Al-Qaida said bypassing wealthy financiers

LONDON, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- British counter-terrorism officials say recent al-Qaida attacks show Western governments miscalculated by concentrating on stopping wealthy financiers.

The ongoing London trial of eight men accused of planning to blow up U.S.-bound airliners two years ago revealed the suspects searched drugstores for bomb ingredients costing only $15 apiece, The Washington Post reported Sunday. Also, it said, the terrorist cell that launched the July 7, 2005, London transit bombings needed only $15,000 to implement its plot.

"The groups operating in Europe don't need a lot of money. The cost of operations is very low," Jean-Louis Bruguière, an adviser to the European Union on terrorism financing, told the Post. "But they are very skilled at obtaining money and using criminal systems to do it. They can collect thousands and thousands of dollars or euros in a few weeks. It is beyond our control."

Other British and European experts interviewed said measures taken after the Sept, 11, 2001, U.S. terror attacks to freeze the assets of certain wealthy individuals has not cut off the flow of money available to al-Qaida. In fact, they said it has had no noticeable effect in preventing the terrorist group from launching attacks.