to police and intelligence officials, the car bomb discovered early this morning outside of the London nightclub Tiger, Tiger met the very specifications from a 39-page explosives manual titled Rough Presentation for the Gas Limos Project authored by al Qaeda terrorist Dhiren BAROT, pictured above. The manual was the product of 12 months of research by BAROT that outlines an intricate plan to pack vehicles – particularly limousines - with explosives and gas cylinders, park them in car parks beneath buildings and detonate them.