Monday, August 14 2006 10:47 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

London: British intelligence service agents secretly infiltrated a bomb factory and found liquid explosives and detonators weeks before they foiled the plot to blow up America-bound passenger jets flying from UK airports, media reported yesterday (Aug 13, 2006).

Covert raids on homes of key terror suspects were also made to plant bugs and gather hours of crucial evidence against them, The Mail on Sunday claimed.

The carefully planned 'sneak and peek' operation involved members of the SAS, or Special Air Service and other surveillance specialists of Mi5. It allowed the Security Service to eavesdrop on the suspected terrorists in the weeks before they were arrested.

"The high-risk strategy which allowed the terror plot to almost reach fruition potentially putting civilian lives at risk is understood to have been discussed with Prime Minister Tony Blair and by the government's crisis management Cobra Committee," the report said.

A government source told the tabloid that this was just one of a dozen terror plots being investigated by Mi5. But the audacious surveillance exercise - approved by the Home Secretary allowed Mi5 teams to build up a detailed picture of the group's planning, contacts and, crucially, when they intended to strike.

During months of careful work, the specialists are understood to have managed to get inside the gang's bomb-making factory giving final confirmation that the plotters were indeed planning mass murder.