Australia PM calls for vigilance at all times

John Howard, Australia's Prime Minister, says that authorities are investigating claims that terrorists planned to attack the Australian and England teams during last year's Ashes.

He was responding to a report in The Sunday Times, a London newspaper, which said that the London bombers were initially ordered by Al-Qaeda to target the teams during the series, by spraying sarin gas inside the changing rooms. According to the source, who goes by the pseudonymn Ahmed Hafiz, the bombers were instructed to get jobs as stewards at Edgbaston and then carry out the attack.

Howard says the source, Hafiz, has to be thoroughly checked. In an interview with Radio Australia, he added that vigilance was necessary at all times. "Whether this particular report is true or not, we have to again remind ourselves of the reality that there are people around who want to do us in, who do want to do damage."