Yet another terrorism plot by the Religion of Peace™ in Britain; the BBC’s best guess at this point is that it was planned by “international elements:” Police avert car bomb ‘carnage’.

A car bomb planted in central London would have caused “carnage” if it had exploded, police sources have said.

A controlled explosion was carried out on the car, packed with 60 litres of petrol, gas cylinders and nails, in Haymarket, near Piccadilly Circus. An ambulance crew saw smoke coming from the green metallic Mercedes, near the Tiger Tiger nightclub at 0130 BST. Later part of London’s Park Lane was closed to traffic after reports of a suspicious vehicle. …

Sources close to the investigation said that the Park Lane closure is linked to the discovery of a vehicle at an underground car park. It is also believed to be linked to the investigation into the Haymarket car bomb. At the moment it is not known if the vehicle at Park Lane contains a device.

“International elements” are believed to be involved with the Haymarket bomb, Whitehall sources told the BBC.

UPDATE at 6/29/07 8:06:40 am:

MSNBC did their best to ignore the plot: Terror Plot Foiled: MSNBC Ignores It.

UPDATE at 6/29/07 8:13:11 am:

Fox News reports that it may have been a failed suicide bomb; apparently the suspect took off running when it failed to detonate.

UPDATE at 6/29/07 8:20:45 am:

Latest news: UK authorities say the two vehicles discovered so far were “linked.” And one was set to be remotely detonated with a cell phone trigger.

UPDATE at 6/29/07 8:26:21 am:

A second car is being examined in an underground car park; and apparently there was enough gasoline in the first car to completely fill its trunk.

UPDATE at 6/29/07 8:37:01 am:

CBS News reports that a message was posted on a jihadi bulletin board hours before the car bomb was discovered: Was London Bomb Plot Heralded On Web?, Internet Forum Comment From Night Before: ‘London Shall Be Bombed’.

And there’s a Salman Rushdie connection.

Hours before London explosives technicians dismantled a large car bomb in the heart of the British capital’s tourist-rich theater district, a message appeared on one of the most widely used jihadist Internet forums, saying: “Today I say: Rejoice, by Allah, London shall be bombed.”

CBS News found the posting, which went on for nearly 300 words, on the “al Hesbah” chat room. It was left by a person who goes by the name abu Osama al-Hazeen, who appears regularly on the forum.

Al Hesbah is frequently used by international Sunni militant groups, including al Qaeda and the Taliban, to post propaganda videos and messages in their fight against the West. …

Al-Hazeen’s message begins: “In the name of God, the most compassionate, the most merciful. Is Britain Longing for al Qaeda’s bombings?”

Al-Hazeen decries the recent knighthood of controversial author Salman Rushdie as a blow felt by all British Muslims. “This ‘honoring’ came at a crucial time, a time when the whole nation is reeling from the crusaders attacks on all Muslim lands,” he said, in an apparent reference to the British role in Iraq.

“We say to Britain: The Emir of al Qaeda, Sheikh Osama, has once threatened you, and he carried out his threats. Today I say: Rejoice, by Allah, London shall be bombed,” the message reads.