“Police fears of threat to Muslims.”

Update: Here’s another from, yes, Reuters – “Muslims “under siege” after plane plot report.”

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Meanwhile:

A law enforcement bulletin issued Thursday by the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI described the conspiracy as “international in scope” but said there was no evidence that the plotters or any accomplices had set foot in the United States. “This plot appears to have been well planned and well advanced and in the final stages of preparation,” the bulletin stated.

One U.S. intelligence source, however, said some of the British suspects arrested had made calls to the United States.

Investigators believe that the London operation was composed of three distinct cells, whose members may not have been aware of the others or the extent of their assignment, U.S. officials said.

British officials suspect that as many as 50 participants and accomplices were involved, U.S. law enforcement officials said. Internet searches made by the suspects suggested they had considered targeting as many as 10 flights, investigators said, although there was no evidence that those arrested had bought tickets or made reservations.

“It’s fair to say they were aiming for multiple flights, and some of the exact data of who they would deploy, and how many might be in one deployment, are somewhat ambiguous,” said Michael P. Jackson, deputy secretary at the Department of Homeland Security. “There were different data sets about their intentions over time that evolved over the period of time that we were following this. It did seem in more recent days to have centered upon carriers that had direct, nonstop flights between the U.K. and U.S.

“The real focus was to blow up airliners and the people on them,” he added.

Counterterrorism officials said the basic outline of the conspiracy was known for several months. Investigators from New York to Islamabad, Pakistan, said they were briefed by their British counterparts late last year.

British and U.S. law enforcement authorities decided against breaking up the cells right away in the hope that they could learn more about the origins of the network and assemble evidence for prosecutors.

Some U.S. counterterrorism officials said plans originally were to allow the conspiracy to develop even further. But U.S. and British investigators made a sudden decision this week to close down the operation after they became increasingly worried that there were other bombers they had been unable to locate or identify, U.S. officials said.

British Home Secretary John Reid said that “the police are confident that the main players have been accounted for” and are in custody. But U.S. and European authorities said the widespread ban on carrying liquids onto flights was imposed because investigators were worried more conspirators could be at large.

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