It has happened. Again. Sometime before 4am, May 5, 2005, an act of terrorism took place in Manhattan. Outside the British consulate. CBS reports:

The blasts occurred at 3:50 a.m. and originated inside a cement flower box outside the consulate located at 845 Third Avenue in midtown Manhattan, said police department spokesman Noel Waters. The consulate occupies the 9th, 10th and 11th floors of the building.

Police said the devices were both toy grenades that had been altered to explode by the addition of black gunpowder. Police made the conclusion after piecing together the shrapnel.

The blasts shattered a panel of glass in the building’s front door and ripped a one-foot chunk from the planter. The department’s bomb squad was at the scene and streets were closed in the area.

No one was injured, but early reports of the blasts sent stocks down–as British voters overseas headed to the polls for parliamentary elections.

TKS blogger Jim Geraghty, who is in London, writes early this morning:

The last day or so I was here, I wondered if Great Britain was going to see some pre-election terrorism. Al-Qaeda got what it wanted in the 3/11 train bombings in Madrid the day before their election day, and a truck bomb went off outside the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, if I remember correctly, about two weeks before the Aussies’ election.

Was this al-Qaeda, or just some lone nut? Well, the timing is perfect to get the attention of voters who will head to the polls during or after lunch, as it it is just before 11 am here.

CNN now reporting the explosive was a toy grenade filled with black powder and a fuse.

Okay, the explosion occurred around 3:50 a.m. New York time, about 8:50 a.m. London time. Yeah, I have a hard time believing the timing was purely coincidental.

Me, too. Which is why I took the question mark off the end of the title of this post.

0839am. More details from Reuters: “The homemade devices were metal “novelty grenades”, one in the shape of a pineapple, the other a lemon, both packed with gunpowder, police on the scene said.”

And a reminder: “British voters have been warned that Britain and its interests could be targeted by terrorists during the election campaign. The British Consulate in Istanbul was attacked in November 2003. That attack, and another against a British bank in the same city at the same time, killed the British Consul and 31 others.”

0852am. Marc Landers at USSNeverdock highlights some relevant tidbits about the arrest of al Qaeda No. 3 commander Abu Farraj al-Libbi reported in the London Telegraph…

They have now revealed that Abu Faraj, who was once Osama bin Laden’s personal assistant, is also in frequent contact with al Qa’eda members and supporters abroad, particularly in Britain and America. They have identified two people – both of whom are in British custody – as recipients of coded messages from Abu Faraj. [...]

“The coded messages deciphered recently have revealed to us that he was not only co-ordinating pre-election terrorist acts in the US, but had sent several messages to several militants in the UK in the last eight to 10 months . . . to share notes with them about future terror attacks in the UK,” said an investigator who has seen the communications.

At least two of the British-based militants are believed to have travelled to Pakistan from London and met Abu Faraj to finalise details of attacks.

0955am. The Jawa Report has a good round-up and gives his take on possible suspects. James Joyner thinks “the nature of the devices would seem to point away from terrorists or professionals.” Just to clarify, I don’t know or claim to know if it was al Qaeda or a nut or an al Qaeda nut. Whoever it was, though, clearly meant to terrorize or worse. And we can’t ignore the very real possibility that it was a dry run.

0436pm. CNN reporting: A Dutch national employed with the U.N. weapons inspection agency has been detained for questioning in connection with Thursday’s explosions outside the British Consulate in New York, a United Nations official said.